1. For whom are the traces of the abode in the sand hills
That have been erased by the passage of time

2. The winds have left nothing of its features
Except some flickering embers and kindling wood

3. To an abode between the barren wilderness
With the moles and the two prints and the books

4. It appeared to your eyes though dilapidated
Its ruins like lines written in books

5. And the sand grouse began to laugh on its sides
At the overflowing tears of the clouds

6. So the land appears to the beholder’s eye
Adorned in its ragged clothes

7. O guide of the caravan, stand by it for a while
And revive the image of the sand dune

8. The small trees, the bending trees, and the lightning
Water, the valley of Al-Arak and the sand hills

9. And the two rested camels who were generous to them
With dates and goading with resolute palms

10. The abode of Mayy that my longing brings near
And fulfilling her promise is most wondrous

11. Mayy appears amidst the niceties of civilization
Sometimes delicate and sometimes clever like the Arabs

12. Her companions fancy around her
A full moon surrounded by stars

13. The shine of her cheeks and front teeth are healing
To the ardour of youth, the chain of her little gap tooth smile

14. A helpless old woman wrapped in her cloak
Her face is without blemish or scar

15. A beautiful woman, the adornment of clothes
Who was only stripped to adorn herself with what she lost

16. And a loyal, loving friend who conceals
Secrets in both conditions, full of etiquette

17. I gave him while the dawn was shining
A drink from the exquisite wine

18. You see the grapes of the vine blossoming
In their colour though not blossoming

19. And a scorched seat whose scent
Is like a passionate lover full of desire

20. In it and in the manner of its making
Is the most wondrous of wonders

21. When they adorned him from Sabean
Necklaces, he returned them made of gold

22. And a she-camel he rides in the morning
While the stars set and the dawn shines white as honey

23. A she-camel that does not tire from walking far
Nor complains of the effort

24. Nothing but the toils of glorious virtues she carried
And the dawn is not obscured by night

25. He sees the gushing of water sprouting
When before it did not sprout

26. An eye of water that has gone dry
Dried by the flooding water and plants

27. There the eye spotted a fowler
Covered in plants and armed

28. Who quickly flew a long time on wings
Of feathers the days and nights

29. And a hut whose owner does not fear
Termites like the rest of the wood

30. Until when she came to her watering hole
He shot an arrow from it but did not hit

31. So they turned away from him to the hills
To the foothills, to the land of Qaisum and the west

32. Not like the flaming, crackling tamarisk bush
When its flames pour out over the ruins

33. Resembling it whether trotting or galloping
On roads or plains

34. I say o she-camel as she started
To prance like the prancing, firm muscled

35. The likes of you does not complain of weariness or
Groan that the resolute camel rider is exhausted