1. غَشيتُ بِقُرّا فَرطَ حَولٍ مُكَمَّلِ

    مَغانِيَ دارٍ مِن سُعادَ وَمَنزِلِ

    At Qurra, after a full year had passed, I visited

    the dwelling-sites of Su'ad and her abode.

  2. تَرى جُلَّ ما أَبقى السَواري كَأَنَّهُ

    بُعَيدَ السَوافي أَثرُ سَيفٍ مُفَلَّلِ

    You see most of what the night rains left as though it were,

    after the sand-driving winds, the mark of a notched sword.

  3. دِيارٌ لِسُعدى إِذ سُعادُ جَدايَةٌ

    مِنَ الأُدمِ خُمصانُ الحَشا غَيرُ خَثيَلِ

    Dwellings of Su'da, when Su'ad was a gazelle fawn,

    among the pale gazelles, slim of belly, not fleshy.

  4. هِجانُ البَياضِ أُشرِبَت لَونَ صُفرَةٍ

    عَقيلَةُ جَوٍّ عازِبٍ لَم يُحلَّلِ

    Pure white, suffused with a tinge of yellow,

    the choicest of a remote valley no one had settled.

  5. تَضِلُّ المَداري في ضَفائِرِها العُلى

    إِذا أُرسِلَت أَو هَكَذا غَيرَ مُرسَلِ

    Combing pins disappear in her lofty braids,

    whether loosened or left like this, not let down.

  6. كَأَنَّ الرِعاثَ وَالسُلوسَ تَصَلصَلَت

    عَلى خُشَشاوَي جَأبَةِ القَرنِ مُغزِلِ

    As though the earrings and chains were jingling

    at the ear-roots of a stout-horned doe with a fawn.

  7. أَمَلَّت شُهورَ الصَيفِ بَينَ إِقامَةٍ

    ذَلولاً لَها الوادي وَرَملٍ مُسَهَّلِ

    She lingered through the summer months, in a dwelling between

    a valley gentle to her and smooth, easy sands.

  8. بِأَبطَحَ تُلفيها فُوَيقَ فِراشِها

    ثَقالُ الضُحى لَم تَنتَطِق عَن تَفَضُّلِ

    In a pebbly vale you find her just atop her bed,

    sluggish at forenoon, not yet girdled out of her loose house-dress.

  9. يُغَنّي الحَمامُ فَوقَها كُلَّ شارِقٍ

    غِناءَ السُكارى في عَريشٍ مُظَلَّلِ

    Doves sing above her at every sunrise,

    like drunkards singing in a shaded bower.

  10. إِذا وَرَدَت تَسقي بِحِسيٍ رِعاؤها

    قَصيرِ الرِشاءِ قَعرُهُ غَيرُ مُحبِلِ

    When she comes to water, her herdsmen water at a seep-well,

    its rope short, its bottom needing no long cord.

  11. يَزينُ مَرادَ العَينِ مِن بَينِ جَيبِها

    وَلَبّاتِها أَجوازُ جَزعٍ مُفَصَّلِ

    The eye's roaming-ground between her neckline

    and the hollows of her throat is adorned with sections of spaced onyx,

  12. كَجَمرِ غَضاً هَبَّت لَهُ وَهوَ ثاقِبٌ

    بِمَروَحَةٍ لَم تَستَتِر رِيحُ شَمأَلِ

    like glowing ghada embers, blazing and fanned

    by a north wind blowing unscreened.

  13. وَوَحفٌ يُغادى بِالدِهانِ كَأَنَّهُ

    مَديدٌ غَداهُ السَيلُ مِن نَبتِ عُنصُلِ

    And luxuriant hair, oiled each morning, as though it were

    a long growth of squill nourished by the torrent.

  14. تَظَلُّ مَداريها عَوازِبَ وَسطَهُ

    إِذا أَرسَلَتهُ أَو كَذَا غَيرَ مُرسَلِ

    Her combing pins remain lost within it,

    whether she lets it loose or leaves it thus, unloosened.

