1. What are you two saying about the rosy-cheeked one,
And hinting about the smooth cheeks?

2. What are you glancing at with dreamy eyes,
What are you thinking about bracelets and necklaces?

3. My night has grown long, so rouse me from my slumber!
I am sleepless, so revive my languor!

4. Is there a way back to my family in Zaroud,
Alas! Where is the tribe of Zaroud?

5. My friend said to me one morning,
On the day of battle at Najd, a severe test:

6. “If you had persevered...” I said, “If only that were possible!”
But you ordered otherwise than steadfastness.

7. He kept counseling me rightly but I disobeyed,
And the counsel of another is far from the right path.

8. O people of the tents! I have not forgotten the past,
So why did you break your vows after you left?

9. You had promised to visit, so what prevented
You from fulfilling those promises?

10. Do not say: “He asked us long after we parted.”
My tears for your love bear witness!

11. My heart obeys your commands, and my poems
Are all ascribed to Suhayl ibn al-Walid.

12. And when I compose a verse and a poem,
It is for that purpose and that poem.

13. We did not visit him without gaining from him;
He continues to be a haven for visitors.

14. We did not enter his meadows of bounty without him saying,
“Welcome and greetings to the flowers!”

15. Good fortune smiles when his auspicious forehead appears,
On that auspicious brow.

16. The encampments depart from it happily,
While its every dune is barren and vacant.

17. In the expanse of his arms and chest we take refuge
From the worms and bites of the envious.

18. With him who continues to be in his strongholds
A sanctuary for the protected and security for the hunted.

19. You look at the horses in his garrison around him
And the stallions pawing and the tethered camels.

20. Gifts upon gifts from him, among them
The produce of Egypt and the perfume of Brouda.

21. Whenever the armies gathered around him,
His chastity answered with song.

22. He is the cherished one of kings, as a child and grown,
And the pillar of the tribes, son of the pillar.

23. Pure in heart and in nature, whenever
The darkness of hatred stirred in his breast,

24. He fears God in all matters and stands in awe of Him,
And he is feared when he walks in armor.

25. He ruled in his cradle and was generous, so how
Can any branch excel without a root?

26. O unique in knowledge, to you this praise
Is uniquely superior to the verse of the unique.

27. It was polished by a talent that produced it
From a thought that independently rivals Labid's poetry.

28. To sing your glories, each new day.
Among chanters, singers and poets

29. Who fast and feast for every festival.
Your gifts have made us your slaves,

30. And kindness to slaves is the true mark of nobility.
So repeat that kindness you showed in the past,

31. For you remain the best starter and repeater of favors.
All gains are destroyed by the passage of fate,

32. But praise is made new again through renewal.
We ask God to protect you and maintain you

33. And suffice you against every stubborn age.