1. غَشيتُ مَنازِلاً مِن آل هِندٍ

    قِفاراً بُدِّلَت بَعدي عُفِيّا

    I visited dwellings of Hind's people,

    desolate, their traces effaced since I left.

  2. تُبينُ رَمادَها وَمَخَطَّ نُؤيٍ

    وَأَشعَثَ ماثِلاً فيها ثَوِيّا

    You can discern their ashes and a camp trench's outline,

    and a weathered stake, upright and still lodged there.

  3. فَكادَت مِن مَعارِفِها دُموعي

    تَهُمُّ الشَأنَ ثُمَّ ذَكَرتُ حَيّا

    So, at their familiar traces, my tears almost

    flooded the tear-duct; then I remembered the living.

  4. وَكانَ الجَهلُ لَو أَبكاكَ رَسمٌ

    وَلَستُ أُحِبُّ أَن أُدعى سَفِيّا

    It would be folly if a ruined trace made you weep,

    and I do not like to be called a fool.

  5. وَنَدمانٍ كَريمِ الجَدِّ سَمحٍ

    صَبَحتُ بِسُحرَةٍ كَأساً سَبِيّا

    And a drinking companion, of noble stock and generous,

    I served at dawn a cup of imported wine.

  6. يُحاذِرُ أَن تُباكِرَ عاذِلاتٌ

    فَيُنبَأَ أَنَّهُ أَضحى غَوِيّا

    He feared reproachful women would arrive early,

    and he would be told he had become wayward.

  7. فَقالَ لَنا أَلا هَل مِن شِواءٍ

    بِتَعريضٍ وَلَم يَكميهِ عِيّا

    He said to us, 'Come now, is there any roast meat?'

    by way of a hint, not hiding his wish through inarticulacy.

  8. فَأَرسَلتُ الغُلامَ وَلَم أُلَبِّث

    إِلى خَيرِ البَوائِكِ تَوهَرِيّا

    So I sent the servant without delay—

    a Tawhari—to the finest of the fat she-camels.

  9. فَناءَت لِلقِيامِ لِغَيرِ سَوقٍ

    وَأُتبِعُها جُرازاً مُشرَفِيّا

    She heaved herself up to stand, without being driven,

    and I followed her with a keen-cutting Mushrafi sword.

  10. فَظَلَّ بِنِعمَةٍ يُسعى عَلَيهِ

    وَراحَ بِها كَريماً أَجفَلِيّا

    He spent the day in comfort, being waited on,

    and departed with that bounty, noble and hospitable to all.

  11. وَكُنتُ إِذا الهُمومُ تَضَيَّفَتني

    قَرَيتُ الهَمَّ أَهوَجَ دَوسَرِيّا

    And whenever cares came to me as guests,

    I served sorrow a headstrong, mighty camel:

  12. بُوَيزِلَ عامِهِ مِردى قِذافٍ

    عَلى التَأويبِ لا يَشكو الوَنِيّا

    newly full-grown that year, rock-strong and massive,

    never complaining of weariness during all-day travel.

  13. يُشيحُ عَلى الفَلاةِ فَيَعتَليها

    وَأَذرَعُ ما صَدَعتَ بِهِ المَطِيّا

    He presses across the open desert and surmounts it,

    the longest-striding mount with which you split the camel-train.

  14. كَأَني حينَ أَزجُرُهُ بِصَوتي

    زَجَرتُ بِهِ مُدِلّاً أَخدَرِيّا

    As though, when I urge him with my voice,

    I were urging a proud Akhdari wild ass with it.

  15. تَمَهَّلَ عانَةً قَد ذَبَّ عَنها

    يَكونَ مَصامُهُ مَنها قَصِيّا

    He went ahead of a herd he had defended,

    his standing-place far away from them.

