1. O guide of the fragrant camels at dawn!
You are a conveyor of news from the nomads.

2. An ambition has risen in you or me and left
This abject world tottering like weak-jointed camels.

3. So move to a tent whose pegs
Its inmates have struck in meadows of al-Sarahib.

4. Alas for our night of woe when there pounded
The hooves of swift camels from Bat'ha plateau.

5. While the wailers strode with tears flowing
From their eyes copiously like the mucus of the stricken.

6. And there shone for me in the yellow night a flash
Casting aside the gloom of night from frightened eyelids,

7. I tapped at it while the stars, the flowers, wandered
Perplexed over a bare hillside swept by the wind.

8. It drew near me until it lodged perfume—
The saddlebags of my she-camel exuded fragrance.

9. It almost stripped itself out of honor for its visitor
Of its clothes of plants, a strange wonder.

10. But it concealed the shining moon thereby
To give refuge like a lover shielding his beloved's cheek.

11. We spoke at length. How many tears
Were shed in the meadow where young men gather!

12. Kisses too swift were stolen on lips—
Pure, delicate, culled from among the blond and dark-tressed.

13. I do not fear the brutish night but
I cannot wrest any decree destined for you.

14. In me is the boldness of the hyena
If noble qualities in you have become corrupted.

15. I persist in caution while the spy lies in wait
For me. No good in a connection not established furtively!

16. And I ally myself only with every warrior
Who has a sword dyed with the blood of enemies.

17. He makes death dismount in his daring, confused,
To the point the youths are left like grey old men.

18. And he rouses, whenever a stratagem presents itself,
An opinion disseminated among proven experts—

19. A group whose valiant warriors are praised
When the steeds of misfortune are harnessed.

20. Their enemies and battle-steeds in turmoil—
They are foes of heads or light cavalry.

21. Al-Mu‘awiyah extended power from their ribs so they gained
Glory which they repelled lowliness and servitude.

22. Abu ‘Ali has nobility in Khindif—
He wrapped himself in the heights through inheritance and earnings.

23. The hunted prey of kings is his livelihood
And in his breast are the nestlings of doves.

24. A man of resolve who left both mountain peak and castle
Lost in the horizons of glory, rapt and enraptured,

25. And noble qualities whose good odor spread like
The perfume that wafts from aromatic leaf.

26. So the passage of days revealed an exemplar in him
Even if the hostile critic is stricken.

27. He has methods of glory whereby he surpassed
Over both East and West manifold methods.

28. His pulpit quakes in wonder at his eloquence—
The drinking of wine sways tipsily, intoxicated.

29. And if in the midst of his preaching he is roused to passion
His words do not intermix confused speech.

30. Rather he fills all ears with convincing words
Inscribed on the pages of time.

31. While the audacious, strutting boaster
Corrupts the atmosphere with haphazard shots.

32. O son of those who when they excel
Overwhelm their chastity with unlimited generosity!

33. I am tempted by praising you, not looking
To praise of the fold that fades.

34. How many hands you have whose favors do not escape notice—
What they have aroused with gifts that the Arabs envy!

35. How can I thank you for your boons which poured down
With the outpouring of your open hand, consoling the afflicted?

36. You continue to suggest hopes and produce them—
Gifts over which every outcast gloats.

37. And you make time resonate with poetry which I adorn
With panegyrics never clad in lies.