1. إنَّا مُحيّوكَ فأسلَم أيُّها الطَّللُ

    وإن بُلِيتَ وإن طالت بك الطِّيَلُ

    We greet you; fare well, O ruined dwelling,

    Though you are worn away, though long ages have passed over you.

  2. إني اهتديتُ لتسليمٍ على دمَنٍ

    بالغمرِ غيَّرهُنَّ الأعصُرُ الأوَلُ

    I found my way to greet the traces of dwellings

    At al-Ghamr, changed by ages long gone.

  3. صافَت تُمَعِّج أَعناقَ السيولِ به

    من باكرٍ سَبِطٍ أو رائِحٍ يَبِلُ

    They passed the summer, twisting the torrents' necks there,

    From steady morning rain or evening rain that wets them.

  4. فَهُنّ كالخِللِ الموشي ظاهرُها

    أو كالكتابِ الذي قد مَسَّهُ البَلَل

    So they are like mantles embroidered on the outside,

    Or like writing that damp has touched.

  5. كانت منازلَ مِنَّا قد تحِلُّ بها

    حتى تغيَّرَ دَهرٌ خائِنٌ خَبِلُ

    They were our dwellings, where you used to stay,

    Until time changed—treacherous and deranged.

  6. ليس الجديدُ به تبقى بشاشتُه

    إِلا قليلاً ولا ذو خِلةٍ يَصِلُ

    No new thing in it keeps its fresh charm

    Except briefly, nor does a friend maintain his bond.

  7. والعَيشُ لا عَيشَ إِلاَّ ما تَقَرُّ به

    عَينٌ ولا حالةٌ إِلا سَتَنتَقِلُ

    And life is no life except what gladdens

    The eye; and no condition but is bound to change.

  8. والنَّاسُ مَن يَلقَ خيراً قائلونَ له

    ما يَشتَهي ولأُمِّ المخطِىءِ الهَبَلُ

    People tell whoever meets good fortune

    What he wishes; but bereavement for the luckless man's mother!

  9. قد يُدرِكُ المتأني بَعضَ حاجَتِهِ

    وقد يكونُ مع المُستَعجِلِ الزَّلَلُ

    The unhurried may achieve some of what he needs,

    And error may accompany the hasty.

  10. أمسَت عُلَيّةُ يرتاحُ الفؤادُ لها

    وللرواسِمِ فيما دونَها عَمَل

    At evening the heart thrills for ʿUlayya,

    And the trotting camels have toil between us and her.

  11. بكل مخترقٍ يجري السَّرابُ به

    يُمسي وراكبُه مِن خَوفِهِ وَجِلُ

    Through every open stretch where mirages flow,

    Evening comes, and its rider trembles for fear of it.

  12. يُنضي الهِجانَ التي كانت تكونُ بها

    عُرضيَّة وَهبابٌ حينَ تَرتحِلُ

    It exhausts the purebred white camels that once had

    Wayward spirit and vigor when they set out.

  13. حتى ترى الحُرَّةَ الوجناءَ لاغبةً

    والأرحبيِّ الذي في خَطوه خَطَلُ

    Until you see the noble, broad-cheeked she-camel weary,

    And the Arhabi camel, with his sprawling stride,

  14. خُوصاً تُديرُ عيوناً ماؤُها سَرِبٌ

    على الخدودِ إذا ما اغرورق المُقَلُ

    Sunken-eyed, turning eyes whose water runs

    Down the cheeks whenever the eyeballs brim.

  15. لواغبَ الطَّرفِ منقوباً حواجِبُها

    كأنها قُلُبٌ عاديّةٌ مُكُلُ

    Weary-eyed, with their brows worn hollow,

    As though they were wells of ʿAd, with little water.

  16. يَرمي الفِجاجَ بها الركبانُ معترِضاً

    اعناقَ بُزَّلِها مُرخَىً لها الجُدُلُ

    The riders fling them into the passes, angling

    Their mature camels' necks, with braided reins left slack.

  17. يَمشينَ رَهواً فلا الاعجازُ خاذلةٌ

    ولا الصدورُعلى الاعجازِ تَتَّكِلُ

    They walk smoothly; their hindquarters do not fail,

    Nor do their chests lean upon their hindquarters.

  18. فَهُن معترضاتٌ والحصى رَمِضٌ

    والرِّيحُ ساكِنةٌ والظِلُّ مُعتَدِلُ

    So they move crosswise, while the pebbles scorch,

    And the wind is still, the shadow straight.

  19. يَتبَعنَ ساميةَ العينينِ تحسَبُها

    مَجنونةً أَو ترى مالا ترى الابل

    They follow one whose eyes are raised high; you would think her

    Mad, or seeing what the other camels do not see.

  20. لما وَرَدنَ نَبِيّاً واستتبَّ بها

    مُسحَنفِرٌ كخطوطِ السِّيحِ مُنسَحِلُ

    When they reached a clear road, and there stretched before them

    A long, sweeping track, like the stripes of a cloak,

  21. على مَكانٍ غِشاشٍ ما يُقيم به

    إِلاَّ مغيِّرُنا والمُستقي العَجِلُ

    Over ground for a fleeting halt, where no one stays

    But our saddle-adjuster and the hurried water-drawer.

