1. Her tent pitched, she said, "The ringing sound of the barefoot!"
And when she smiled, she said, "The flashing light of the bright-toothed!"

2. She was not startled save by the tinkling of her anklets,
Nor did she behold aught but the lightning of her tent's ridge pole.

3. She tasted only the fresh draught of wine
Beware the evil eye of one who is not apprehensive.

4. Beware a knight who meets the jealous with his death
And steals away beneath the night from the skin of a mottled snake.

5. She said, "He is the formidable lion with sharp claws.
The neighing of the steed is nothing to him but the braying of a donkey."

6. It grieves me, for the sake of the beautiful woman, to tread on the train
And stumble in the skirt of her robe on Thursday eve.

7. She wishes the night were equal to her hair
So it could veil the splendor of her smooth-necked steed.

8. But she does not know that I clothe both dawn and dusk in darkness
And reveal the crescent moon to others after concealment.

9. Not every living soul have I visited by night
Nor every dark night have I traveled in darkness.

10. How many sorrows have I dispelled with three friends:
A tent, a sword, and a wine skin.

11. Slaying in battle is no slaying by one who splits skulls in the fray
But only by one who cleaves foreheads in the mellay.

12. I slept in fear amidst rubies like a frightened
Lover embracing his beloved's wrist.

13. I was ignorant of passion until I experienced its torment
As al-Ra'di experienced the might of the Determiner.

14. I ignited within myself a fire, kindled by my soul
As a palm is burned in its own flame.

15. Among that which pained me in this affair is that I
Drank a fatal, sweet poison from her lips.

16. I shot an arrow that missed and struck me
So I cast aside my bow and arrows.

17. Behold, a body that once bore my pride
Now tosses about dejectedly in the mouth of Fate!

18. Strangely, I grew old but did not mature.
He who wears the garments of separation and estrangement grows old.

19. Perhaps some artist will complete the decoration of a ruin
If he cannot complete the decoration of a lover.

20. How many a desolate, ruined abode have I passed
And a devastated, contaminated watering place!

21. Alas, would that I knew if the swaying of tents troubles her
The stumbling of the camels' drivers over the tangled guy ropes.

22. Had I been able, I would have weighted her tent's skirt
With more than the banners of the mighty army.

23. When she pronounces the "L", naught issues but gentle utterance
As if smeared with the dye of wine mixed with pure musk.

24. It seems as if her slender waists are, when she sways,
Like the pliant boughs of sandalwood, none of which is rigid.

25. When the zephyrs stir them, it seems that they are stirred
Like the swaying litters of the beautifully robed.

26. Each chieftain drives his steed against the foe,
Against every unruly dullard, one who controls the reins.

27. Troops who, in war, plunge into the blade
Each a pilgrim clad in ihram in threat of death.

28. They attend battles with nothing but insolence
And strike skulls with nothing but clumsiness.

29. Having turned their gaze away from the Caliph,
The most learned, who knows the mysteries of God without being taught.

30. And the spirit of guidance in a body of light sustained
By a ray from the Most High, who is beyond incarnation.

31. And the one connected through causes between God and him
An unsevered passage from the Origin, Most Wise.

32. If you do not know the reality of his virtue,
Ask the Revelation sent down about him and you will know.

33. Upon every line of his noble face is proof
For the beholding eye, lines clearly marked.

34. By God, were people not to derive his traits from God,
He would not be conceived nor imagined.

35. Adorned with the splendor of the Firm Truth, a bare blade,
And heir to the clear, decisive verses.

36. His knowledge encompasses mysteries not told through experience,
And he wears a forbearance beyond learning through discipline.

37. Independent by nature of all external aid,
He has the nobility of character without pretense.

38. And though indebted, were it not for Grace, his glory
Would return to one unseen and unspoken to.

39. When enemies rush madly forth, he repels their onslaught
Against a solid trunk that fells calamities harshly.

40. He marched against them as humiliated captives march,
Shackled and defeated at the first advance.

41. I think he must have commanded the prey birds in some way,
Though I did not say so, otherwise they would not have smiled.

42. If he travels beneath the clouds he illuminates their darkness,
And were he to travel beneath Arbad's darkness, it would clear.

