1. He is not what you think, so reproach me little,
And beware of blaming the shy gazelles.

2. He has a night when the lover keeps vigil for him,
Restrained by longing for the pain of passion.

3. The oath of tears keeps filling his eyelids,
And fervor keeps filling his ardent heart.

4. She appeared while we were at the tribe, and our steed
Was like a trained horse brought for the raid.

5. The glances of the moment sent a look
That hastened with it like a startled ostrich.

6. The dawn breeze wafted it and it shook
A figure twined at the neck like a plaited lock.

7. She was cautious when she stood up, wary
Of a waist circled by a delicate sash.

8. Behind the veil were smiling faces
Covered by the mantle of the inflamed.

9. It melted from a coolness almost dissolved
By kisses that touched again and again.

10. When she saw my camel prepared for departure
The blackness of her eye's kohl clung to it.

11. Conversations occurred that spent the night as necklaces
For which wrists were adorned with bracelets.

12. Shall I wipe my hand of your tears and look
To the furthest horizon and wander?

13. Shall I abandon the lush meadows and dwell
Among the willows of a barren valley?

14. I am the one you knew, and after their day comes tomorrow,
And I am clothed in a striped cloak.

15. The girls do not know where is my wedding place
Or which valley and summer pasture are mine.

16. Their abodes have lost the generous ones, so desire
Does not covet their sandy tracts.

17. My soul refused in me the villages
That I pitch my tent while disgrace is my ally.

18. A supple she-camel whose straps
Chafe with the protruding bones.

19. So I drove her away while the roses in her mount
Guarantee her water on thirsty days.

20. I began to separate while she wandered lost
At the darkness of night with the dawn’s first light.

21. I climbed down against the rear guard in the darkness
That heals the chests of my swords with joy.

22. She came to the pottery of Muawiyah and attached
The edge of the water-skin to a familiar peg,

23. Alighting at the covered alley whose courtyard
Is a dwelling for delegations or guests’ lodging.

24. She incited glory from its tranquility
Until it was adorned with a new cloak.

25. And to Abu Al-‘Abbas it attracted the dew of praise
Which my compositions instilled.

26. And if they chanced to hear a jingling
They stretched their necks like strung pearls.

27. The leadership extended its prairies toward him
In an event that birthed dreaded dissention.

28. It settled the discord of the hearts, so not
A lion with a stern gaze rose around the cave.

29. The indented blow whose line no sword inscribed
With the swift strike of a piercing stab.

30. A hero who protects the times when transgressed
And rights the deviations of fortunes.

31. His attacker folds his wings over
A wound bound with the height of the spear.

32. He guaranteed life for those who sought refuge with him
And his sword struck down the enemies with blows.

33. He has mounted ranks higher than the Pleiades
Where the Suhayl took the place of its companion.

34. With manners that diffused the scent of a garden,
Melodious, smiling, and gentle.

35. With fingers that grasped the cups of the drinker
And blood on the spearheads of the wounded dripped.

36. They glisten when the palms of the carousers are still
As if created from bounty itself.

37. O son of nobles, a call that reveals
A wish for your royal gatherings.

38. The days have turned me from you to a position
And abundant fortune from you not slight.

39. The slave still waits while they are procrastinating,
And prolonging the response is tedious.