1. Ask the forlorn gazelle, has she lost her fawn?
For we glimpsed among her pastures, a gaze.

2. And say to the makers of camel-hair tents, let the east wind withhold,
For we have recognized her through it, an acquaintance.

3. She journeyed from the highlands of Syria while sick,
She did not appear until her traces were nearly erased.

4. With breath of an invalid that cures yearning,
And weakness, but we hope through it, for weakness.

5. Calling in the camel-hair tent, dictating her love
To us, and reciting from the parchments of her youth.

6. I wondered at her complaining of separation in ignorance,
When she has been answered from every side with intimacy.

7. Her singing melts the hearts of lovers,
And they did not understand anything she sang in a verse.

8. Had she been truthful in her expression of sorrow,
She would not have worn a necklace or dyed her palms.

9. She brought us comfort by mentioning one who had forgotten,
And kindled a fire for youth that will not be extinguished.

10. And by the side of the water she frequents,
Are promises that time will neither deny nor contravene.

11. Swaying to the camel-hair tent are attributes
That have given, in every rhyme, a description.

12. We donned upon her one night of the blackest dark,
That morning uncovered no trace.

13. By my life, if her absence is prolonged from us,
By decree of fate, we have surely severed ties.

14. We cast her into the west while uncherished,
Leaving no necklace or earring for Al-Jawzā'.

15. As if when its stars retreated, the night
Was an army commander we had routed, rank by rank.

16. As if upon it, the galaxy was a garden
For it, blossoming with stars, or scattering sprays.

17. As if we were thrown its crescent, so we
Robbed it of its crown, or cut off its crescent.

18. As if Suhayl was a human with drowned eyes
That seemed to shed a tear each time it set.

19. As if Suhayl was a knight who witnessed strife
Then fled without attending a raid or battle.

20. As if the spearpoint of Mars was an ember
Snatched by meteors hurtling it onward.

21. As if the setting of the eagle was a gaze that
Clung to it, neither blinking nor slumbering.

22. As if the sword of the sovereign of realms
Had been drawn against the night, so its stars bowed down.

23. May God water a cloud whose rain inundated the land,
Not sparing a plain from its moisture or plants.

24. And revived creations in spite of the nights,
Had they claimed them we would not have denied them a drink.

25. And brought to life the abode of the just ruler, after
He had perished and suffered estrangement from good he once healed.

26. He has such delight in giving until it seems
Fortune revolves around him, purified ore.

27. Hidden are the aims of the sly, his youth
Never deviated from the path of dignity or recoiled.

28. He is singular among the people of this time in his creed
Which adds to the shame of their villainy, exposure.

29. If they grow poor, he enriches; if they destroy, he builds;
If they are miserly, he gives; if they betray, he is loyal.

30. He surged ahead alone in the arena of generosity,
And the enemy said, “The clouds were his reinforcements.”

31. You have united the family of excellence through benevolence
And made their steeds familiar with kindness and cordiality.

32. And you have guided to them the elite of Al-Yaman
For they have praised that affection and pact.

33. Had you witnessed the Day of the Elephant,
The wound of the confederates would have lingered unhealed.

34. And a contemptible dog has entrusted its affairs to you,
Never lacking aid or the norm of decency.

35. How many able hands you have among them,
That when gripped, pour down their clouds insistently.

36. Good fortune met its destiny while abundant
And left behind for old age a successor.

37. Endowments in Qays and Qahtan did not leave
For it a hoof to traverse lands or a foot to tread.

38. It inhabited the lands, drinking their water
Lush and grazing its meadows, fresh and mowed.

39. A thunderbolt sparked for you in Buhturi
In which you unleashed upon them severity and violence.

40. They were subdued by the edges of sharp swords,
And were plunder, never consenting to injury or defeat.

41. When they looked upon the fertility of the land and beneath it
Your swords, they recoiled, neither forward nor backward.

42. The milking of the camel was nothing but a peddled trinket
You were charitable to it, then released it, a thousand-fold.

43. If many flaws appeared in it, it never lacked
Affection from you, fervor, or eagerness.

44. And if its signs of generosity went astray,
It only sought thunderbolts and tremors.

45. In it, enduring marriages have settled,
Never lacking after you injustice or tyranny.

46. Goodness belongs to you, for you have fulfilled your duty of generosity,
And one who makes the effort to show gratitude has been loyal.

47. Mine are, in you, from the precious rhymes, virtues
That make the mouths of transmitters kiss them, sipping.

48. With it the fragrance of the breeze exhales, when it stirs,
And the light of the gardens disseminates it, when it eases.

49. The pearls of poetry never claimed to be
Your attributes, except that I excel in stringing them.