1. They are the tall ones from Najd whom the rays of Sirius shade,
Calling out to their father with tender branches.

2. I see their swords as white as their faces,
So why are their eyes reddened with rage?

3. Truly they are rich, pulled by yearning,
And they brought with them from Sulaim choice youths.

4. When the battle cry calls they meet it generously
And the horses neigh, so they tremble for it out of joy.

5. They protect Najd with decorated spears
Whose blades speak on their tips with flames.

6. And many a companion among the people was unknown,
Taken captive without revealing her anklet out of shyness.

7. It twangs the supple boughs of the ud bitterly
As the wine and revelry surge over it.

8. None but it tells of what it loves,
And it has related what it desired without lying.

9. She said to her companions secretly when she saw my mare,
"Who is he whose gift horse is so lively?"

10. The one among them who knew me best said,
"His father was one who fatigued the loins of nobility."

11. He did not die until all the people unanimously agreed
On his virtue, though he was of high pedigree.

12. And he has a son far away whose fame is known,
Possessing eloquence and deeds that adorn nobility.

13. He continued reciting my poetry to her and thrilling her
Until she saw him at the hem of night veiled.

14. She bid him farewell, saying, “O brother of Mudar,
By my life, these are words that please the Arabs!”

15. I am the one whose resolve the calamities of fate made firm,
And my lineage in the tribe was not pieced together.

16. But I am in a time which always
Has fickle adversity enticing disasters upon me.

17. I gnaw my palm in my rage, for it is my nature
That the tail follows the head among its sons.

18. A roar that my ribs could not contain clung
To a fury I kindled within my breast, aflame.

19. I will quench their insolence toward me with blood
In which the swirling of the sword floats, freshly dyed.