43. When he stands fast, fears find rest and settle.
Thus, the waverers were the first refugees.

44. War's fangs laugh, bared,
At its heroes in the deadly crisis.

45. A knight appears upon it without armor
And a swimmer plunges into it without restraint.

46. No bold stroke of a warrior beyond his defense,
No stab in the pupils without inflicting pain.

47. Terror seized them so they gained neither booty
Nor did the heroes return other than disappointed.

48. It fills a hearing with the trembling of earthquake
And fills a sight with the flashing of lightning.

49. A calamitous deluge or torrential downpour,
A stalwart lion with bloodstained claw.

50. When its standards seize the chest of a huge army,
You see the backs of fleeing men beneath the palms.

51. They drive them stumbling over every track of Dawsar,
Over which are the viceroys in howdahs strapped.

52. Musk is wasted on it just as ambergris is wasted
On the skin of a leopard smeared with musk.

53. It walks slowly in the tumult while its swords
Flow with blood though unpoisoned and unstained.

54. Neither spears nor heroes return other than
Murmuring and mumbling in disappointment.

55. At times you see it somber, lacking good tidings,
At others, cheerful but lacking joy.

56. You used to know, when your blades were not nicked,
That the skull had not been nicked.

57. You preceded all to ancient glory
And surpassed time itself in longevity.

58. You are not as Shu'aybah left part of Adham,
Nor as the tribes of Jurhum erected their encampment.

59. Rather, you are a lofty mountain whose summit towers,
An impregnable, lofty palace, none of whose towers lean.

60. When a structure God alone raised remains erect
Though the world may collapse, it will not collapse.

61. Your first to proclaim God's greatness proclaimed it first,
And your first to revere God revered Him first.

62. You extend hands from which pours the dew,
When the heavens of others are not clouded.

63. Behold, you are a torrent from the loftiest principle
Returning to an ocean of holiness, surging full!

64. It seems you do not consider your palms
To pour on the worthy unless compelled.

65. For you there is no favor without perfecting it
No boon of long duration unless completed.

66. Through you the honor between Bakka and Yathrib remains
As do the rites between Hatim and Muzdalifah.

67. Thus, the people of earth continuously invoke blessings upon you,
Whether a worshiper in prayer or one pronouncing peace.

68. If my love for you has been delayed
I have no precedence in professing God's Oneness.

69. I praised you with knowledge of what I was saying
If another claims differently, his claim is baseless.

70. Even if I were to journey to where the paths end,
I would not be embarrassed nor ashamed.

71. You combine all aright speech scattered in the world
Some explicit and some ambiguous.

72. Men know only what they know
That is the mark of the Guarded Tablet.

73. When intellects fall short due to its sublimity
To conceal God's mysteries becomes an obligation.

74. If the confusion of tongues is by Divine Decree
Then a translator is inevitably required.

75. Evidence of this is that God flattened the earth
Yet it was not traversed without a guide.

76. No man was ever granted all wisdom of speech
If he did not understand or comprehend.

77. To you belongs virtue, even from you comes every bounty for me,
And all guidance - what guide does not bestow grace!

78. When the waterway overflowed with blood in floods
None seeking it attained purity but through you.

79. You have armies of God, among them His meteors,
Of blazing fire and cascading sparks.

80. You lead them in ranks, and the ranks are pilgrims
Each a devotee robed for the Ancient House, revered.

81. As your grandfather marched from Miná
And Jesus led the Disciples, son of Mary.

82. No place of refuge remains inaccessible to you
Even if it were located atop the mountain of Arqam.

83. Were it to hang from the claw of a mighty 'Anqa
Or spend the night atop the peak of A'sam.

84. The nights have excused you, and time has warned
That misfortunes will come, so prepare and be cautious.

85. Your warriors, none dons armor
And none reins his swimming steed.

86. No hero strikes a skull beyond his defense
Nor stabs deep in the pupils with a painful stab.

87. Dread seized them, so they gain neither booty
Nor do the heroes return other than frustrated.

88. It fills a hearing with the trembling of earthquake
And fills a vision with the flashing of lightning.

89. A calamitous flood or torrential downpour
A stalwart lion with bloodstained claws.

90. When its flags seize the chest of a huge army
You see the backs of fleeing men beneath the palms.

91. They drive them stumbling over every Dawsar track
Over which are the viceroys in howdahs strapped.

92. Musk is wasted on it just as ambergris is wasted
On the skin of a leopard smeared with musk.

93. It walks slowly in the tumult while its blades
Flow with blood though unpoisoned and unstained.

94. Neither spears nor heroes return other than
Murmuring and mumbling in disappointment.

95. You raised against the enemy's skull a banner
And dyed the dawn's forehead with pitch darkness.

96. You left a reddish dye from their blood
Upon the claws of the swords that have not been sharpened.

97. For you are God's armies, among them His meteors,
Of blazing fire and cascading sparks.

98. You lead them in ranks, and the ranks are pilgrims
Each a devotee robed for the Ancient House, revered.

99. As your grandfather marched from Miná
And Jesus led the Disciples, son of Mary.

100. So no place of refuge remains inaccessible to you
Even were it located atop the mountain of Arqam.

101. Were it to hang from the claw of a mighty 'Anqa
Or spend the night atop the peak of A'sam.

102. I saw the ribs of the lion bend
Over the hump of a gaunt camel eating bitter colocynth.

103. Its pillars are now withering and bleak
Its flags are now feeble and unraveling.

104. When its flags seize the chest of a huge army
You see the backs of fleeing men beneath the palms.

105. They drive them stumbling over every Dawsar track
Over which are the viceroys in howdahs strapped.

106. Musk is wasted on it just as ambergris is wasted
On the skin of a leopard smeared with musk.

107. It walks slowly in the tumult while its blades
Flow with blood though they are unpoisoned and unstained.

108. The spears do not speak save with the clattering of bones
And the heroes do not return save with groaning and moaning.