  16. أَطالَ الشَدَّ وَالتَقريبَ حَتّى

    ذَكَرتَ بِهِ مُمَرّاً أَندَرِيّا

    He prolonged his running and cantering until

    you recalled, through him, a sinewy Andari,

  17. بِها في رَوضَةٍ شَهرَي رَبيعٍ

    فَسافَ لَها أَديماً أَدلَصِيّا

    with them in a meadow for the two months of Rabiʿ;

    then he sniffed a smooth, gleaming hide of theirs.

  18. مُشيحاً هَل يَرى شَبَحاً قَريباً

    وَيوفي دونَها العَلَمَ العَلِيّا

    watchful for any shape he might see nearby,

    and climbing the lofty hill in front of them.

  19. إِذا لاقى بِظاهِرَةٍ دَحيقاً

    أَمَرَّ عَلَيهِما يَوماً قَسِيّا

    Whenever he met an outcast on the open upland,

    he brought a bitter, cruel day upon them both.

  20. فَلَمّا قَلَّصَت عَنهُ البَقايا

    وَأَعوَزَ مِن مَراتِعِهِ اللَوِيّا

    Then, when the last remnants dwindled around him,

    and withered herbage grew scarce in his pastures,

  21. أَرَنَّ فَصَكَّها صَخِبٌ دَءولٌ

    يَعُبُّ عَلى مَناكِبِها الصَبِيّا

    he brayed and struck them, loud and quick-stepping,

    pouring amorous ardor over their shoulders.

  22. فَأَورَدَها عَلى طِملٍ يَمانٍ

    يُهِلُّ إِذا رَأى لَحماً طَرِيّا

    So he brought them to water before a ragged Yemeni

    who cries out when he sees fresh meat.

  23. لَهُ شِريانَةٌ شَغَلَت يَدَيهِ

    وَكانَ عَلى تَقَلُّدِها قَوِيّا

    He had a shiryan-wood bow that occupied both hands,

    and was strong enough to carry it slung upon him.

  24. وَزُرقٌ قَد تَنَخَّلَها لِقَضبٍ

    يَشُدُّ عَلى مَناصِبِها النَضِيّا

    And blue arrowheads he had carefully selected for shafts,

    fastening the bare shaft firmly at their mounting-points.

  25. تَرَدّى بُرأَةً لَمّا بَناها

    تَبَوَّأَ مَقعَداً مِنها خَفِيّا

    He cloaked himself in a hunting blind; once he had built it,

    he took a hidden seat inside.

  26. فَلَمّا لَم يَرَينَ كَثيرَ ذُعرٍ

    وَرَدنَ صَوادِياً وَرداً كَمِيّا

    When they saw little cause for alarm,

    they came thirsty to water in a stealthy approach.

  27. فَأَرسَلَ وَالمَقاتِلُ مُعوِراتٌ

    لِما لاقَت ذُعافاً يَثرِبِيّا

    He loosed—while their vital spots lay exposed

    to what they faced—a deadly Yathribi shaft.

  28. فَخَرَّ النَصلُ مُنقَعِصاً رَثيماً

    وَطارَ القِدحُ أَشتاتاً شَظِيّا

    The arrowhead fell, buckled and chipped,

    and the shaft flew apart in scattered splinters.

  29. وَعَضَّ عَلى أَنامِلِهِ لَهيفاً

    وَلاقى يَومَهُ أَسَفاً وَغِيّا

    He bit his fingertips in anguish,

    and found his day full of grief and failure.

  30. وَراحَ بِحِرَّةٍ لَهِفاً مُصاباً

    يُنَبِّئُ عِرسَهُ أَمراً جَلِيّا

    He went home with burning anguish, distraught and stricken,

    telling his wife the plain tale.

  31. فَلَو لُطِمَت هُناكَ بَذاتِ خَمسٍ

    لَكانا عِندَها حِتنَينِ سِيّا

    Had she been slapped there with a five-fingered hand,

    the two would have been matched and equal in her eyes.

  32. وَكانوا واثِقينَ إِذا أَتاهُم

    بِلَحمٍ إِن صَباحاً أَو مُسِيّا

    And they had been confident whenever he came to them

    with meat, whether in the morning or at evening.