  22. ثم استَمَرِّ بها الحادي وجنَّبَها

    بَطنَ التي نبتُها الحَواذانُ والنَفَلُ

    Then the camel-driver pressed on with them and kept them from

    The valley-bottom where buttercups and clover grew.

  23. حتى وَرَدنَ رَكيَّاتِ العُوَيرِ وَقَ

    كادَ المُلاءُ من الكتّانِ يَشتَعِلُ

    Until they reached the wells of al-ʿUwayr, and already

    The linen wraps were almost catching fire.

  24. وقد تعرَّجتُ لما وَرَّكَت أرَكاً

    ذاتَ الشِّمالِ وعن أيمانِنا الرِجَلُ

    And I turned aside when she set Arak

    To the left, with al-Rijal on our right,

  25. على مُنادٍ دَعانا دَعوةً كَشَفَت

    عَنَّا النُعاسَ وفي أَعناقِنا مَيَلُ

    Toward a caller whose call to us swept

    Drowsiness from us, while our necks drooped.

  26. سَمِعتُها ورِعانُ الطَودِ مُعرضةٌ

    من دونِها وكثيبُ العَيثةِ السَّهلُ

    I heard it, though the mountain's spurs lay athwart

    Between us and it, and al-ʿAytha's smooth dune.

  27. فقلت للرَّكبِ لمَّا أَن علا بهمُ

    مِن عَن يمينِ الحُبيَّا نظرَةٌ قَبَلُ

    I said to the riders, when there rose before them

    From the right of al-Hubayya a sight straight ahead:

  28. ألمحةً من سنى برقٍ رأى بَصَري

    أَم وَجهَ عاليةَ اختالَت بهِ الكِلًلُ

    Was it a flash of lightning's radiance my eyes saw,

    Or ʿAliya's face, about which the bed-curtains swayed proudly?

  29. تُهدي لنا كُلَّ ما كانت علاوتُنا

    ريحَ الخُزامى جرى فيهاالندى الخَضِلُ

    She sent us, whenever she stood upwind of us,

    The scent of lavender through which moist dew had flowed.

  30. وقد أَبِيتُ إذا ما شئتُ باتَ معي

    على الفِراشِ الضجيعُ الأغيَدُ الرَّتِلُ

    And whenever I wished, I would spend the night with

    A supple, even-toothed companion upon the bed.

  31. وقد تُباكرني الصَّهباءُ ترفعُها

    اليَّ ليِّنةٌ أطرافُها ثِمِلُ

    And tawny wine would come to me early, lifted

    To me by a tender woman with languid limbs.

  32. أقولُ للحَرفِ لمّا أَن شكَت أُصُلا

    من السِّفارِ فأفنى نَيَّها الرَّحَلُ

    I say to the lean she-camel, when at evening she complained

    Of journeys, and the saddle had consumed her fat:

  33. إن ترجِعي مِن أبي عُثمانَ مُنجحةً

    فقد يَهونُ على المُستَنجحِ العَمَلُ

    If you return successful from Abu ʿUthman,

    Then toil may be light for one who seeks success.

  34. أَهلُ المدينةِ لا يَحزُنكَ شانُهم

    إذا تخطَّأَ عبدَ الواحِدِ الأَجلُ

    The people of Medina—let their state not grieve you,

    If death passes ʿAbd al-Wahid by.

  35. أمَّا قريشٌ فَلَن تلقاهم أبَداً

    إِلاَّ وهم خيرُ مَن يحفى وَينتَعِلُ

    As for Quraysh, you will never meet them

    Except as the best of those who go barefoot or wear sandals.

  36. إِلاَّ وهُم جَبَلُ الله الذي قَصُرت

    عَنه الجبالُ فما ساوى به جَبَلُ

    Always they are God's mountain, standing higher

    Than the mountains; no mountain has equaled it.

  37. قَومٌ هُمُ ثبّتوا الاسلامَ وامتنعوا

    قَومَ الرسولِ الذي ما بَعدَه رُسُلُ

    A people who established Islam firmly and stood unassailable,

    The Messenger's kin—no messengers come after him.

  38. مَن صالحوه رأى مِن عَيشهِ سَعةً

    ولا ترى مَن أرادوا ضَره يثِلُ

    Those with whom they make peace find ample livelihood,

    And you never see one they seek to harm prosper.

  39. كَم نالني مِنهُمُ فضلٌ على عَدَمٍ

    إذ لا أكادُ مِن الإقتارِ أَحتَمِلُ

    How often their bounty reached me in destitution,

    When poverty left me scarcely able to travel.

  40. وَكَم مِنَ الدَّهرِ ما قد ثبّتوا قدمي

    إذ لا أزالُ مَعَ الأعداءِ أَنتَضِلُ

    And how often, over time, they made my footing firm,

    As I never ceased to exchange arrows with enemies.

  41. فلا هُمُ صالحوا مَن يبتغي عَنتي

    ولا هُمُ كدَّروا الخَيرَ الذي فعَلُوا

    So they made no peace with those who sought my suffering,

    Nor marred the good that they had done.

  42. هُمُ الملوكُ وابناءُ الملوكِ هُمُ

    والآخذون به والسَّاسَةُ الأُوَلُ

    They are kings, and sons of kings are they,

    And holders of kingship, and the foremost rulers.