  15. إِذا هِيَ لَم تَستَك بِعودِ أَراكَةٍ

    تُنُخِّلَ فَاِستاكَت بِهِ عودُ إِسحَلِ

    If she does not clean her teeth with an arak twig,

    an ishal twig is selected, and she brushes with it.

  16. إِذا سَئِمَت مِن لَوحَةِ الشَمسِ كَنَّها

    كِناسٌ كَظِلِّ الهَودَجِ المُتَحَجِّلِ

    When she wearies of the sun's scorching, she is sheltered

    by a gazelle's covert, like the shade of a curtained howdah.

  17. بَني جَعفَرٍ لا تَكفُروا حُسنَ سَعيِنا

    وَأَثنوا بِحُسنِ القَولِ في كُلِّ مَحفَلِ

    Sons of Ja'far, do not deny the good we have done,

    and praise us with fair words in every gathering.

  18. وَلا تَكفُروا في النائِباتِ بَلاءَنا

    إِذا مَسَّكُم مِنها العَدوُّ بِكَلكَلِ

    Do not deny our valor in calamities,

    when, amid them, the enemy bears down on you with his breast.

  19. فَنَحنُ مَنَعنا يَومَ حِرسٍ نِساءَكُم

    غَداةَ دَعانا عامِرٌ غَيرَ مُؤتَلي

    For we defended your women on the day of Hirs,

    the morning 'Amir called us, sparing no effort.

  20. دَعا دَعوةً يالَ الجُلَيحَاءِ بَعدَما

    رَأى عُرضَ دَهمٍ صَرَّعَ السِربَ مُثعَلِ

    He raised the cry, “O al-Julayha'!” after

    he saw the broad mass of a swarming dark host that had felled the company.

  21. فَقالَ اِركَبوا أَنتُم حُمَاةٌ لِمِثلِها

    فَطِرنا إِلَى مَقصورَةٍ لَم تُعَبَّلِ

    He said, “Mount! You are defenders against such a crisis.”

    We flew to a kept-in string of horses, not grown bulky,

  22. طِوالُ الذُنابى أُتِرفَت وَهيَ جَونَةٌ

    بِلَبسَةِ تَسبيغٍ وَثَوبٍ مُوَصَّلِ

    long-tailed, pampered, and dark-coated,

    clad in ample covering and a close-joined garment.

  23. فَجاءَت بِفُرسانِ الصَباحِ عَوابِساً

    سِراعاً إِلى الهَيجا مَعاً غَيرَ عُزَّلِ

    They came bearing the morning's riders, grim-faced,

    swift to battle together, not unarmed.

  24. فَأَحمَشَ أولاهُم وَأَلحَقَ سِربَهُم

    فَوارِسُ مِنّا بِالقَنا المُتَنَخَّلِ

    Their foremost were harried, their troop driven after them

    by horsemen of ours with carefully chosen spears.

  25. فَحامى مُحامينا وَطَرَّفَ عَنهُمُ

    عَصائِبُ مِنّا في الوَغى لَم تُهَلَّلِ

    Our champion defended them; their foes were driven off

    by bands of ours in battle that never faltered.

  26. رَدَدنا السَبايا مِن نُفَيلٍ وَجَعفَرٍ

    وَهُنَّ حَبالى مِن مُخِفٍّ وَمُثقِلِ

    We brought back the captive women of Nufayl and Ja'far,

    pregnant, some lightly burdened, others heavy.

  27. وَراكِضَةٍ ما تَستَجِنُّ بِجُنَّةٍ

    بَعيرَ حِلالٍ راجَعَتهُ مُجَعفَلِ

    And many a fleeing woman, with no shield to shelter her,

    returned to a saddleless camel lying thrown down.

  28. فَقُلتُ لَها لَمّا رَأَيتُ الَّذي بِها

    مِنَ الشَرِّ لا تَستَوهِلي وَتَأَمَّلي

    I said to her, when I saw what had befallen her

    of evil, “Do not panic; look closely.

