1. Imagination knocked, though no night was dark,
Blocking our path without winding about.

2. How did you find your way when you were not a guide,
While the people had cut the ropes of intertwined hemp?

3. The people despaired and their riding beasts were spent
Except for nearly escaping with the quilted saddlecloth.

4. I pelted her with a wineskin, its stitches gaping,
And a bending gazelle I startled with a bramble bush.

5. As if they were pearls, as if it
Was a falcon seeking refuge with an undefiled dove.

6. A falcon hunting with its talons and wings—
When it strikes an undefiled dove in the sandy tracts.

7. If you ask, when the army lost heart
And the gutless coward’s fright was revealed,

8. And you heard the impact of our swords upon their heads
Like the rumble of clouds on outstretched tent ropes,

9. And when the meadows breathed easy in the evening,
The ostriches’ necks bent to the hollow of the sandy tract.

10. You made our dwelling the best hospitality for a guest
If there was no milk, then the blessings of a patched waterskin.

11. You sent, scolding from the lads of Al-Aghr,
A falcon whose dove seeks refuge in the sandy tracts.

12. When you cook it over its fire, it will be well-done,
When cooked over another’s, it will not be well-done.