1. The love of Sulaima was not habitual when it became habitual
Nor were her affections diminished by separation

2. Except as you would find in her female friends
Or as in your days among the visitors and the constant callers

3. A white she-camel, well-trained, docile
Of excellent pedigree, not worn out by bearing offspring

4. Why did the charming girls bid farewell to life as they
Bade me farewell and took on old age as their tryst with me

5. Their eyes are inclined to the youths
And I see them turning away from me without any remorse

6. Since my ignorance did not shed its darkness from me
And the physicians did not leave my malady without fuel

7. The people nicknamed me "he of anger" and put up with me
Deserving a heart that has no relief

8. Censuring a lightning bolt that struck amidst tents
And in the village they diverted it with poles

9. They disappeared while my life was in their company
And in their separation was my death and my loss

10. I cast away their poem while they took a course
Between Al-Mujaymir, then Ar-Rawḥa', then the valley

11. Sometimes they would hide for a while, and if they appeared
For a moment on a hill, the vision of them would quickly vanish

12. Amidst the low grounds, clouds flashed lightning for us
Until they hunted us down from every hunting blind

13. Killing us with a tradition no God-fearing person knows
Nor is its hidden meaning understood by any settled person

14. For they would pour out words by which they would block
The watering places with an obstructing barrage

15. Because of misfortune they would shorten the meaning
And because of a distant Arab's distance from the guide

16. When their covering was removed their thighs would appear
With the thighs and legs of a docile she-camel

17. From every docile she-camel they would remove its covering
Over a litter like the leaning of a hill

18. And all of that whenever she lifted from it
Her bridle, and from it her gentle, smooth lead rope

19. Until when the living creatures fled after they were scared
And the terrible darkness descended with the dead and the lost

20. They arrived at a verdant area whose grassiness
Was inclined from the water of Muznib upon the hillsides

21. It is an expanse whose daytime shadows
Are like the voices of singers

22. Why do I see people lies about their heroic nature
When they hear my voice and my singing

23. Except for my brother, son of Jawwal, who promises me
What does the son of Jawwal want with my destruction

24. Many a caravan and army diverted
From me at daybreak heading for the traveler's abode

25. So ask Nuzār, for she would treat me fairly
With half of what was between warmth and cold

26. And ask Ayād, for they were always present
With the interiors of my house, belittling me and distancing me

27. From me and from my dear one who would gather with me
Until she was cut off from her pasture and her fold

28. They cannot bear my load when I blame them
And if I praise them they do not treat it with contempt

29. And if I blame you my virtues do not vanish
And if I praise then you have improved my composition

30. I did not forget the station of roses that
It makes between me and the rustling of the passing forest

31. You killed Bakr and Kalb and a third
And you wanted the valley to gather

32. Were it not for the battalions of ʿAmr marching in them
You would have wanted to attack the best whose companion calls him

33. Since you do not see any fiery blaze
Or swimmer like the chief of the cavalry on his mare

34. When the horsemen of Qais with their marked camels
Surround me, my people are not witnesses

35. When men come to you asking for my blood
And if you obeyed them you would make me cry for help

36. But you disobeyed them and war is approaching
No, you ignited a flint that has no flash pan

37. The game of Āl Numayl is the best of their people
During winter when there is stinginess with provision

38. The warders the morning after panic made their neighbors
In Musharifiyya crazy from what has passed and from beckoning

39. My people's days were a position for them
And they think that I am only an agreeable companion

40. So you supported me from amidst a gloomy darkness
With a rope that contained my chest and my income

41. And no misfortune of mine after hardship
Made you gloat, O my enemies and enviers

42. So if you can do something for which you will be rewarded
Then God will make people lie in ambush

43. My soul is ransom for the sons of Umm Hudhayl, they mixed
On the day of the marsh the herbs with sweet smelling herbs

44. White swords like comets, their sharp edges
Violate the white camels, some straight and some curved

45. I gave the news to Qais on the Hashāk they had descended,
A tribe, hospitable to guests and impassioned

46. In glory, high honor, those hopeful
And ascetic in life, possessions, and homes

47. Striking ʿUmayr in his homes
With shards when ʿUmays was an unjust transgressor

48. Fixed for them a band from Mālik, respected
When meeting, swift to defend

49. Their backs are not made to flee
And in their gullets are stones from the mountains

50. They do not sheath a sword for them and they knew
That they will not have days of sheathing

51. God does not keep a people from our tribe away from us
Who did not let us down in battle or in flight

52. Protections and defenders; indeed it is a trait
That was among the customs of my people

53. You have not met a people who are more evil to their brothers
Than us in the evening when the valley flows with blood

54. Circumstances and days prevented them
And we after them do not last

55. Seeking respite when their resolve
Was only like the respite of the fleeing from the vanished

56. And a call which we heard not propped up
Except by the protectors, else the slender nib

57. Until when fires were between them
For war they would kindle, not kindled for provisions

58. And they hurried us when they were of our company
As a young camel hurries her returning visitors

59. We bring them closer with threats by which we purchase
Whatever score had been suspended over them

60. Inform Rabiʿah, its highest and its lowest
That I and Qais have agreed to the appointed time

61. And my people, when covenants did not betray them
Were like the creditor fully receiving and accumulating

62. And if I clarified, I would not find them
Among the emerges of the boastful, chatterers

63. Convey to the Qaṭāmī my praise of him, other than words of contortion
Even if between my people and your people

64. Is only the blow of the guide
I praise you for the friendship you maintained for me

65. When destruction at my hands was ordained
So I will not reward you for blessings with revilement

66. And I will not reciprocate good with corruption
And if I blame you, my virtues will not vanish