1. Stop and ask the trustworthy ancient ruins,
Will they betray their secrets if asked?

2. Yes, like innate talent and bad craftsmanship,
Their prominent features stand out clear.

3. They were effaced by the winds of spring,
Of isolated stars and piercing weapons,

4. And they differ from yesterday and the day before
As well as this day and the day before it.

5. Except that libertines tasked with destroying them
Are sinful men around an alluring woman.

6. When the effeminate ones arrived, the tough ones
Protected the ruins with their solid hands.

7. For one with some justification, his avoiding prayers
Is better than a hand that touches impurity.

8. Remaining stoically at his post facing destruction,
Patient with the pounding wrecking ball,

9. High you have aspired, leaving behind the mechanisms
Of fate, though their causes have departed.

10. Remembering a passion hearts kept hidden
Among the dainty maidens and the ardent ones.

11. The omens of autumn appeared like the talent
Of isolated stars and those who slaughter.

12. So they shone brightly and the horse flinched
At the symbols of its flashing hind legs.

13. And the shaking of the echoes disturbed them
Like the rattling of a bell that resounds.

14. They galloped past the remnants of the night,
Their sterns crying out loud.

15. Whenever they came and went the guides
Pretended illness and sought the sheltering tents.

16. With grumbling and neighing that makes drowsiness forget
Its appointed schedule folded up the night before.

17. They are not preoccupied with the texts' interpretations
Or with the astronomical charts' complex details.

18. The owl's hooting rends the echo
As the grieving woman rends her clothes.

19. After the dew falls, I avoid
The precipices of its dreadful horrors.

20. With utmost loathing avoid it
When the folds of its sides begin to open.

21. It startles the pebbles of the palace
As scattered embers startle the unsettled ashes.

22. Like the eyes of the wandering beast at nightfall
When his blazing sun sets.

23. It follows when the cool breezes blow
And numbs with frozen drizzle.

24. It pastures the sheep as they yearn for it
As the impregnating torrent yearns.

25. Its pregnant ewes watch it
While its infertile ones roam around it.

26. It observes the cunning of the wolf
Until it sees itself locked in struggle.

27. A snake creeps using its edges
As all its skins lie exposed.

28. And it shakes off the dew in the morning
As the bursting udder shakes it off.

29. While it was thus, suddenly
Vicious dogs angrily attacked it.

30. Flashing glimpses in the hollows, smooth cheeks
Rubbing in the fray, ready for battle.

31. So it fled before their evil intention
Could bring it down with striking hooves.

32. Its dangling testicles
Swayed like a stumbling foot.

33. It bleated the bleating of the Barbary sheep
With other similar weak bleating.

34. Was that it, or was that them
When the dogs were howling?

35. It shook the tent ropes of all in need
As the owl shrieked mournfully.

36. It pretends to answer when the hyena calls,
Playfully thinking it jest.

37. To you, son of Qahtan, I direct
Its threatening precipices and departing slopes,

38. When the heat forces the gazelles
To the gusts of its scorching winds.

39. To you, son of Qahtan, hopes rise
Above people and ambitious eyes,

40. When the pregnancy weighs down the carriers
And their burdens become evident.

41. We found you foremost in deeds
With solid steps and crushing blows.

42. I hope for hands from you that give aid,
Pouring from generosity and giving openly.

43. For your love, if attained by us,
Would be a profitable journey for us and you.

44. The house of Ibn Qahtan is the best house
Despite the envy of aggressors.

45. Generous in times of ease, seldom at fault,
A champion whose schemes do not shame.

46. He is rain for refugees; his rain
Pours from his generous banquets.

47. When the cold of winter arrives
And its cocoons rest comfortably,

48. The Nile does not equal your healing
When its healing breezes blow,

49. Its waves crash and its flood surges,
More generous than you none pours forth,

50. And none trained has let down
Its sagging udder to give milk,

51. And it oozed through the land, spreading
Its fluids wandering free,

52. And valleys where the sky is narrow
With horizons stacked atop each other,

53. A persistent guardian of its does
With abundant pasture and freedom.

54. You rose with the birds when dawn
Spread its flames over the hillsides.

55. The curves of the hillocks dive
Deceiving the outstretched arms.

56. With every unreal mirage
And misfortune like the swooping kite,

57. If you hurry her inspiration
Her feet will miss and slip.

58. When the camels fold their bellies
Their standing legs intertwine.

59. Your hands, one protects in turmoil
And the other gives to those who seek.

60. Scowling if you seek a need
Along with the scowl, a blow that wounds.

61. A stalwart youth whose good deeds do not wane
Like the flowing torrents’ overflow.

62. How can absence strip you
Of the land of your departing camps?

63. Your Lord has willed only supremacy for you
Though lofty heads compete.

64. With your praise, poems are redundant,
And praising tongues are perplexed.

65. The likes of you the women bemoaned,
From virgins to widows.

66. Until they benefited without thanks
Or good conscience from you.

67. Until you rose at dawn, at first light,
With the night visitor's whip.

68. With the likes of your praise, verse is superfluous
And praising tongues are hindered.