1. يَلومُني في الحبُّ والحبّ يعذرُ

    وَتردّ عنّي ما عمّا اِرتكبت وتزجرُ

    He blames me for love, while love excuses me.

    And you hold me back from what I have done and rebuke me.

  2. وَتقطعُ وصلَ الوجدِ والوجدُ واصلٌ

    وَتطفي مِن قلبي لظىً وهو يسعرُ

    And you sever passion's bond, though passion still binds.

    And you quench the blaze in my heart while it still flares.

  3. وَهَل يطلبُ السِلوانُ مِن ذي صبابةٍ

    عَلى قلبهِ سلوانه ليس يخطرُ

    And can forgetfulness be asked of one so lovesick,

    when thoughts of forgetting never cross his heart?

  4. أَيا مُخبري كرّر حديثَك مُعلناً

    فَخيرُ حَديثٍ في الهوى ما يكرّرُ

    O my bringer of news, repeat your tale aloud,

    for the best tale of love is one repeated.

  5. ولا تَحتَظر فيما ذكرتَ فإنّما

    حَديثُك لي منه المسرّةُ تظهرُ

    And do not hold back in what you recount, for

    only from your tale does joy reveal itself to me.

  6. هَلِ الحيُّ فيما كنت تعهد باكر

    بطيّته أم رائحٌ أم مهجّرُ

    Has the clan, as you knew it, set out at dawn

    for its destination—or at evening, or at noon?

  7. وَهل حمّ هَذاك الفريق فراقه

    وَهَل منهُ أقوى حاجر ومحجّرُ

    And was that band's departure decreed?

    And have Hajir and Muhajjar lain deserted since it left?

  8. فَذلِكما رَسمانِ للحيِّ أقفرا

    وَفي القلبِ رسمٌ منهما ليسَ يقفرُ

    Those, then, are two traces of the clan, both desolate;

    yet in the heart their imprint never grows desolate.

  9. فَكَم فيها جرّرت ذيلَ شَبيبتي

    وَغازَلني الظبيُ الأغنُّ المخدّرُ

    How often there I trailed the hem of my youth,

    and the secluded, sweetly nasal-voiced gazelle courted me,

  10. لَيالي نهار الوصلِ من هند مشمسٌ

    وَليلُ الرضا والوصل من هند مقمرُ

    in nights when the day of union with Hind was sunlit

    and the night of favor and union with Hind was moonlit,

  11. إِذا هيَ لم تنجد عليَّ بِوَصلها

    وَلا صفو حوضي عندها يتكدّرُ

    when she did not place her union beyond my reach,

    and my pool's clear water never grew turbid in her presence.

  12. مُخدّرة تَرنو بلحظٍ كما رنا

    بناظرتيهِ مِن مَها الوحش جؤذرُ

    A secluded maiden, she casts a glance just as

    a calf among the wild oryx gazes with its two eyes.

  13. يُحاكي قوامَ الخيزُران قوامُها

    إِذا أَقبلت في خطوِها تتخطّرُ

    Her figure mirrors the bamboo's form,

    when she approaches, swaying in her stride.

  14. قطوفُ التثنّي كاد يبتزُّ خصرها

    إِذا ما تثنّى ردفها المتمرمرُ

    She sways slowly; her waist is almost wrenched away

    whenever her full, smooth haunches sway.

  15. فَلو دبَّ نملٌ فوقَ ناعمِ جِسمها

    لَكادَ إِذا ما دبَّ فيه تؤثرُ

    If ants crawled across her soft body,

    they would almost leave marks as they crept upon it.

  16. فَيا عجباً منّي أُحاول وصلَها

    وَأقربُ منها وهيَ تنأى وتنفرُ

    O how strange of me: I seek union with her,

    and draw near her while she retreats and flees.

  17. لَقَد رَسمت في القلبِ رسمَ مودّةٍ

    مَعارفها في القلبِ لا تتنكّرُ

    Indeed she has traced a mark of affection in the heart;

    its familiar outlines in the heart never become strange.

  18. وَخطّت بهِ شرخاً طويلاً منَ الهوى

    ففيهِ لها منه خطوطٌ وأسطرُ

    And she inscribed in it a long stretch of love,

    so within it she has strokes and lines of that love.

  19. أَجودُ لَها بالنفسِ منّي صبابةً

    كَما جادَ للوفّاد بالمال حِميَرُ

    I lavish my own soul upon her in longing,

    as Himyar lavished wealth on visiting petitioners.

  20. مَليكٌ له في ذروةِ الملكِ منزلٌ

    وَفي رتبةِ العليا منارٌ ومنبرُ

    A sovereign with a dwelling at the summit of kingship,

    and in the highest rank, a beacon and a pulpit.

  21. إِذا غيّر الآفاق وجهاً بوجههِ

    مضيء وَمغناهُ لعافيه أخضرُ

    When he changes the horizons' aspect with his face,

    he is radiant, and his dwelling is green for those seeking his bounty.

  22. وَإِن جادَنا مِن مزنِ كفّيه ممطرٌ

    صباحاً أَتانا بالأصائلِ ممطرُ

    And if a rain cloud from his palms' clouds showers us

    in the morning, another rain cloud comes to us at evening.

  23. تَرى الجودَ يطوى في أقاليم ملكهِ

    كطيِّ السجلّ الخطَّ والعدل ينشرُ

    You see generosity enfolded within his kingdom's provinces,

    as a scroll enfolds writing, while justice is spread abroad.

  24. أعزُّ ملوكِ الأرضِ نفساً ومعشراً

    وَأَعظمُهم شأناً وأعلا وأكبرُ

    The mightiest of earth's kings, in himself and his clan,

    and greatest among them in standing, loftiest and grandest.

  25. إِذا جادَ في يومِ الندا فهو حاتمٌ

    وَإِن كرّ في يوم الوغا فهو عنترُ

    When he gives on the day of bounty, he is Hatim;

    and if he charges on the day of battle, he is Antar.

  26. يقصِّر عنه في معاليه قيصرٌ

    وَهيهات أَن يعلو معاليه قيصرُ

    Caesar falls short of him in his lofty attainments,

    and it is far beyond Caesar to surpass his lofty attainments.

  27. إِليكَ أَبا دهماء جاءت كأنّها

    عروسٌ أَتَت في حليها تتبخترُ

    To you, Abu Dahma, she has come, as though she were

    a bride arriving in her jewels with a proud gait.

  28. غَلائِلها خزٌّ يَروق وسندسٌ

    وَحليتُها تبرٌ ودرٌّ وجوهرُ

    Her gowns are lovely silk-and-wool cloth and fine silk,

    and her ornaments are unworked gold, pearls, and gems.