1. My worries burden me, O Umayma, as I endure
A night whose stars creep slowly by.

2. It went on so long, I said “It will not end!
Nor will the one who shepherds the stars tire!”

3. In my heart the night has relieved its absent grief,
And sorrow redoubles in me from every side.

4. I owe, by the life of ‘Amr, kindness after kindness
To his father—no mere gestures.

5. I swore an oath not lightly broken
And knew only good thoughts toward my companion.

6. If the two tombs in Jiljaq
And the tomb in Sidon by the warrior’s graves—

7. If al-Harith ibn Jafnah, lord of his people,
Seeks them with an army at the warriors’ abodes

8. I trust him victory when it was said armies had marched
From Ghassan, graying elders yet unstooped—

9. His uncle’s sons: Dunya, and ‘Amr ibn ‘Amir—
Intrepid men whose might is no pretense!

10. When they march out the birds circle high above them,
Guided, like they, by plumed tips above their brows.

11. The kites accompany them until their dens
Are rich with gore of swooping, wheeling kites.

12. Behind the troop their eyes are watchful—
Elders wrapped in striped robes.

13. Cunning birds, they know his tribe
Will conquer if the two hosts clash.

14. They have a custom known to them—
Plunder for them if the coward takes to flight!

15. Keen-eyed they scan the thrusting lances
Tearing amid the fray with crooked beaks.

16. If checked from striking down too soon
They glide, on tottering camel, toward death.

17. So they take turns inflicting death
Their white spears slender as the поло sticks.

18. Scraps fly between them and each crow
Is followed by crickets from the crannies.

19. No fault in them but that their swords
Bear remnants of blades shattered on armor

20. Hand-me-downs from the days of Halima
Tested through trials until this very day!

21. The gleaming Sulūqī mail and flashing mirrors
Kindle love’s fires with their brilliant sparks.

22. Blows to lift self-delusion from its haven
And stabs to pierce the laboring camel’s kidneys.

23. They have a virtue God grants no other tribe:
Openness of hand, and dreams unsullied.

24. God’s will awards them victory, their faith is true—
They hope for nothing but the best.

25. The heels of their sandals smell sweet
And spice-bags scent them on the day they don their armor.

26. Camphor perfumes them, white as the newborn;
Fine linen lies across their shoulders.

27. They protect bodies whose old comforts
Were pure Persian herbs and green plants.

28. They consider no deed as evil once done
Or evil deed as blow that misses.

29. In Ghassān I took pride when I pursued
My tribe, though to pursue them wearied me.