1. عَلِقَ الهَوى بِحِبائِلَ الشَعثاءَ

    وَالمَوتُ بَعضُ حَبائِلِ الأَهواءِ

    Love was caught in the snares of al-Sha‘tha’.

    And death is one of the snares of passion.

  2. لَيتَ الحِسانَ إِذا أَصَبنَ قُلوبُنا

    بِالداءِ جُدنَ بِنِعمَةٍ وَشِفاءِ

    Would that beautiful women, when they afflict our hearts

    With sickness, would grant favor and healing.

  3. لِلشَتمِ عِندي بَهجَةٌ وَمَلاحَةٌ

    وَأَحِبُّ بَعضَ مَلاحَةِ الذَلفاءِ

    To me, thick lips have beauty and charm,

    And I love something of the snub-nosed woman’s charm.

  4. وَأَرى البَياضَ عَلى النِساءِ جَهارَةً

    وَالعِتقُ تَعرفُهُ عَلى الأَدماءِ

    And I see fair skin on women as a striking beauty,

    And you recognize nobility in the brown-skinned woman.

  5. وَالقَلبُ فيهِ لِكُلِّهِنَّ مَوَدَّةٌ

    إِلّا لِكُلِّ دَميمَةٍ زَلّاءِ

    And the heart holds affection for them all,

    Except for every ugly, flat-rumped woman.

  6. لَيسَت بَحَوشَبَةٍ يَبيتُ خِمارُها

    حَتّى الصَباحُ مُثَبَّتاً بِغِراءِ

    She is no hulking woman whose veil stays

    Till morning, fastened with glue,

  7. تَجِدُ القِيامَ كَأَنَّما هُوَ نَجدَةٌ

    حَتّى تَقومُ تَكَلُّفَ الرَجزاءِ

    Who finds standing as though it were a feat of strength,

    Until she rises with the strain of a trembling she-camel.

  8. فَلَئِن فَخَرتُ بِوائِلٍ لَقَد اِبتَنَت

    يَومَ المَكارِمِ فَوقَ كُلِّ بِناءِ

    So if I boast of Wa’il, it has indeed built

    On the day of noble deeds, above every edifice.

  9. وَلَئِن خَصَصتُ بَني لُجَيمٍ إِنَّني

    لَأَخُصُّ مَكرَمَةً وَأَهلَ غَناءِ

    And if I single out the sons of Lujaym, I

    Surely single out noble distinction and men of prowess.

  10. قَومٌ إِذا نَزَلَ الفَظيعُ تَحَمَّلوا

    حُسنَ الثَناءِ وَأَعظَمَ الأَعباءِ

    A people who, when calamity befalls, shoulder

    Fair praise and the heaviest burdens.

  11. لَيسَت مَجالِسُنا تَقِرُّ لِقائِلٍ

    زَيغَ الحَديثِ وَلا نَثا الفَحشاءِ

    Our gatherings condone no speaker’s

    Crooked speech or the spreading of obscenity.

  12. عُدّوا كَمَن رَبَعَ الجُيوشَ لِصُلبِهِ

    عُشرونَ وَهوَ يُعَدُّ في الأَحياءِ

    Count men like him who took the armies’ quarter-share of spoils: from his loins,

    Twenty sons, while he is still counted among the living.

  13. وَالخَيلُ تَسبَحُ بِالكُماةِ كَأَنَّها

    طَيرٌ تَمَطَّرَ مِن ظِلالِ عَماءِ

    And the horses swim along with armored warriors, as though they were

    Birds swooping down from the shadows of clouds.

  14. يَخرُجنَ مِن رَهَجٍ دُوَينَ ظِلالَهُ

    مِثلَ الجَنادِبِ مِن حَصى المَعزاءِ

    They emerge from dust, just beneath its shadows,

    Like grasshoppers from the pebbles of stony ground.

  15. يَلفُظنَ مِن وَجعِ الشَكيمِ وَعَجمِهِ

    زَبداً خَلَطنَ بَياضَهُ بِدماءِ

    They spit out, from the bit’s pain and their chewing it,

    Foam whose whiteness they have mixed with blood.

