1. Her ruins - below the red hills a barrier
And above, weak resolves, powerless,

2. A horseman roamed the dunes, his stallion Usays swift,
A warrior, whom maidens couldn't make recoil,

3. With warriors close-ranked around him as he charged,
I set him to the Sleepers' valley as dusk fell,

4. He leapt like lightning to the Pleiades at dawn,
A flame, made timid by the whip's loud crack, to drive him on.

5. He pierced the dark where stars shot rays askance
Across the night now blurring into morn.

6. "My brother, make the women walk in line;
They straggle over pastures open, wide."

7. When you take on the fateful hour, advancing,
The foe will see humiliation, side by side.

8. Not for your sake the planets swerved in orbit,
Old men and crones accusing you deride.

9. Is glory not to ward off hurt,
Take care no critic's arrow finds your side?

10. Curb your reproaches, noble maid, I stand my ground
Facing the spear-point, will not step aside.

11. My sire's poetry I recite - he hears me out -
Though sometimes answering critics break my stride.

12. From me take stems of palms - none ever bore
Save mine, descended from Mu'awiyah's line of pride.

13. Do not reproach me: Aus ibn Uwaimir
Is not esteemed among you, set aside.

14. Wonder not at a coat of mail the ages wore;
How many a mail the twisting years have plied!

15. A horse the wolves at dusk pursue, when night
Enshrouds it, or with daylight, goats scatter in fright.

16. On it we walked the horses, as if it strode
Across the land, feet unfettered, unconfined.

17. From you, seasoned warrior, we seize the steeds,
Their saddles wearing out, the girths untwined.

18. They roam your ample courtyard after days
Pent in a narrow stall, hemmed in behind.

19. They quit their stalls at dawn, though the neighbor there
Derides and slanders, curses them maligned.

20. To Sufyan ibn Abd I say, while grief
Consumes your breast, clutches your heart entwined:

21. You have assailed a neighbor, treating as foe
Those gentle, placid camels, sweet and kind.

22. Cursed is the man whose clan is Thaqif - they blame
Him, mourning over graves he leaves behind.

23. You are our comfort, yours the nature we know well,
The customs you exemplify, designed.

24. At the time you came not to the water-spring,
None loosed the camel-loads or left them lined.

25. You brought what people treasure in their homes;
Yet clutched those hands that clutched, and stayed confined.

26. You fend off enemies from a tribe enraged,
When raiders drive their string of camels blind.

27. Khalid and Ibn Wushikah and Kuthayr's clan
And Ibn Ka'b and warrior Lahiz combined.

28. Into its sheath he rammed his Yemeni sword;
The lancer from Rudein fell, his spear inclined.

29. Each man with aims unlike your own will fail,
But he who seeks your course is sure to find.