1. For whom is the house desolate with emptiness
Other than traces and ink stains like a book

2. The breeze and southern wind changed it
And a north that sows the fragments of dust

3. They took turns ventilating it while every filthy thing
With continuous thunder and clouds tossing

4. It was deserted after the gathering like beasts of prey
From the daughters of the dignitary or perfumer

5. And women departing and theaters and lodgings
And young maidens like ostriches and tents

6. And mature ones with dew and dimples
And youth with necks subdued by the yoke

7. The acquaintances from it provoked my longing
When old age settled the house of youth

8. Wild donkeys made it their homeland though it was
Previously homelands of she-camels, flatlands

9. Amongst them a cheek that captivated me
With coquetry and stirred my infatuation

10. A high dune beyond which there was no rise
And a mound below which there was no descent

11. We were only created as heads
Who makes heads equal to tails

12. We do not hoard wealth by calculations but
Make wealth the wing that enables calculations

13. And we fend off enemies with a strike
Of sharp swords and stabbing with spears

14. And when the horses paw the ground in war
And the dust rises above the armor

15. The nimble horses seek refuge in us
Heavy bellied and strong boned

16. With disheveled forelocks in the ribbons and straps
Of a raiding party of Arabs

17. Galloping as if they were zebras
That heard the cry of a pursuing hound

18. Chasing the winds glorious in their flight
After war cry follows war cry