  16. كَم مِن كَريمَةِ مَعشَرٍ أَيَّمنَها

    وَتَرَكنَ صاحِبَها بِدارِ ثَواءِ

    How many a noble woman of a clan they have widowed,

    And left her husband in an abode of lasting rest.

  17. إِنَّ الأَعادي لَن تَنالَ قَديمَنا

    حَتّى تَنالَ كَواكِبَ الجَوزاءِ

    Indeed, our enemies will never attain our ancient glory

    Until they attain the stars of al-Jawza’.

  18. كَم في لُجَيمٍ مِن أَغَرِّ كَأَنَّهُ

    صُبحٌ يَشُقُّ طَيالِسَ الظَلماءِ

    How many a radiant man in Lujaym is like

    Dawn cleaving the mantles of darkness.

  19. أَو كَالمُكَسَّرِ لا تَؤوبُ جِيادُهُ

    إِلّا غَوانِمَ وَهِيَ غَيرُ نَواءِ

    Or like al-Mukassar, whose steeds do not return

    Except with spoils, though they are lean.

  20. بَحرٌ يُكَلِّلُ بِالسَديفِ جِفانَهُ

    حَتّى يَموتُ شَمالُ كُلِّ شِتاءِ

    A sea of bounty, he crowns his bowls with camel-hump fat

    Until the north wind of every winter dies.

  21. وَمُجَرِّباً خَضِلَ السِنانِ إِذا التَقى

    رَجَعَت بِخاطِرِهِ الصُدورُ ظِماءِ

    And a seasoned warrior, his spearhead wet—when he joins battle,

    The spearpoints return thirsty before his swaying spear.

  22. صَدئَ القِباءِ مِنَ الحَديدِ كَأَنَّهُ

    جَمَلٌ تَغَمَّدَهُ عَصيمُ هَناءِ

    Rusty in his coat of iron, as though he were

    A camel enveloped in a coating of tar.

  23. إِنّا وَجَدِّكَ ما يَكونُ سِلاحُنا

    حَجرُ الأَكامِ وَلا عَصا الطَرفاءِ

    Indeed, by your fortune, our weapons are not

    Stones of the hills, nor sticks of tamarisk.

  24. تَأوي إِلى حَلَقِ الحَديدِ وَقُرَّحٍ

    قُبٍّ تَشَوَّفُ نَحوَ كُلِّ دُعاءِ

    You seek refuge in rings of iron and full-grown steeds,

    Lean-bellied, eagerly craning toward every summons.

  25. وَلَقَد غَدَونَ عَلى طُهيَّةِ غَدوَةٍ

    حَتّى طَرَقنَ نِساءَنا بِنِساءِ

    And indeed they set out against Tuhayyah one morning,

    Till they came by night to our women, bringing women.

  26. تِلكُمُ مَراكِبُنا وَفَوقَ حَياتِنا

    بيضُ الغُضونِ سَوابِغُ الأَثناءِ

    Those are our mounts; over our lives lie

    Bright-folded mail-coats, ample in their draping folds.

  27. قُدِّدنَ مِن حَلَقٍ كَأَنَّ شُعاعَها

    فَلَجٌ يَطُنُّ عَلى مُتونِ نِهاءِ

    They were cut from rings, as though their radiance

    Were a stream humming over the surfaces of pools.

  28. تَحمي الرِماحُ لنا حِمانا كُلَّهُ

    وَتُبيحُ بَعدَ مَسارِحِ الأَحماءِ

    The spears guard our whole preserve for us,

    And then open up the grazing grounds of other preserves.

  29. إِنَّ السُيوفَ تُجيرُنا وَنُجيرُها

    كُلٌّ يَجيرُ بِعِزَّةٍ وَوَقاءِ

    Indeed, the swords protect us, and we protect them;

    Each shields the other with might and defense.

  30. لا يَنثَنِينَ وَلا نَرُدُّ حُدودَها

    عَن حَدِّ كُلِّ كَتيبَةٍ خَرساءِ

    They do not recoil, nor do we turn their edges away

    From the front of any silent battalion.

  31. إِنّا لَتَعمَلُ بِالصُفوفِ سُيوفُنا

    عَمَلَ الحَريقِ بِيابِسِ الحَلفاءِ

    Indeed, our swords work among the ranks

    As a blaze works upon dry halfa grass.