1. I say, as I looked out one evening
Upon the Nile from one of the towering plateaus,

2. With Old Cairo beneath it teeming
As if its banks were aflutter with flags.

3. O intimate of the lightning of Damascus,
I watched as those lights began to shine;

4. Will you take my greeting to the exile
Who bears the weight of devastating woes,

5. To the noble Majid, open-handed,
Son of the noble Majid,

6. To the towering hero of generosity,
Son of the towering hero;

7. To the prosperous Raziq, undaunted in peace,
To the cautious Hazim, unprosperous in war;

8. To the quick Mudrik and the righteous Salih,
Whose brief-lived swords in the frays

9. Were freely unsheathed;
To the peerless and singular Lord

10. On whom all mankind depends;
When we made our night journey, guided

11. By the Ben Salih tribe, his face shone in the dark.
Let them say what they will of Hatim and his deeds—

12. Pay no heed to what they say of him. Look
To the facts, and you will find