1. Rise up, my sword, in your sheath and attack!
I drank blood and did not quench your thirst for blood.

2. My passion for glory never ceases,
Yet my passion wearies of glory and is sated.

3. For her I composed twenty-five arguments,
And one that wrapped my cloak, fastened.

4. I ward off unworthy youthful passions
And end vain desires and dishonored stances.

5. They say I shun my kindred but rather
My kindred are memories of raids and plunges.

6. And if you but knew the love songs for the lofty ladies
They cure the sickness of love and console the sleepless.

7. And how many enamored of glory their night visitations hindered
So they turned away to blame.

8. When told this one is proud, he remains downcast
As the wounded stirs restlessly in pain.

9. I will send it spirited either for gain
To achieve my hopes or for one lovesick.

10. A poem whose spirit brooks no sloth
Degrading, whose feet rush to attack.

11. In it are depicted the ways of kings
And lands of Sufyan and Sayfi and more.

12. Seas of plenty where none is turned away
And floodwaters of kings obtained without begging.

13. I have stayed awake though love of the lovely keeps no man awake
What purpose is there in what the sleeper dreams?

14. By it lightning is as the glint of Indian Steel
The blackness of night lit up by flickering stars.

15. With it hands reached out and they came together
To one far from his land, aloof.

16. My vow to them though fate casts down its reins
To every pure-hearted hero, stern.

17. Clothed they are in pliant coat of mail
And their land is of clinging soft loam.

18. Rich through their spears and faces
Day and night brighter than suns and stars.

19. I spent the night like a lost man in an empty plain
Where the wolf howls by craggy stones.

20. My passion raged until it was like I sought refuge
From the flames of a kindling fire.

21. And I raced until had the earth cast lightning
It would not have outpaced my words and mumbling.

22. A thrusting like the pummeling of hail, continuous,
And a strike like the snarling of a wolf, unceasing.

23. I paralyzed them with the paralysis of prey at dawn
And drove them like a branded flock.

24. When the army marched to invade, their necks bowed
To your name before their departure and advance.

25. So if the lance could take pride in your power
And head to the foe on its own, unguided,

26. Yours is the brightest fame whose light guides
The heads of steeds in the darkest gloom.

27. Gleaming from the spear-points they kept safe
The prize of battle in every mighty arena.

28. Bold lions they never yielded to calamity
Or submitted to an unjust tyrant.

29. With them the night, though fierce their might
Is generous, and though lavish their bounty, unending.

30. Valiant defenders on the fearful frontier
Lethal to the people in every fray.

31. In their presence every great man is honored, esteemed,
Greeted with peace and magnified.

32. Quick to speak right, not after pondering,
Solemn in patience, not after forebearance.

33. When the fires of war died down, their fuel
On the plateau is dry kindling for the breaking.

34. AHowling desert wolf who borrows the lightning’s light
For a twisting acacia or crumbling crag.

35. The south wind buffets it as if it were
A heavenly sphere in the swell of the roaring sea.

36. You brought them so neither darkness with its gloom
Nor winter's cold can do them harm.

37. Tattered wanderers from Damascus and Thayyera
And stony wasteland from Najd, crumbling.

38. Your father reaped glory in every battle
And purchased undying fame in every season.

39. Who settled invincible might through his sword
While those who envied witnessed his rise.

40. Crowning the brows of kings with his might
And seizing the summits of power by force.

41. And leading them, clubs of warriors, to thrust
Knowing nothing but advance.

42. Over them are men of towering stature
Who brandish the switch of the branches and stems.

43. When the desert plains are drained of rainwater
His blood revives the valley, brimming over.

44. A youth who was richer than pouring rainclouds
And greener than the grass of spring, sprouting.

45. He passed and glory after him passing was like
Blossoms plucked that would no longer thrive.

46. But steeds and life just trappings are
Too lofty to be compared to rain or lightning.

47. The foe imagines if they parry its blows
I greet them with a kiss and greet the surrendered with gifts.

48. Wealth, O Crown of the Hashimite house, I see in you
With you before me, my purpose and destination.

49. Take it as a mare tested free of any doubt
To stumble or earn blame and disgrace.

50. From the coward’s heart its melody emboldens
And from the mute’s mouth, eloquence.