  29. فَإِن كانَ قَومي لَيسَ عِندَكِ خَيرُهُم

    فَإِنَّ سُؤالَ الناسِ شَافيكِ فَاِسأَلي

    If you do not know the goodness of my people,

    asking others will ease your mind—so ask.”

  30. وَمُستَلحِمٍ تَحتَ العَوالي حَمَيتُهُ

    مُعَمِّمِ دَعوى مُستَغيثٍ مُجَلِّلِ

    And many a man hemmed in beneath the spearheads I protected,

    broadcasting his appeal, crying out for help to all.

  31. فَفَرَّجتُ عَنهُ الكَربَ حَتّى كَأَنَّما

    تَأَوّى مِنَ الهَيجا إِلى حَوزِ مَعقِلِ

    I lifted the anguish from him until it seemed

    he had taken refuge from battle within a fortress.

  32. مُشيفٍ عَلى إِحدى اِثنَتَينِ بِنفَسِهِ

    فُوَيتَ المَعالي بَينَ أَسرٍ وَمَقتَلِ

    His life had been on the brink of one of two fates,

    barely beyond the raised spear-points, between capture and death.

  33. بِرَمّاحَةٍ تَنفي التُرابَ كَأَنَّها

    هَراقَةُ عَقٍّ مِن شَعيبى مُعَجَّلِ

    With a kicking mare that scatters dust, as though she were

    a hurried outpouring of red liquid from two small leather skins.

  34. إِذا نَظَرَت فيهِ الحَفِيَّةُ وَلوَلَت

    خَنوفاً بِكَفَّيها بُعَيدَ التَوَلُّلِ

    When the woman devoted to him looked upon him, she wailed,

    slapping her face with both palms just after her lament.

  35. وَكائِن كَرَرنا مِن جَوادٍ وَراءَكُم

    وَكائِن خَضَبنا مِن سِنانٍ ومُنصَلِ

    How many a steed we turned back behind you,

    and how many a spearhead and blade we stained!

  36. وَكائِن كَرَرنا مِن سَوامٍ عَلَيكُمُ

    وَمِن كاعِبٍ وَمِن أَسيرٍ مُكَبَّلِ

    How many grazing herds we brought back to you,

    and how many a full-breasted maiden and fettered captive!

  37. وَأَشعَثَ يَزهاهُ النُبوحُ مُدَفَّعٍ

    عَنِ الزادِ مِمَّن خَلَّفَ الدَهرُ مُحثَلِ

    And many a disheveled man whom barking drove away, rebuffed

    from food, one whom time had left wasted,

  38. أَتانا فَلَم نَدفَعهُ إذَ جاءَ طارِقاً

    وَقُلنا لَهُ قَد طالَ طولُكَ فَاِنزِلِ

    came to us by night, and we did not turn him away.

    We said to him, “Your wandering has been long; alight.”

  39. هَنَأنا فَلَم نَمنُن عَلَيهِ طَعامَنا

    فَراحَ يُباري كُلَّ رَأسٍ مُرَجَّلِ

    We fed him, without holding our food over him as a favor;

    he went off matching every well-combed head.

  40. فَأَبَّلَ وَاِستَرخَى بِهِ الشَأنُ بَعدَما

    أَسافَ وَلَولا سَعيُنا لَم يُؤَبِّلِ

    He became a camel-owner, and his affairs eased, after

    his herd had perished; without our efforts he would have had no camels.

  41. فَذاكَ وَلَم نَحرَم طُفَيلَ بنَ مالِكٍ

    وَكُنّا مَتى ما نُسأَلِ الخَيرَ نَفعَلِ

    So it was; nor did we deny Tufayl son of Malik,

    and whenever asked to do good, we did it.

  42. لَنا مَعقِلٌ بَذَّ المَعاقِلَ كُلَّها

    يُرى خامِلاً مِن دونِهِ كُلُّ مَعقِلِ

    We have a stronghold surpassing all strongholds,

    beside which every stronghold is seen as lowly.