1. Bid farewell to Ummama though parting is but an excuse,
Your farewell is not from one stopped by luggage camels.

2. I saw you but a fleeting glance,
The day they rode out and the commander gave orders.

3. Surely returning to loved ones, though far away,
Is like evening for them with the saddles still warm.

4. Can fragments of parchment convey a message for me,
Full of yearning and twisting of fiber?

5. Half a year has passed, fresh new months,
As she wanders confused, the camels led on.

6. Though untried, she took the risk and was sold for her
Cheap ornaments and flimsy garments.

7. She sees no friends around her, only her rider
Drunk on wine in the litter of a sand grouse.

8. She casts the little bustards in the fold of her refuge
White in front of her, the hay strewn about.

9. Were it not for the virtues hoped for as bonus,
Her rider would say to his friends "let's move on."

10. As if dye stained the edges, worn out, fatigued,
The camel's hump dusty from the howdah's straps.

11. From a report she heard, listening intently,
Her bridle muffled in coarse fabric.

12. With sensitivity of a smooth wool cloak they hurry underneath,
As if her lower lip was shaved bare.

13. Her demon rider complains, bargaining,
"At least let us have mutton, even just scraps."