109. Voices fill the hearing amidst trembling earthquake
And sights fill the eye amidst flashing lightning.

110. A croucher in the wave's swell, a snarler of white foam,
A resolute lion with bloodstained green claws.

111. As if the darkness and the night together enshroud
Its brooding darkness, the darkness heaping darkness.

112. So no regrets come with disappointment other than from
One who gains nothing, and no shattered bones other than from one demolished.

113. No bloodied horse reins other than crimson
No Indian swords other than nicked and notched.

114. You raised over the enemy's skull a banner
And dyed the grey dawn with it, dense darkness.

115. You left a reddish dye from their blood
Upon the blade of the sword that was not polished.

116. For you, Time and days flow with events
As you desire, whether death or allotted fortune.

117. You began with pardon for all sinners
And established the custom of amnesty for all offenders.

118. While every respite in dire straits
Comes from the Powerful, The Wise Ordainer.

119. And whoever knows for certain that pardon has a place
Refrains from the sword, though angry, and shows clemency.

120. Reason comes only after careful deliberation
And wisdom only after long experience.

121. I saw that you grant provision to those you provide for
While those deprived by you are deprived.

122. I saw that when you strengthen a kingdom its authority endures
And when you do not secure glory, it crumbles.

123. You hold the universe in your grasp
So flatter misfortune or make peace with it, and it will comply.

124. Surely events are submissive to your fingertips
So eliminate the problem there, decisively it will be eliminated.

125. And naught remains for Fate but trespass
While the length of its cord is in your hands, so break it.

126. Naught remains of them but disgrace and humiliation
More despised than the lowly slave and more humiliated.

127. Swords like scabbards, and a state
That coils in humiliation like a pliant stick.

128. So they walk proudly in coats of mail
While they walk in humble robes of patchwork.

129. They are the chronic ill which spread
To your rifts - though minor - and your bones - though solid.

130. They are the ones who ignited that kindling
Which blazed though unkindled.

131. They are the ones who made lawful the inheritance
Of their Prophet for the illegitimate Taym without right.

132. By what decree of God when they reject it?
Could they offer other than the appointed?

133. By what law of Revelation and the Chosen could
They make his progeny drink poisoned nectar?

134. They did not regret that there was no pact
Rather, pledges to them are like the ropes of Shadham.

135. By God! A day will come for the Hashimi
That scatters the nests of resolve from all cowards.

136. Like the day of Yazid when the captive women
Were driven upon the smoothest camel saddles.

137. The plain was congested with bodies upon which
Were the honorable sons of the Prophet, dignified.

138. They startled the sons of mirage and crookedness
And made weep the people of Judayl and Shaddakh.

139. Those who shackled them in every westward Dawsar
Upon which were the viceroys in howdahs strapped.

140. You have never been immune to any place of refuge
Even were it concealed in the bosom of Arqam.

141. Had it been suspended from the claw of a mighty 'Anqa
Or spent the night atop the peak of A'sam.

142. There remains among them an unfailing bond
And seekers of a bond from you that never sleeps.

143. So the cunning of fate has no stratagem left
Except trespass for you there to check - so checkmate it.

144. And naught remains of them but disgrace and humiliation
More despised than the slave and more disgraced than the intermediate.

145. Swords like scabbards, and a state
That coils in humiliation like a pliant stick.

146. So they walk proudly in coats of mail
While they walk in humble robes of patchwork.

147. They are the chronic ill which spread
To your veins - though fine - and your bones, though solid.

148. They were the ones who unsheathed the swords of that betrayal
By which 'Ali was struck, though not by ibn Muljam's sword.

149. And with the hatred of paganism, it still
Seethes, never cooling nor allaying.

150. And for vengeance taken at Badr, your blood
Was shed, and every barefoot captive was shackled to you.

151. They refuse to let its oozing wounds heal
Remaining forever enraged, boiling with hidden rancor.

152. They graze dangerously, wildly, against one
With elongated sword strike, fleet, hardened warrior.

153. Scarcely meeting white swords other than from the claws
Scarcely drinking from cups other than of blood.

154. At times somber, lacking good news,
At others cheerful, but lacking joy.

155. You used to be known