1. Yellow cheeks, after you nothing in life is desirable,
No more play or fun for the boy.

2. Yellow cheeks, if my kin kill me, 'twas you that slew me,
And if sickness long afflicts me, the sin is yours.

3. Yellow cheeks, days of bliss are sweet,
And with misfortune thou art sweeter still and better.

4. Yellow cheeks, for you in my heart is burning passion,
And in my mournful liver is a fire that flames.

5. Yellow cheeks, no more joy have I in music,
That I should play - nor now in singers am I interested.

6. Yellow cheeks, a soul to you I have that yearns
And an eye that weeps for all of your charms that are gone.

7. Yellow cheeks, ne'er have I known you, yet I pine for you,
Languishing, lovelorn, wasting away hour by hour.

8. From the madness of passion and love I had been free,
But fate prevails and alters destiny's course.

9. My eye by the marvels of a yellow tent is dazzled -
Naught is more wondrous to behold than my love for Yellow Cheeks.

10. The cooing turtle-dove adds to my desire,
Crying for her heedless mate, thrilling, billing.

11. So I said to my friends as my agitation grew:
"Sing to me of 'Yellow Cheeks' for comfortless is my drink."

12. Not through secret messages did love for her bloom,
But through a mischievous boy who knows no awkwardness.

13. Woe to me, neither ardent youth nor happy have I been;
Consumed by longing, now grey my hair and beard.

14. And this but my love smitten by 'Yellow Cheeks'
And so bitter my days and tearful my nights.

15. How strange that my heart for the boy cannot forget,
Though hearts, they say, are easily diverted.

16. I shall hurl my spear swift through the plain, for verily
'Tis best from gates of danger to emerge.

17. A wanderer am I from dusk to dawn
Raising my voice at morn as the bard his Instrument raises.

18. Perhaps my evening and morning marches
May bring me closer - the wanderer nears his homeland.

19. I chided a mongrel cur but 'tis I should upbraid
The hound of Tameem who merits every rebuke.

20. Both barkers falsely claimed I enjoyed "Badra's" love
But lies they speak, the scoundrels!

21. When filled, they plot 'gainst their masters
As Er-Rezwān once schemed against his drunken lord.

22. They mimic wicked sires, though hospitality
And kindness unto tent-neighbors their duty remains.

23. So I said to the seeker of bounty who relied on them:
"You erred! Not what you sought you obtained."

24. Beware the cur for death lurks in its jaws
While a mongrel pig is trained in filth and muck.

25. Shun them! Do not with affection mix
Curs with pigs - naught under heaven more opposite.

26. If you see not Thee-lame then seek for him
A lineage other than that he claims.

27. As for the Bani Qais, their wine is plentiful
But the best among them is scarce seen.

28. In Jahdar is villainy and the house of Musammit
Is righteous but the coins of the tribe are as rare as planets.

29. The chieftain of Lat's Temim at his lunch
Is "Paltry" but when war calls he turns "Fox."

30. Once glory crowned Shayban but long ago
Round his neck the vultures of Iraq gathered.

31. Hail Lujaim and Qaswar! Their claws
And fangs extracted - neither fang nor claw remains!

32. Most abject are they who walk proudly - they are
Outcasts whom no veiled bride desires in marriage.

33. While the eunuchs thank them for granting them "Ghudara"
Can a gelded wight attain glory though primped and perfumed?

34. Obscure is the tongue of Mis-haa; one would think
It places the diacritical dots instead of the pen.

35. He dispels doubts with his judgments when he concludes
A case - the ironimmaculate and precise judge.

36. Lift up your voice to call all mankind to hear
The loftiest poetry an Arab or arabicized poet recited.

37. The son of Haatim indeed excelled all the grandees of Iraq
As the Excellence of Mankind excelled all other men.

38. He inherited the open-handedness of Qabee-tha in bounty
And the generosity of Haatim that never goes dry.

39. And from Sarraaq is bequeathed to him awe
At which hearts of men shudder with terror.

40. He rises with the character of the Excellence of Mankind, eager,
As war stripped itself for furious campaign and struggle.

41. Both Kindi and Thaalim show him favor
As days of yore when bounty overflowed from every side.

42. In him Thaalim's traits of nobility you recognize -
Virtues of Mifdhaal abound and multiply.

43. Many a noble father of Rauh son of Haatim
Adorned ancestors and his own sire adorned him!

44. When mentioned in gatherings the foes are silenced
And the eminent one of the two encampments sighs.

45. With their swords they shielded mighty Mohammed's religion
For among us today are no sworn defenders.

46. He smote with his father she-camel's rein and she reared up, snarling,
Baring her teeth from a mouth aflame.

47. The waters of Azraqain at dusk sparkled
As crocodiles and wild beasts came to lap.

48. The hand of the beneficent Rauh son of Haatim
I clasped - a hand that pours forth water cool and fresh.

49. They begot none but the noblest yeaned in glory
One cheek that weeps while the other smiles.

50. Theirs are the Days of Champions crowned with valor
And generosity as the Furati freely gave.

51. Kings who respect the munificent, yet when Rauh
And his steeds swift to battle lower their necks to charge,

52. Both beloved and needed when war is afoot,
The best of friends is he both sought and seeker.

53. Never lacking protectors for the Tribe of the Excellence of Mankind
Or steeds fretting on fleet feet for the thrust of spear.

54. When foes saw Rauh son of Haatim, a prince,
Commanding, with sovereignty's mansion raised over his head,

55. They clamored as though birds circled above
Portending death's swoop from the skies.

56. So their bitterness at Rauh son of Haatim endured
As his reign continued, long awaited.