1. To my waiting the stars of misfortune and fortune,
And the silence of my despair which I neither renew nor express,

2. Indeed my side has wearied of my bed from staying in it,
And my sword has wearied of dwelling in its scabbard,

3. And my soul urged into yearning,
For travel, soft carpets, desert, and pillow,

4. And my trained horse came to me snorting, saying:
“Shall I remain like this, neither chased nor chasing?”

5. Indeed, my keeping my eyelids closed over grit has been too long
And my contention for pearls from a deep sea has been too long,

6. My two friends, do not blame me, for it was not I
Who led myself astray, nor can I rightly guide myself,

7. I will always follow you closely,
And I have within me determination and ambition enough,

8. Am I like one who hands over the reins of his matter
And is content to be dragged upon without profiting?

9. If I was not born in an impregnable Waili fortress
Meeting my forefathers, begetting children,

10. Its summits for the wind-swift poets and relating itself
To the Bestowing King, submissive of forelock,

11. My cur-like fool of foolishness and stupidity thinks,
Desiring an Indian woman and yearning for a dusky maiden,

12. And he does not know that I am a glorious hero whose body
Has been healed by worries whose horses always lead to destruction,

13. Scornful of fate, proceeding despite terrors,
Upon the night, the wilderness, heat and cold,

14. I am without a heart that does not harbor worries
Of honorable endeavors and rising to glory,

15. By my life, neither a dusky woman is my worry,
Nor do I have for an Indian woman any love or passion,

16. Rather my passion is for highness and my early manhood
For a knowing, generous lady of high birth,

17. How long do you two reproach me for the highness I promised her
When fulfilling a promise with a promise is other than consent?

18. And how I solicit the dead, consult the barrens,
Rouse the stale, persist with the blind,

19. And bestow my effort and affection upon a group
More deserving of hatred than dogs or loved ones!

20. To God I complain of a stumble, if it were to be shredded
By tearing my skin I would not regret my hide,

21. I praise men, some of whom I use it to avoid
Their harm, and some for courtesy and affection,

22. So neither affection suffices for this nor avoidance of harm for that
And they looked not into the chapter of blame or praise,

23. Then how could they be if I came to them complaining
Of the privation of my days having made them my succor?

24. Thus I and my gift of praise to them would be as one who flogs
The tails of mangy dogs out of desire for the knots’ discharge,

25. And saying: “Make light of it, for it is little worth,
And wellbeing lies in asceticism,”

26. So if the hyena heads rise up from the intoxication
Of fate, then be patient, for it is intoxication to a point,

27. So the female may rule and the gravel may be kneaded,
And the most misguided may be followed and the monkey worshipped,

28. And scum may float over the sea, and waves may gather
Over pearls exceeding number,

29. And how many a lord has woken to atone
For obedience to a negro of no good or purity,

30. And time must turn for this fate to have an awakened moment
In which is shown to us misguidance from propriety,

31. So I said to her, “For me parting from you, rarely
Does the youth live until he is buried in the grave,”

32. God has refused that I see a land wherein dogs jump
Upon lions,

33. Do you not know that defiance is foolishness
And contentment with humiliation is the trait of the despicable?

34. And that humoring an enemy is disgrace
If there is no intoxication of death present?

35. Shall I be content with what satisfies the base while my sword
And my determination are the determination of a refuting disputant?

36. I shall go through the days determined as the son of Hurrah,
To be ransomed by the forefathers of men and not ransoming,

37. If I attain the matter which I seek
Then oh newest felicity and oh fortune at the ready!

38. And if loss comes to me before what I hope for
Then oh disappointment of one who hopes and oh wasted effort!

39. I am among a people whose child shows
To one of insight the sign of leadership in the cradle,

40. If I have no helper among the sons of my father
Then my resolve and determination suffice me against the multitudes,

41. And if ambitions for his people are attained by a man of resolve
Then my soul whispers to me that it alone attains it,

42. I am the full moon that seemed at first to wane
Then fulfilled its perfection, and the sea that follows ebb with flow,

43. When my fears shake the home of an enemy then do not ask me
About Sa’eed or Sa’d,

44. Oh for my people the day I become fallen
Upon a glorious one who revives their magnanimity after me,

45. I am among my people as Amr ibn Amer
Whom, for nights, his tribesmen of Azd disobey,

46. I see them the signs of destruction, and what appears
Of the plundering rat in its firm rock,

47. So they have not restrained themselves despite what befell them and so they were torn to pieces,
The hands of captivity in desolation among them and in the slopes,

48. And how many a rat in our land tears out ebony
And pelts the shepherds with arrows upon granite,

49. My two friends, the home of disgrace is not my home,
So know my house, and my water source is not your water source,

50. And I have no need to accompany the ignoble
Due to my knowledge that it is mangy and contagious,

51. Shall my life pass in error among associates
Who are blind and are not guided to good or guide to it?

52. Their indifference to the harm of their companion
And their drowsiness toward the worries of enemies ready to pounce,

53. When they promise the enemies good and fulfill it
With the fidelity of Indian food to vows for the gods,

54. And their worst feature is the right of a friend, so if they become delirious
With some good for him then let him await the opening of a dam,

55. India will know I am the best of her people
And that I am the hoped for one to unravel or tie affairs,

56. And that when grave news has piled up and I repel it
With the determination of one of conviction and the daring of one resolute,

57. And that the hands of the tribe are wider in reach and mine is their widest
And that the spark-makers of war are deeper piercing and my spark is their deepest,

58. And that when I am called to valor and rare deed
I will be present in my support and most generous in my gift,

59. And that the noble souls of the tribe, enmity does not shake,
My reproach will hurt them and my loss will pain them,