1. The crescent heralded nightfall while they disputed,
As if there were slaughtered gazelles in my eyes.

2. When I remembered my intimate friend absence overtook me,
My care took hold of me and the most arduous of calamities weakened my back.

3. Generous one, by God I will never tire of you both
And with me there remains mention and glorification of you.

4. The red tent, like the firmly pegged ropes, when
The wind raged and the tempests pulled up the pegs.

5. And the mares were led slowly in the cool of evening as
Ostriches are led to their resting places by the evening breeze.

6. And he said, "What is your business in Siyan and staying there
While the plains turned white?"

7. And likewise, "Do not pasture your camels where once
Their cattle grazed and wandered freely."

8. They captured some young she-camels of Harjaf that were unbroken,
Rutting in the center of the dwellings.

9. As for the mature she-camels among them, they are defiant,
Wandering among their pastures while the cooking pots boil.

10. They do not value the honorable pregnant ones, and their
Udders are dry and lacking in milk.

11. You will find that the guest does not dislike his entertainment,
And the neighbor, though complicated, is loving and generous.

12. Then, when their laden saddlebags are emptied
And death is revealed—truly death is stripping away—

13. And death stripped away with overwhelming power, as if they
Were leather water skins the water bearer defends with the tent pegs.

14. You will find that the tribe does not weaken its thorns
Nor does vileness mix with it in war.

15. You will find that it prevails over the lion of Masadd, whose
Incisors when bared are blades that slash and cut.

16. And one worn out as if by the separation of a head that convulses him
With deadly, far-reaching strokes of its tent ropes.

17. He runs in his valley as if he is the mirage
Of Dhahal al-Khuza'i that the wind makes tremble.

18. With the sun melting him down in his rocky area
As if he were a Persian scorched by the palm of a hand.

19. He lies next to the edge of the desert with his masculinity exposed
Like a great-humped young male goat salt-encrusted.

20. When he is not walking with his loose saddle and scarf
None pass by him except the short-necked camels with their nose rings.

21. Truly, he only seeks to be among the zealous
Youth, the heat at midday and the sighing of the restless mares.

22. By your life, if praising the living would resurrect someone
I would revive your fatherhood, O piercing heat of noon!

23. By your life, when I look forward to seeing my companion
About to return, my tears pour forth abundantly.

24. And by God, I will not be satisfied with the son of an uncle who is like
The hoary hair that persists as long as the doves moan!

25. Rather, a lad gained in early manhood with a gaze
That pierces like the point of a sharp sword.

26. I will launch a raid with warriors at daybreak
And am I made of what is touched by the tomb!

27. And a mare that casts off her clothing as if
She were shaking it beneath the howdah by the stirrup.

28. And I scattered them until when their faces were exposed
Rapidly there appeared faces and shaved heads.

29. You rushed against their vanguard and outstripped them
And combed through early in the day—truly you are combing!

30. Then if you touch during a night march the desolation of a ruin
Your companion will be the moaning of graves.

31. Against my inclination I do not restrain my tears
Rather I let loose their flock to flow freely.

32. For you have no neighbors or helpers
Nor kindness that weeps for you sincerely.

33. And if they had tried him for an hour, his horn,
When it clashes, makes the legs of men stumble.

34. And a flock perfumed with ambergris, as if it is
The blood of young gazelles with slit throats.

35. You devoted yourself to them in speech—truly you possess
Whatever you wish of the sweetness of elegant words!

36. Thus you enabled yourself to obtain what you want, but some of them
Are wretched in the face of your goodness—headstrong.

37. And he competed with them in speech until
Hearts that used to keep away now inclined toward him and rested.

38. He left behind, as he crossed, a hazy cloud of dust
That a horseman makes shine, waving.

39. In it are remnants of shoes, counterpart
To the feet, scattered about from the caravans.

40. In it are stones pelted between them, deadly
Missiles, like the barking of wild dogs, are discharged.

41. You crossed when the mirage was as if it were
The milk boiling on cooking pots over the fires.