1. I was kept awake by a gentle breeze from Amimah at dawn,
So I wept, with tears flowing down my cheeks.

2. The Yemeni lightning stirred up anguish in me,
As it flashed between Udhaib and Baraq.

3. It reminded me of Layla the daughter of my paternal uncle in her youth,
Parting with a beloved is never easy.

4. Alas, Layla you were just a lass, while gray hair appears on my temples.
The gray of old age contrasts with the black of youth.

5. You walked among the women of Rabi’ah and ‘Amir,
As lovely as the red camels with their elegant posture.

6. Behold, that branch of wild plum beneath its leaves,
And the sand of Naqa beneath the rising sun.

7. And behold her eyes, as if gazing at,
The narcissus blossoms amidst gardens.

8. Oh, how often in dusk she would embrace you,
With a jug’s lip and a flashing smile.

9. After two years I met her again,
People are ever yearning and eager.

10. One night we walked hand in hand,
She, of noble Yemeni lineage, slender of waist.

11. We left arrows scattered where gazelles play,
And valleys covered in abundant vegetation.

12. We passed sheep who cared not for our abode,
In every plain a peak atop a peak.

13. In Masa’ud’s abode we rested,
Where the sword of God’s faith resides, best of mankind.

14. Lightning flashed for her in the Caliph’s abode,
Fluttering with delicate symmetry.

15. I remembered the beauty of Jamal al-Din, most noble of men,
Ali ibn ‘Imran al-Quba’i, so gracious.