1. Behold, my friend, can you see a flash of lightning
That was struck by a Najd wind as it passed through Yemen?

2. The breeze carried it through the valleys of Tihama,
Then when it veered away with the waving of two tree branches, it rained.

3. A Yemeni woman passes by the tent as if
She were the train of an ostrich whose eggs had just hatched.

4. She gathered the tribes after their dissention,
Giving them to drink a mixed draught, both pure and dirty.

5. So he camped among them, pleased with his beloveds,
And in the morning he adorned the clouds as the brightest moon.

6. As if he had kindled a blazing fire between Mount Tara and Rahewa
And between Nasaifat al-Dab'ain, the two hyenas.

7. So he left behind a goodbye, his fog carrying him away
From the meadows without leaving them any water.

8. He stayed in the soft sands of Rika', standing firmly
Whenever the son of water is drowned in the mud and becomes stuck.

9. The hillocks of Yamama cried out to him after
He had wrapped them in as much mud as he had wrapped himself.

10. He tethered his camel in the sands of Al-Kawmahain like the tethering
Of a Yemeni, having cast off from them something dirty.

11. My age, I see that time has changed
And the belly of Rika' has emptied of my tribesmen.

12. Wherever you see an abandoned wellspring
And a feast has turned away from its customs and become corrupt,

13. The wild cats have come to it from every side
And clawed into its peg then took flight.

14. So either you will see me obey my old age
And my head shorn after it once had such thick hair.

15. I have become an old man whose time today is wasted
And I have spent the exuberance of youth going astray.

16. I walk with a staff in front guiding me
And my briskness for the youth has become difficult.

17. For I used to shoe the gap tooth with the sword - a strike
That would leave three dead and the officer appointed over them tortured.

18. And I would frighten them with my threats even before the morning's glow had dimmed,
Startling the sleeping and terrifying the injured.

19. We had our choice between the springs of 'Aikatain and those below them,
Blocking the way for the birds or leaving an opening.

20. He remained undeterred until an opposing group reached him
Which chose the best of its kind, as he had chosen.

21. Then he cut us off from the spring and moved against it
Adorned with women who could be ransomed for a young camel.

22. Their glances make him obey though he refused at first,
As if saffron perfume had been sprinkled over him.

23. The fortune of the spring flows down beneath his forehead
Whenever the hands of the givers are outstretched and flow freely.

24. The hands of men reach out for it when it appears -
Delicate, from the hands of the women with robes hitched up.

25. And truly I am too shy, though shame is called for,
To offer excuses when the suitor of the meadow comes to me.

26. When I pass from composing verse, you will never see
Another like me, whose poetry is smoother and more eloquent,

27. And whose abundant, wild poetry has struck
The trade routes of poetry until they were humbled.

28. It deceived a stranger whose face people stroke
Just as hands stroke the cat with clipped ears.

29. If my wedding night sleeps the whole night through,
Then it has entrusted me to stay up late and pour the wine.

30. Oh, if only Layla were between the roaring pavilions,
And the remains of a pleasant night in an illuminated tent!

31. But Layla is in a foreign land, suffering
Whenever the Iraqi star goes down.

32. Either you will see our spears joined together
And the whims of a pleasant dream, hunting prey and carving,

33. Or we are nothing but generations that have been diminished
By something much smaller and much greater than what I have met.

34. And I am the poet of a people enamored with his poetry -
I gave free rein to him, but he fell short.

35. Among us were those who protected our precious possessions
And who stroked the brave, glorious warrior made ready for battle.

36. He was of use to us on the day of trial with his trials
When the matter became serious and difficult.

37. And one whose slit was never penetrated, who
Was impregnated by training until she became torn.

38. We were present but did not deprive our spear-chests -
Her warrior and the noble steadfast man -

39. And whenever the hostile, groaning enemy spurred us on,
We restrained our zeal and pretended to make excuses.

40. We stand with our banners and unfold them together,
And if a blind man at night wanted to see, he could.

41. And the excellent tough men of valor go before us,
Alighting in a meadow or alighting in an enclosed camp,

42. As if the nests like grit had not housed us,
With partitions the green porches shaded.

43. And no talebearer had gone between me and them -
A difficult climb whose flesh when cooked had fallen off the bone.

44. It was as if his hands, and the boy he restrains,
Were two wings of an eagle when it wheeled away.

45. I turn my shoulder like the wild cows who went away angry
When they feared the pursuit of the seekers and grabbed their belongings.

46. My craving is for precious glory and a peak
And the shade of the prime of youth that has now turned away from me,

47. And my craving is for my two dear encampments, Kila and Hunaif,
When the rain in the evening becomes dust colored and dusty.

48. My two encampments, Kila and Hunaif, remind me
Of doves paired upon the rough sands that were heaped up.

49. Why should I not weep for the dwellings and their people
When they have been inhabited by the settlers of 'Ak and Himyar?

50. For the clan of Qanayan, their group has safely
Taken residence in the meadows of Abs, protected from being scattered.