1. أَحرَقَتني نارُ الجَوى وَالبُعادِ

    بَعدَ فَقدِ الأَوطانِ وَالأَولادِ

    The fire of heartache and separation has burned me

    After the loss of homelands and children.

  2. شابَ رَأسي فَصارَ أَبيَضَ لَوناً

    بَعدَما كانَ حالِكاً بِالسَوادِ

    My head has grayed and turned white in color,

    After it had been pitch-black.

  3. وَتَذَكَّرتُ عَبلَةً يَومَ جاءَت

    لِوَداعي وَالهَمُّ وَالوَجدُ بادي

    And I remembered ʿAblah on the day she came

    To bid me farewell, with sorrow and yearning plain to see,

  4. وَهيَ تُذري مِن خيفَةِ البُعدِ دَمعاً

    مُستَهِلّاً بِلَوعَةٍ وَسُهادِ

    As she shed, for fear of separation, tears

    Pouring forth with anguish and sleeplessness.

  5. قُلتُ كُفّي الدُموعَ عَنكِ فَقَلبي

    ذابَ حُزناً وَلَوعَتي في اِزدِيادِ

    I said, “Hold back your tears, for my heart

    Has melted in sorrow, and my anguish grows.”

  6. وَيحَ هَذا الزَمانِ كَيفَ رَماني

    بِسِهامٍ صابَت صَميمَ فُؤادي

    Alas for this age! How it has shot at me

    With arrows that struck the very core of my heart.

  7. غَيرَ أَنّي مِثلُ الحُسامِ إِذا ما

    زادَ صَقلاً جادَ يَومَ جِلادِ

    Yet I am like a keen sword: whenever

    It gains in polish, it excels on the day of combat.

  8. حَنَّكَتني نَوائِبُ الدَهرِ حَتّى

    أَوقَفَتني عَلى طَريقِ الرَشادِ

    Time's calamities have seasoned me until

    They set me on the path of sound judgment.

  9. وَلَقيتُ الأَبطالَ في كُلِّ حَربٍ

    وَهَزَمتُ الرِجالَ في كُلِّ وادي

    And I have faced champions in every war,

    And defeated men in every valley.

  10. وَتَرَكتُ الفُرسانَ صَرعى بِطَعنٍ

    مِن سِنانٍ يَحكي رُؤوسَ المَزادِ

    And I left the horsemen slain by thrusts

    From a spearhead resembling the tops of waterskins,

  11. وَحُسامٍ قَد كُنتُ مِن عَهدِ شَدّا

    دٍ قَديماً وَكانَ مِن عَهدِ عادِ

    And a keen sword I had from the days of Shaddā-

    d, long ago; it dated from the days of ʿĀd.

  12. وَقَهَرتُ المُلوكَ شَرقاً وَغَرباً

    وَأَبَدتُ الأَقرانَ يَومَ الطِرادِ

    And I overcame kings in the east and the west,

    And annihilated my rivals on the day of mounted combat.

  13. قَلَّ صَبري عَلى فِراقِ غَصوبٍ

    وَهوَ قَد كانَ عُدَّتي وَاِعتِمادي

    My patience has dwindled at parting from Ghaṣūb,

    And he had been my mainstay and my reliance;

  14. وَكَذا عُروَةٌ وَمَيسَرَةٌ حا

    مي حِمانا عِندَ اِصطِدامِ الجِيادِ

    And likewise ʿUrwah and Maysarah, the protec-

    tor of our domain when the steeds clash.

  15. لَأَفُكَّنَّ أَسرَهُم عَن قَريبٍ

    مِن أَيادي الأَعداءِ وَالحُسّادِ

    I shall surely free them from captivity before long,

    From the hands of enemies and the envious.