1. The travelers have embarked on their journey, and below us
Lies a plain stretching from Jufaydah’s valley to Kuthayb.

2. Beyond lie the hills, the angels, obscured before our eyes-
The sacred heights of Jerusalem and its depths.

3. If you have decided, daughter of Malik, to cast off restraint
Though counsel about that course may be right or wrong,

4. Know that I am a man who has endured tribulation
And suffered many sorrows throughout my life.

5. I spurn baseness; I do not clothe myself with it.
My share of good and ill in this world is sufficient.

6. White partridges shelter on its southern slopes,
And a few mountain cows and some crosses.

7. I scared off the secure birds and beasts of prey
With the howling of my hungry, threadbare camel.

8. I feel as though my camel is stumbling over uneven ground
Baring his gums, his loose teeth displayed.

9. He sticks out his tongue as if
Scratching for locusts with his front teeth.

10. And rain came pelting down, battering my shoulders,
Its edge like the lower end of an upturned bucket.

11. When the bit is attached, the ants seem
Like a man waving both hands in welcome.

12. The ram moves backwards before the ewes as if
He were an ardent lover serenading his beloved.

13. Hailstones were driven on me rapidly
Scattered between them tongues of flame.

14. Peering ahead with my hand, I rose and went on,
Following steadily in my course.

15. The dissenter, when events confront him, though his leg
In their impact and speed may stumble.