1. The day their caravans halted and turned away
They severed our covenant and became disloyal

2. The female ostriches of Al-Yamamah cried with grief
Goad them on, their setting out is imminent

3. Frightened, their bellies gaunt, as if
Thin intestines writhed ahead of them

4. After being near their homes and united
At dawn they cut your rope and marched away

5. The day the slain of Jidh displayed
Polished heads adorned with bands

6. And scattered bodies like locusts exposed
To the morning dew, sweet and well-arranged

7. Housed goods piled like the growth of plants
Watered by playful, cheerful runnels

8. A fawn, young of the does, innocent
Neither stubborn nor unruly

9. Like an abandoned orphan grazing gazelles
While the wild is desolate, devoid of other herds

10. She shakes the spray andSWITCHES with a gentle
Sway, whose sides flow open in two parts

11. On a tall, verdant palm, when
The sun has risen barely an hour, it spills its sap

12. And it follows the scattering bones, weak,
Its eyes listless, its limbs slack

13. It suffers neither day nor night
Except in decency or nobility

14. Her heart anxious for it yet she does not
Harm it for pity has softened her body

15. When she fears the beasts at dusk
And night falls, it is time for her to set out

16. A smooth doe, steady of gait, no deceit or guile
Bear patiently, my soul, parting is inevitable

17. Like the back of a shield, a desolate plain
Where none returns except the echo

18. I crossed it, and under me a recalcitrant she-camel
Difficult, biting, kicking

19. A fox-colored camel making rocks split
With her hardy tread, hard as flint

20. And I would cut off a friend if I gained
No benefit, for brotherly love is rare indeed

21. With a burning hearth heated by tree-cutters
Whose fuel is the oryx and wild goats

22. Of rugged hills, it repels visitors
When the guests jostle for position

23. At the shelter, when the day has lit its fire
As the shade is seized by the thorns

24. Her quick mares, the asses, and the fillies
Pant as the drivers shout

25. Above a jaded camel, worn by travel,
The cries of the stallions and the grunts

26. Or a lone lost camel pasturing on arta plants
Spending the night in their thickets in distress

27. Taken out by Qahba, trailing her skirt
A half-blind she-camel leads her string

28. He did not sleep the night of the full moon
Until dawn illuminated him with its light

29. Marked by Satim's face or Licayan's
His youth worn away by separation

30. He suffered neither day nor night
Except the sands' ebb and the offshoot plants

31. Flies pestered him like swooping kites
Bent only on catching up

32. Thus did I liken my she-camel as she sped
Towards me after the lightning, to lightning

33. And so I visit the Banu Qais
When love's link with the beloved is severed

34. I am one of them, they are my people
And I yearn for them

35. They are who they are, wine flows
Their feasts commence and rights are disputed

36. The disgraced - nothing to do with misfortune’s time
Until they recover when they recover

37. The rich are stingy toward the refugees
And so their tents lack manners

38. The people walked proudly to debauchery
While the pauper - where is the evening meal?

39. There they took what was not theirs
While the leather wine-skins of the pure poured forth

40. When the wine circulated, they set down the cups
And the drinkers and horizons withdrew

41. The race of the light horses increased not their folly
Nor their sport amongst themselves and vying

42. When the worst were made equal to the clean
And spitting decreased amongst the affected

43. Against desire, horses were ridden to frenzy
For judgment fails when passions rise

44. I placed my belongings in Najran's meadows
At ease, though longing still remains

45. With mares whose riders hurry
Home, while they desire Iraq

46. At dawn we have a ride and travel-food
And early start and hasty departure

47. With bright-faced youths as if drink's injury
Had struck them - overthrown empty wineskins

48. In them are bounty, generosity, charm
Eloquence in them and polished speech

49. High-minded, loathing wrong
Remaining when destitutes depart

50. You see a gathering thronged as with lions
Garlanded, clothed in thin raiment