1. They wish me to meet you, though I know
I'll never meet you, with no chance for a meeting.

2. To that end, your affairs are confused, though yearning's
Absence has made me pine like a lovelorn camel.

3. When my family camps on one side, and hers on the other,
Where the young camels of the noble ladies gather,

4. I say, “An affection has passed whose covenants
Are now severed, the bonds between us undone.”

5. The months of summer stood between us,
And the enemies had their way, right or wrong.

6. I say to the blamer when we meet,
“Do not reproach me with a stab like a polished spear.”

7. Do not question her much, for she’s
A prattling camel bell with cracked clapper.

8. She’s neither white, with a fox's telltale tracks,
Nor black, short-haired; but a sweet basil,

9. Whose fragrance I’ve gathered at dawn and dusk.
Would that the ties of love would be renewed for us

10. With fresh first loves, and nothing left
Of affection but hidden messages.

11. When I wake from the sweetness of sleep
I'm flung into love for her like a warrior.

12. I forget nothing—not her words,
Nor her tears wetting the kohl on her lids.

13. “Savor this brief day, for it will be
A hostage to the long months ahead.”

14. Once I was a man who shot arrows amiably,
But now I have bidden shooting arrows farewell.

15. I have stilled my bow of diversion, which was too swift,
And my arrows lie broken between flexed bow and string.

16. When my abode was between Badr and Mazin,
Once I gained the sun—and it weighed heavy on my shoulder.

17. We are the clan of Thuban, foremost
Of the tribes esteemed, to whom glory returns.

18. To us the peak of Qays—who can claim the like?
Misleading words mix with truth when they speak.

19. We have outstripped Quraysh, except for Muhammad's kin
And the family of Marwan, people of merit.

20. To every clan we have proposed to their daughters
With a bridal gift of a roaring, brawling camel stallion.

21. We raided Tamim and made free with their women,
While Judham and Bakr the son of Wail submitted.

22. In every quarter of Kuda'a and Qahtan we have
A resounding combat that makes widows weep.

23. They swagger at the noble clans and take pride
In the worst rogues of the land, branded as camels.

24. They break the bridges of the lofty and head
For a breach in their truce, humiliated.