1. Tomorrow came, and he did not finish his farewell greeting,
No sooner had he turned away than he left without waiting.

2. He did not bid farewell to her neighbors,
Except to excuse himself if he were to shun them.

3. So that you may know, after the lands have distanced us,
That I am grateful for the love you offered me.

4. A beauty who borrows people's eyes
Until she returns their gaze to the clear-sighted one.

5. She is not vulgar, and vulgarity is not her habit—
Only perfection, outstanding grace appeared.

6. Since she was created, she did not know evil character—
The shepherd himself restrains her if he scolds.

7. Whenever the caravan traveled with her,
She wandered the empty wilderness, the thicket, and the pleasure gardens.

8. Until, when the rain twisted its plants, she mingled
With the black sheep of the flock.

9. How many men have we seen who had no property,
Then afterwards acquired wealth and became prosperous.

10. And many who had much money, but lost it—
The dispersion of what makes money disappear, so he became destitute.

11. I do not deceive myself in order to control it—
I have a Lord over me, and the worst sale is one that loses.

12. I grieved over Zayd and his brothers
A grief I wrapped myself in, so I became depressed.

13. The living see it in my face, and I tell them
That my worries will not trouble me when death draws near.

14. And how can my people help me when
Their homes were built in the lifetime of my grandfather and his grandfather in Basra,

15. In Madhij, Judham—they have no rights there—
And the Ash‘ar and those from Muḍar in Syria.

16. They were substituted for them, while we were their partisans,
And time brings about changes after familiarity.

17. She refuses oppression for us, a trained she-camel
Who grazes on the soft, fresh lowlands.

18. Their skulls are written upon with brambles,
The sheep pens shout out during the plentiful evening conversations.

19. It is as though the pounding is at the top of their drinking places—
Mud from a gardener who fertilizes the crops.

20. When their young she-goats compete with each other,
They become like trees beneath the enclosure.

21. We pound chickpeas when the provisions are scarce—
The mortar of a walking flock that did not used to be pressed.

22. Miserable is the eye, an eye that spent the night crying
When the darkness of night overwhelmed it and it became blind.

23. It covers the baker while ample around him
And the disappointment of the eye—can it not see betrayal?

24. Indeed, my enemies have taken advantage of what happened to
My foot—and how many noble chiefs have stumbled!

25. My foot which I used to rise up high with
Has now weakened and settled into an easy gait,

26. Twisted like the shaft of a canal, its bone
Has protruded, stripped of flesh, so it is visible.

27. They complain of a fracture in my pipe as if
They are complaining of the fate which befell a tribe’s chief.

28. So if Allah pardons me, then He has power,
And if I die, then I am a truthful man who endured patiently.

29. Would that what touched my foot had been a calamity
In a place where my eyebrow could grow hair from it!

30. And how does a tongue harm like teeth
When words disappear—does the bone get set or mended?

31. O son of the Caliph, worries have made me sleepless,
Exhaustion and wakefulness have overwhelmed me.

32. So I do not sleep when night wraps me
Even if I cover myself until daybreak.

33. You healed your guest until he stood straight,
And you sprinkled him, so people saw he was mended

34. With clothes and a beautiful mare as a gift
And pure bred horses that yield pearls when they are milked.

35. For your sea does not suffice for its depths,
And you are a rain that poured down for so long.