مَهلاً نُمَيرُ فإنَّكُم أَمسَيتُمُ

مَهلاً نُمَيرُ فإنَّكُم أَمسَيتُمُ

مِنّا بِثَغرِ ثَنِيَّةٍ لَم تُستَرِ

مِنّا بِثَغرِ ثَنِيَّةٍ لَم تُستَرِ

Hold, Numayr—for by evening you had come to be,

Easy, Numayr, for you have come to be

Slow down Numair, for you have become

at our hands, at the mouth of an unsheltered mountain pass,

At the mouth of a mountain pass left unguarded against us.

Of us with the cheek of a gentle doe unmasked

سوداً كأنَّكُم ذِئابُ خَطيطَةٍ

سوداً كأنَّكُم ذِئابُ خَطيطَةٍ

مطِرَ البِلادُ وَحرمُها لَم يُمطَرِ

مطِرَ البِلادُ وَحرمُها لَم يُمطَرِ

black, as though you were the wolves of Khuṭayṭah—

Black, as though you were wolves of a rain-missed tract:

Black as if you were striped hyenas

the land rained upon, while its sacred precinct had no rain.

The lands received rain, but its precinct received none.

The lands have rained but her sacred places went unwatered

يَحبونَ بينَ أجا وَبُرقَةِ عالجٍ

يَحبونَ بينَ أجا وَبُرقَةِ عالجٍ

حَبوَ الضَّبابِ إِلى أُصولِ السَّخبَرِ

حَبوَ الضَّبابِ إِلى أُصولِ السَّخبَرِ

They crawl between Ajāʾ and Burqat ʿĀlij,

They crawl between Ajā and Burqat ʿĀlij,

They love between Acacia and Burghah a lofty place

as spiny-tailed lizards crawl toward the roots of the sakhbar shrubs.

As spiny-tailed lizards crawl toward the roots of sakhbar shrubs.

Their love is like mist to the roots of Sakhbar

وَتَرَكتُمُ قَصبَ الشُّرَيفِ طَوامِياً

وَتَرَكتُمُ قَصبَ الشُّرَيفِ طَوامِياً

تَهوي ثَنِيَّتُهُ كَعَينِ الأَعوَرِ

تَهوي ثَنِيَّتُهُ كَعَينِ الأَعوَرِ

And you left Qaṣab al-Shurayf towering high,

And you left the wells of al-Shurayf brimming;

And you have left the canebrakes of Shurayf forlorn

its mountain pass plunging like the eye of the one-eyed.

Its pass falls away like the eye of a one-eyed man.

Its cheek sags like the eye of a one-eyed man