1. Behold, how the abode of Dhi al-`Ush has become desolate
And the quarter of Dhi al-Mamdūr alien and empty.

2. So it is ruined until its covenant is unrecognizable,
By the sands drifting relentlessly in wilderness.

3. So this abode of Dhi al-`Ush has quenched the clouds, yet still
The enduring rains come to you gushing and fresh.

4. Strange is a house whose dwellers have left it;
Whenever I come to it, I return depressed.

5. Do not repeat to me a torment like my torment
Over you, while passion makes recollection recur.

6. One evening I leaned my cheek against the enclosure
As if, without it being so, the enclosure were aflame.

7. The bending bough brought us together, then we met
After counting the Pleiades, on a night with the full moon bright.

8. O my two friends, convey to the Banū Murra
Messages from me; do not increase them in frequency.

9. And pass by Taimá and question its Jews,
For in Taimá are tidings of their caravan.

10. By al-Ghamr they have crossed, and their beasts have crossed,
So the torrents have watered the belly of Niyyān, by al-Ghamr.

11. When the mares saw that the camel-borne litters had drawn near,
Wild she-camels leaving us behind in haste,

12. The bending of the encampments stirred things up,
Matters and needs that straiten the breast.

13. When she went beyond al-Buşrà her visitation ceased
And the guards closed the palace's gate behind her.

14. No visit is possible unless you bring us together,
By mounts that dare cross the dreadful wilderness.

15. Is she a short-statured Ghurayr, or a Tall Umm
That disputes with her tribe's hands, bending branches?

16. When the sun of day declined, laid down
Its chiffon mantle, the gazes of onlookers cast down,

17. Lo, would that I knew! Is there a way to Umm Juḥdar
Or else, for me, there is no patience from her?

18. Had there been a vow made by me, O Umm Juḥdar,
Binding my neck, indeed I would have fulfilled it!

19. Do not conceal yourself, O Umm Juḥdar!
The covering of lofty stature suffices beside us.

20. By my life! If you are absent, O Umm Juḥdar,
In seeking you I surely will have striven and made effort!

21. I excite conversation about her in order
To hear of her, while she departs from mention.

22. I am too shy before God that I should intend
Betrayal, if intimate friends have betrayed.

23. My people noticed when they sold my love
For a slave-girl - a dazzlement for them after her.

24. Would that I knew! Will our people and your people
Encamp on meadows in the belly of al-Liwá, green?

25. Will the sweet breeze creep in, visiting our tents,
Stirring up your fragrance, making the taste exquisite?

26. With the wind of Khuzāmah wafting the sands, he spent the night
Embracing the branches of Artemisia, dripping honey and rainwater.