1. Do you depart from Layla though you are not yet equipped,
Like one who has accomplished the separation from affection?

2. I see it as foolish for a man to set his heart
On a fair-cheeked coquette; when close, she distances.

3. Have you forgotten the days we spent together in Duhaysha
And our days in the desert, uninhabited and desolate,

4. And the arid plain where gazelles frisked about
When, like al-Raziqi, you rode your excellent steed?

5. I traversed the barren plain of Sahba mounted
On a swift she-camel, wandering far from all dwellings,

6. Built by al-Sawadi, the compliant and obedient,
Who gave me water and fed me barley at Mahjad.

7. At the abode of Ibn Yazid or that of Ibn Mu'arrif
She lingered awhile before journeying on, bridled.

8. She became like the structure erected by al-Tahami
With bricks, mortar, lime, and jagged stones.

9. When the day of departure came and he who grieves
Had gear for one distressed, desirous of setting out,

10. I tightened her girth and she grew restive
And strayed onto the road, lost without guidance.

11. For three months and more she became accustomed
To the gear of travelers, like a sword worn smooth;

12. Her obstinacy refused curses - may her decline
Be to the Glorious, the Bestowing, the Praiseworthy Muhammad!

13. To a king whose cares are not dispelled by sleep
Or by retiring to the couch where he reclines;

14. The drawn sword of long struggle awakens his cares,
Disturbing the slumber of warriors in every camp.

15. You were never found by war to be sleepy
When called, or lying languid on any couch,

16. But war comes to life in the least of its forms
If roused, though not raging with destructive fire.

17. By the life of Him whose Caaba the Quraysh circumambulated,
You inflicted on them a cunning scheme, unpropped!

18. All were humbled, so you wronged no one,
You trampled them with the tread of a fettered camel

19. With a well-groomed army whose glance does not waver
And horses and spears and troops giving victory

20. As if the ostriches of Dubbat were over them
When they cry out discordantly with an enraged wail.

21. None showed weakness or gave way, as though his brow
Were smeared with dregs or plastered with dried mud.

22. The mosquitoes of Qurayta stung their necks
Whenever they alighted on their hides, buzzing.

23. As if the people's clothes around his lair
Were flies swarming on the flank of a harvest-heap.

24. He saw the light of a fire after roaming awhile,
Its glow shining through the twisted branches of 'athl and gharqad.

25. So he rejoiced at the fire which guided him
To them, and kindled the raging blaze.

26. When they saw him below the tread of their steeds
They fled hastily, equipped with their weapons.

27. The love of life was allowed them, so they fled,
While the soul's hope for tomorrow spurs one on.

28. Before he could meet a captive, lightly-held,
With none to ransom him, they heard his cry

29. Calling his companions with a surer, bolder cry
Than the one they did not hear then.

30. "With more truthful, on the day of help and salvation,
When the valiant weaken in every arena

31. No canal flowing to Sa'naba's meadows
Has an easy course to every watering-place,

32. Nor does Nabit al-Zurq water its dwellings
From channels watered by the coming rivers.

33. It attains its goal more generously, though some
Deem enough the name of promised gift.

34. You see the black and the roan like the mighty and the brave,
Bestowed from Tarif, purebred and pedigreed."

35. Do not reckon me thankless for a favor to me -
My witness is God's witness - so bear witness!

36. But he whose eyes cannot discern the ground before him
When lit by companions does not stand alone.