1. Greet the quarter of Salma in Thi Salam
On which the days and time have left their mark

2. As long as we live, we will dwell in it
Though life may last, it will not last forever

3. O abode where the south winds moaned
Over faint traces and scattered ruins

4. You decayed after I left
And the quarter I deserted can be excused for decaying

5. My pact with your magnificence, splendid landmarks
Of luscious flowers, fleece, and grapes

6. She was a white beauty that others admired
We did not dare hunt in the sacred precinct

7. She was an idol to us though we never
Prostrated like those who bow to idols

8. Fancy came to visit her, or rather your fancy
Came when all minds sleep, but thoughts do not sleep

9. A gazelle I stalked when I laid my traps
Of dreams for it late in the night

10. Then it grew bold and we grew sick with longing
Though busy, we cannot forget our sickness

11. Today your mind is distracted from a phantom that pained you
And from the ruins of a lovely phantom

12. Of wenches whose bags contain no mingled
Merchandise of words when they speak

13. When they reach Abu Kulthum they take
Pilgrims' vows from various faiths

14. God has built him among nomads and city dwellers
As a towering lion, strong and uncrumbling

15. A soothsayer saw him in the cradle and told his mother
"The discerning say: This boy is the cream of nobles"

16. Rejoice secured from fear and want, O Bani Jusham
For the pedigree has come to you clearly

17. Though time walks with bent back
This boy will force time to walk like that

18. His fingers are brooks flowing with valor
And zeal is a cloak from God stretched over the honored

19. He obtained the peninsula though gaining it was impossible
I said to them: Inhale his fragrance when lightning is unseen

20. The spring is no greener to the towns because of him
Than his fresh twigs are to the arid sands

21. I see no one who has erased the memory of Mayyah
As he did though many sang of Mayyah's wine

22. A glory that shepherded the vicissitudes of time and he was
A youth until time itself walked with faltering steps

23. Generosity built him and true valor and when
The sublime is built by anything but these two, it crumbles

24. A halt at the family of Sa'd, their hands
Are poison to the arrogant and antidote to the aggressive

25. No wretched neighbor dwells beside them
And their covenants are free of any blemish

26. They were loyal to all the Abbasid kings
Preserving them from the wrongs of the usurpers

27. Gently, O Bani Malik! Do not bring
The crane of Raqim to live among eagles

28. What bitterness have you harbored and unleashed?
What perversity have you blamed the Bani Jusham for?

29. Malik did not spare you pardon and forgiveness
Even if the serpent of Hayy blew into tinder

30. You do not repeat your raids on their blood
Nor assault any flesh among them

31. You dragged him against his will from his bed
Though fire can be lit from the rubbing of branches

32. You trampled him on the embers of filial impiety
Though even lions depart when discomforted

33. You were locked in fetters and walked the walk of slaves
Just as horses walk elegantly when bridled

34. When none can be relied upon but those who are just
The deaf man excuses many deaf ones

35. Of the licentiousness of girls who when they dress up
Can be smelled by those with sensitive noses

36. If they commit crimes, they do not repent
And if they wrong people, they are not blamed

37. Time was a dog that abandoned you
And fate among you is the most inviolable

38. Is it blindness that made people practice usury and be saved
While you unleash floods of tribulations?

39. Is it from grand ambitions that seethed? Many weak ones
Were led by the loftiness of nobles in their pride

40. You flee from him and give leadership when
A foreign dog howls among you

41. He is bent with old age and your confusion
Has made his food your subsistence

42. Claws that will scratch hotly when they return
Dyed by your blood without even being sharpened

43. A religion that reduces all remaining lifespans
And a mercy that fluttered over all wombs

44. If it wasn't for pleading kinship, the harvests of
Swords and pens would have abandoned you

45. Your faces would be blackened with shame
Not naturally blackened with soot

46. Do not take rebellion as your riding beast, it is a camel
That grazes in the valley of blame

47. I looked at ancient times and found
His days had devoured the first fruits of nations

48. It destroyed Jurhum and Thamud completely
With stars of time, Aad and Iram

49. It intoxicated Qilaib and Hammam and roused
The day of scattering for turbans and skulls

50. It quenched the thirst of Shurahbil with the poison
Of toads by your hands without shedding blood

51. It cut short the greetings of Lakhm, no crowned
King in turbans, nor any turban remains

52. O downfall! You were not safe from its evil
And folly makes one forget the stumbling of feet

53. When the kingdom was established and its encampments grew firm
In the dynasty of the lion, not the servants

54. A woman wandering alone, her father was not
One who swallowed flesh forcefully

55. Do not rouse evil from a people, for your lands
Are called the home of blessings

56. This is the son of your uncle giving sincere advice
One who is suspected yet above suspicion among you