1. When we raid, spears guide us,
And the people of Salma with the sword of the sea swear allegiance.

2. Alas! Alas! Between the two abodes,
I have fulfilled my longing, and sent my greetings from afar.

3. It has settled in a place on earth, isolated,
The wind falls short of reaching it, however much it blows.

4. Only with determination and drawing the stallion with the cord,
Can the passionate reach their watering place.

5. I loved my family and did not wrong them in loving them.
They said "You are blindly loyal", the words of the confused.

6. I protect their sanctuary, and shoot at their adversaries,
And refrain when their feet slip.

7. My tongue is theirs, praising and glorifying them.
Yes, and my heart, and what my ability contains.

8. Let me reconnect my womb-relations, if you have severed them.
The womb cannot do without connection in the world.

9. If not for my tribe, I would not have hoped for intimacy,
Nor joined the ranks of the honored days.

10. So preserve your closest tribe, they indeed
Have a right that distinguishes between spouse and wife.

11. My people, the descendants of Himer, and the lions are their allies,
And the people of Kinda, and the noblemen of Oula.

12. Endure calamities, for if their protections are removed,
They unsheathe the swords and repel each obstinate one.

13. They are the firmest people, when they are aggrieved,
And feet rarely stand firm in trials.

14. How many distressed souls they relieved! How much they endured
Of hardships, dreadful calamities!

15. How many eyes of the twisted I blinded!
And how many unjust ones I cut down!

16. How many enemies attack me, claws extended,
Charging wildly with hatred unleashed!

17. If the bull of Tamim had lived and heard
My poetry, he would have died, as would that wretched rogue.

18. He troubled me intensely with his hostility,
My fear kept him awake, his heart pounding the night.

19. My heart's daughters came to me in flight,
Fearing the rage of my father Shibleen in anguish.

20. Like a lion, if lions crowd around him,
He does not divert his gaze, nor panic, nor keep silent.

21. My soul competes with me in every glorious deed,
Reaching for the heights, even if I opposed it, it would refuse.

22. How often I have trodden the guts of the weary,
When the soul wanted the path of softness and lenience!

23. And how often I cleared the path of death by force,
My sword paving the way that led me to spaciousness!

24. Generosity knows that since I promised it,
I have not betrayed it, in ease or hardship.

25. The guest knows that whenever he comes to me,
I am ready to give even my soul for his need.

26. He takes what he desires, and the soul what it craves.
He attains what he wishes, the soul what it coveted.

27. No guest ever left me on the eve of his stay
Except with provisions, an escort, and apologies.

28. The censurers said "Wealth has ruined you". I said to them
"What is between reward I bestowed, and praise!"

29. "You have squandered your wealth", I said "Wealth corrupts me,
If I am miserly with it, generosity is my improvement."

30. The sustenance of my Lord is for people He apportions,
Sending it to them from wherever He wills.

31. So let them thank Allah for what is surplus to them,
And praise Him, for praise holds benefit.

32. Do not jest disrespectfully with any foolish man,
Whatever pleased his heart he babbled through his lips.

33. For many a rhyme of jest flows easily,
Unintended, yet it grew.

34. Repeating a joke after delivering its punchline,
Is like repeating a rhyme after it has passed.

35. When I recite a verse, its speaker dies,
And the one it is said to - yet the verse does not die.