1. She came knocking at the abode of intimacy
While night lingered between youth and old age

2. And over the litters knelt down, made giddy
By the intoxication of passion and vain talk

3. They propped up their cheeks on folded arms
And expected visits and bosoms

4. They made excuses, confused in their longing
For their homes, each lovelorn pilgrim

5. It was as though their company was sprinkled
By musk, or sweet perfume wafted among them

6. I wondered at Fate drawing near with ease
Though its destination was not near at hand

7. It went alone through Iraq and its people
Between Qunna Lahla’ and ‘Asayb

8. Abu Salama brought woe from there
In the garb of a beloved enemy

9. Had Wakeful been the judge, she would not have visited
Unequipped and without a chaperone

10. O sister of Fahr, though another may claim you as kin
Our bond is one of lineage if he is no blood relation

11. Were it not for you I would not have sensed beauty
Nor would my soul have poured itself into fanciful dreams

12. And I would have had some respite in my sadness
From the one who contends with you and your opponent

13. I concealed my love for you though yearning weakened me
And I hid your secret though tears gave me away

14. I endured till it was said, “He has no lineage”
And I grieved till it was said, “He lacks reason”

15. Yet if that does not benefit you
When you are bored and my share from you is slight

16. You charge me with sin to punish me
While old age and scarcity are all my sins

17. If offered a choice between two
A lifetime of wealth or a lifetime of old age

18. I have withheld my hopes from the vile
And prolonged my stay in the house of disgrace

19. I have disdained means of living
With pride, unlike the begging covetous man

20. Why should I be disgraced when my sword of victory is in my grasp
And protection lies between my waist-belt and pockets

21. I have two coats of mail against the envious
One of art, another of experience

22. The protection of freemen guards my side
Merit defends my wanderer and stranger self

23. And if I panic I take refuge with a lion
From a lion whose collar is bloodstained

24. I camped in the lofty rooms
Beneath its glorious, well-beaten ceiling

25. I made with it a pact and bond of friendship
In case Hammad missed his chance in his prime

26. The glorious son of the most glorious
The noble one, though son of no noble sire

27. Ibn al-Qirat and Ibn al-Sawarim and al-Qina
Horses mingling fore and hind legs

28. Al-Wahbi grants what none can match
Al-Salbi takes what none can wrest

29. Those who ride to people in need
With no fear of the formidable, dreadful route

30. They were generous, so property said “drain me”
They shed blood, so Death said “I am lions in war”

31. Succeeding in glory, they string it together
While the spear is a tube upon a tube

32. They were tongues in every stomach
While people sway between bonds and fetters

33. If they took pride, their days
Bore witness to them in every monument

34. Inheriting continuous, wounding exploits
The inheritance of prophethood in Jacob’s line

35. They held fast to it, following its rule
Their virtues not spoiled by any fault

36. The father of campaigns went seeking their protection
Honor through them whoever pursues or solicits

37. “The zealous ones,” they said, so their heroes
Opened for you the dreaded, formidable route

38. A title confirming in you the meaning of its name
From men—ennobling by titles

39. Youths’ morn and eve belong to you
Breaker of arrows and breaker of fangs

40. Upon your weapon or your pardon
Have their banners been raised, in the desired court

41. You have become the new moon of their glory
Your fairness extracted from your dusty complexion

42. The mark of the Arab is duskiness of face
None but the foolish count pallid among faces

43. The full moon is the noblest celestial rising
Its soaring brightness above any dimness

44. By God, your house—its security and cornerstones—
Truth lies between fear and nearness

45. The honored lineages diminish settlements
By the Chosen One among them and the Possessed One

46. When the firewood is exhausted you make its meat
Fuel for the raider’s imported fire

47. From every lofty enclosure news of a test
And a neighbor about boulders and thorns

48. Platoons in the clear dawn are its rear guard
The sword in darkness is the trotting steed

49. I was told—the clear news vouched for—
Of your freely-flowing, poured out sword

50. Of features stamped on you in the dew
Like pure gold, no alloy mixing in

51. With what you have recognized of my virtues and described
Wished for my affection and my intimacy

52. Draw this stranger's poetry to
One isolated in noble deeds, a stranger

53. I have sent it to you, opening what lies between us
The door of reunion and incentive to desire

54. Every standard that mentions you, its fame
Spreads in the land among ridges and wastes

55. Increasing forever in patience in eras
And strength for compiling and binding

56. It is that before which kings knelt defeated
Lured from power and desirable goods

57. Passionately seeking its favor, but it only
Grew more aloof and avertive

58. It singled itself out in this age with a miracle
Not given to any objection or calling a lie

59. So recognize its due right to visit suddenly
Receive it with family and welcoming

60. Honor it, it will summon its sisters
Completion of prayers is with subsequent ones

61. Seeking you, it hopes to gain wealth through you
If you fulfill for it, nothing strange