1. News of Ramah, travelers?
For I pine for one who settled there, lovesick and sleepless,

2. To God I complain of intense sickness and anguish,
And fires of passion in my chest that do not diminish.

3. And white lashes that do not cease to shed tears,
And red tears that do not stop pouring.

4. And a heart I cry out to that has plunged into love affairs:
Gently, my heart! What is this youthful folly?

5. I remember a life that passed in a bustling valley,
And the slopes of An-Naqa—how excellent that slope and valley!

6. And I would ransom a flock I befriended there
So which gazelle tended that flock?

7. And I would ransom she who made blood flow from my temples
With blades of glances that do not tire or cease.

8. And I would ransom she who made blood flow from my temples
With blades of glances that do not tire or cease.

9. And she tantalizes me with the prospect of union
While her glances wage war on every heart.

10. And though she is listless, her eyelids
Wreak on my heart what no sharp sword can do.

11. When I sued for union she refused
And said her goal is beyond jests and blows.

12. So I said to her, “You have scorched my brain with rejection
And made me sick.” She said, “Yes, such is love.”

13. And when I returned to speak of union she turned away
And swayed with a grace beyond any supple branch.

14. She did not know that without her eyes
And her sublime qualities I neither stray nor sober up.

15. And that I am of honored, noble people
Whose virtues guard their honor from pillage.

16. I see generosity as a duty, humility as nobility,
And noble deeds as pride—excellent that earning!

17. I lower my wing before any superior
And pardon any sin as if it had not occurred.

18. My love for them is pure and I accept their nature,
My palm for them a sea, my chest for them vast.

19. I am a man of glorious, ancestral honor, proud and mighty,
His pride the shooting stars and meteor’s blaze.

20. Whenever war bites with every sharp tooth
I march out to face it until war fears me.

21. And if the highest office was stored in glory,
The height of glory is enough that I am its lord.

22. And if the envious speak words about me,
The shining full moon is not harmed by the barking dog.

23. I have been patient with fate though it bloodied
My sword, and no west wind makes it brittle.