1. Her tribe blamed her, and her intimate friend;
Yet she was of a character whose vileness time disclosed.

2. She knew not how many a night she spent awake,
While she was sleeping in my eyes and I was making her drowsy.

3. She slighted a youth whose face was brightened
By freshness, and whose gravity checked her blame and censure.

4. Do not deny my anxiety, for I am more
Prudent than the violent power of misfortunes and their evils.

5. So the first thing revealed was the effect of the polishing of a sword,
And hearts were tried and sorrows disciplined.

6. And if events have kissed you with their lips,
It is He who has told you of their pleasures and blessings.

7. Have you not seen the abodes of Malik's daughter,
How the sigh figured its forms?

8. Its backing and facing, its length and breadth,
Its ruins and new parts and old;

9. The winds blow over it gently and strongly,
Restraining their song, without restraining it.

10. As if he had cast his staff on it when fully ripened -
An erratic piercing throw - without hitting the mark.

11. Truly I relieved you of trouble with valor
Of a noble sort when the affairs were confused.

12. With three like the three of perfume that gained perfection;
Its color, taste, and odor were yours.

13. And three like the three of the garden produce that matched each other:
Its twigs, fruit, and shade were yours.

14. And three like the well-rope's three that favored the bucket's drawer:
Its posts, poles, and leather were yours.

15. And three like the cooking-pot's three that perplexed:
Was the last of them, the one with the contents, or its keeper?

16. And when the vexation of the pilgrim is stilled one day,
With them you have been vexed when you wished for tranquility.

17. Abd al-Hamid belongs to Layla and to the overflowing bounty
In her, and is like her sword, her father Ibrahim.

18. They surpassed people whose elevation has become certain.
All certainty that they are its stars.

19. If foolish Buqayl undertook to praise her,
His folly would be made easy for him.

20. And if eloquent Suhban undertook to blame her,
He would not know how to show hostility to her.

21. We have come to you, keeping a secret purpose
Whose greatness makes great things insignificant.

22. With swords we have apportioned the necks that oppose hers,
And wrong cannot be given rights like her right.

23. For us are the keys of her covers and saddle-bags,
While the groom has charge of her provisions and meat.

24. The deserts have taken her stages and halts,
So that distance excuses her while we blame her.

25. There is clearing of her plants that cannot be watered
By the sound of the night rain pouring on them.

26. She is a night one whose anxiety
Has been calmed before by the echoes of desolation and its owls.

27. She is a sharply fleeing one whose troop
Outwent its guide and its driver disappeared.

28. Her sturdy camel carries her and her howdah,
While her Sa'dan and Dhamil make her drowsy.

29. Weariness has conquered her necks and nostrils,
So her limited endurance is a loan to her.

30. It is as if her neglected mount is reined in anger,
And as if her lost one is destined to be slaughtered.