1. He watered her abode from the bend of the lone hillock,
The lightning more brilliant, the thunder reverberating.

2. So he spent the night cheering its meadows,
While they, above the water-skins, prepared to receive.

3. So Spring never ceased clothing it, flowers spreading
And overflowing at its edges upon the banners of Nejd.

4. As though the hand of the morning breeze
Drew over it the fluttering of leaves gently falling.

5. With it the lances are drawn by the gallant son of Malik
When the shepherd moves to graze in the myrtle.

6. And it turns from him all the evils of every adversary
With a burnished sword and a polished coat of mail.

7. Their hands direct the companionable and the attainable
And were it not for the dew, the page of glory would not shine.

8. A bosom wept when its hillsides were stripped
Of the dashing horseman and the bending, pliant steed.

9. And in the departed caravan a lovely beauty departed
Who never drew near, no anklet to a thirsty one.

10. When she looked, the gazelle lowered its eyes from her,
And when she traveled, she hid the crescent moon's jewels.

11. My two friends, if you find me infatuated, make excuses
For me before my heart reveals its secret passion.

12. No lofty wind blew nor brilliant lightning flashed
But I was disturbed, yearning for India.

13. For in my heart smoldered an ember
Like the hidden fire in the edge of the flint.

14. Should I break the covenant of Malikia in the twisting valleys?
Never would I herd the high grounds if I betrayed it!

15. Rather I and the two sons of Khundif shout at me
As the gleam of the sword flashes from the edge of the scabbard—

16. Had there not been loyalty within me instinctively,
Ariha's Abu Sa'd would have summoned me to it—

17. A gallant who pretends to lofty qualities with resolution
Addressing the murmurs of the sword, seeking glory—

18. No meadow where Spring stretched its folds
And the gusts drew on it a lining of cold—

19. When the ostriches gathered there, folding their wrappings—
The doe and roebuck twisted and mingled confusedly—

20. With the sweetest aroma of his features
Growing with its greenery in the rosebuds—

21. I yearned when the tune of a lute struck him
And he shone through an 'ukruma robe and dewy splendor—

22. To you I drove the camels through a horde
Of mature, young, and beardless men—

23. They penetrate the darkness' pavilions with faces
That trade the blindness of Du'ayriya for composure—

24. On each muscle of the forearm as though it were
TheSyncytium of the early morning from plaited fibers—

25. We left behind, beyond the sands, an abode
Where I filled my hands with the lion's fangs—

26. Were it not for you, no descending poems in a valley
Or rising from Nejd would have crossed my mind—

27. I would have attained, before them, the glory of the excellent
And alas, none like them will be brought after me—

28. They are maidens whose bride-price is love, not rain,
And not all who are credited with poetry seek gifts—