1. My mounts arrived at dusk, at al-Udhayb,
And the riding-beasts had traversed the Najd wilderness with us.

2. Tidings that made my heart fly from its place;
I had resolved, but my resolve led me astray.

3. Would that the messenger from Iraq had brought news of another;
Not all who are missed cause such pain when lost.

4. You who lament him today, be gentle with my wounds;
You have increased the anguish of my heart.

5. How wretched is a greeting from afar
With which I am greeted, kindling sorrow in my breast.

6. Despite me, you have arrived at a place
From which you have turned back, finding neither fresh water nor cold.

7. May you be rewarded for the pillars of religion you erected
And the treaties to strengthen religion you concluded.

8. And for silencing with an argument a controversialist
Whose mouth choked on lumps, with no escape or rebuttal.

9. I waited in ambush until I encountered his arrows,
And in his quiver he fixed the sharpest arrows.

10. And a slippery argument—however you wished to refute it,
Those who reiterated it and those who fabricated it have slipped.

11. I pray God grant you His pardon,
O, may abundant rain come to you, far-reaching and fertilizing!

12. I pray God grant you His pardon,
Defending you, that you may succeed and not regress.

13. I wept for you until my watcher's tears were exhausted,
If my tears for you had continued, they would not have helped.