1. Do you know which lightning flashes,
And which fever has spread its breeze?

2. That is why it rose from the land of Najd,
And this one stirs, remembering the perplexed one.

3. It shone from the mouth of Salma,
So its flashes ignited the horizons and mounds.

4. And it gained from her a musk whose musk,
And from their abodes came one sick,

5. So anyone he breathes upon falls ill.
They are people who preferred residing in the desert,

6. And as shelter when the clouds unloaded.
They are the lively, pure breed, so they never

7. Submitted to a king, for their affliction is great.
They drag glories to the sublime,

8. And they drag bounties, no gloom descends.
When they fight a war, they plough it,

9. And when they are generous, they do not stint.
And if they encamp on a land, they perfume it,

10. So that the meadows smell of their dwellings.
And in their vales a moon appeared

11. So for its rising the stars hid away.
It illuminated for us from its brilliance the plateaus

12. And for us it lit up the awesome night.
My heart became enraptured from a tale,

13. So for it an old passion remained.
And I confided in it to allow a glance,

14. But it did not glance, and it was averse.
And it wanted to come near to a distant beloved,

15. So reaching her became difficult for what it desired.
And whoever’s heart becomes attached to an averse one,

16. Aloof and scornful, he remains in lasting sorrow.