1. His agitation returned not until he roamed the plains,
With youth his only company and sole companion.

2. If he's not mad, then surely
His heart has been toyed with, or else something ails him.

3. Is it longing for Ubaydah and quarrel for her
That plagues him? A lover is tormented by his beloved!

4. He's not stopped being enchanted by her
Since she first peered at him from behind her veil.

5. A resistant soul he showed to advice—
So youth assailed him with its demands.

6. She came to him with her beauty and allurement
At the place of his usual meditation, hindering his worship.

7. His tears flow each morn as he stirs,
His sighs as he returns home at night.

8. If asked who it was that milked youth of his heart,
Remember none but Ubaydah could be the cause.

9. A figure—the sight of whom is his sole longing and care,
Whose maturity and sport are his only discourse.

10. How can I hope to appease him
When visions of him ever haunt me, his sweet scent permeating my clothes?

11. If you were to kill me, then revive me with his approval,
His consent alone would restore life to my corpse.

12. If my grave were dug far from his abode,
Make my bier's perfume the dust of that place.

13. A drink offering for him and whoever enters his household—
I entered it one Thursday draped in my finery.

14. How I marvel hearing the guard say upon seeing me adorned, my makeup refreshed,
"Has your beloved come into view, or does the brilliance of sunrise peek through his gown?"

15. We were immersed in our gathering—ah, what a gathering it was!
The day was shortened and my friend the cloth-seller lingered there with me.

16. We'd resume our chatter when assured of not meeting his gaze,
Marveling at him, then steal glances to gauge his disapproval.

17. Rabbah would glance accusingly with her eyes.
The poor woman's gaze met with much grief from his reprimands!

18. Until the polite talk was pierced by blunt words
That exceeded rebuke but were less than outright reproach.

19. Kutamah interjected, as if
She had sent Mufaddam's son to torment him.

20. He would worry about wasting his day
At home with Kutamah, the constant complainer,

21. Stingily denying him, dreading the day
Now certain to arrive with his demise.

22. And I'd say to anyone gloating over his absence:
Spare me your lies when you pretend sympathy.

23. Forgive your brother when needing something from him
And leave his resentments to his own reproofs.

24. Indeed, I make grievances like his my own
And assist the hateful without any qualms.

25. The glance of a soft-eyed gazelle loaned him charm
From the Banu Jadilah tribe—his kinsmen.

26. A stallion when the riding beast falls mute
Drags his feet as if fettered by the nose.

27. And when he flows gracefully, his smooth gait
Clatters with the jingling of his decorated saddle and harness.

28. He courses through the dew as one anointed black
With musk—darkened further by its perfume.

29. The ghoul of the lands—when the banner is planted,
His tranquility shattered, chasing after water mirages.

30. He rears up if faced by a noble Arab of glorious repute,
One known for his striking blows in combat.

31. With outstretched hands he charges the foe head-on
At first light, blinded with rage, wildly attacking.

32. My sheltering fig—its shade falls on the valley walls as though
Their peaks were dyed yellow by its sap.

33. He resembles a wild beast of Wajrah on the hunt,
Mauling gazelles by the thousands without remorse.

34. The large-eyed doe and every other flirtatious beauty—
Not even ridding themselves of his scent deters his lurking by their dens.

35. Loudly he brays at dawn, arousing the meadows,
The clamor of his hooves lost beneath the clouds' shadow.

36. The aromatic herbs bow down before the sun in worship;
Only his guest lies awake in discomfort, pestered by insects.

37. Until times bring fresh turmoil with a storm
That pours sheets of rain, flooding the mountain paths.

38. The still of night startles him with a dreadful hour
Of thunder crashing and rain pouring down.

39. He paces the ground guiding him on, the sandy earth kindling desire's flame within him.
The starlings gather closer, warbling songs to delight him.

40. The stallion's hide when showered with dew
Seeks refuge from the wetness, slipping into the burrows of lizards and rats.

41. Until the land awoke and he with it, like a sick man
Shaking off his stupor and regaining awareness after dosing.

42. The thick clouds of nightfall receded from the brightening dawn
As the haze lifted and the foggy sky grew clear.

43. A disheveled, pallid beggar preceded the sunrise,
His hair matted, trailing his dogs.

44. He inherited leadership maturely, after his predecessors passed
And misfortunes now give birth to even worse trials.

45. Those wary of danger thus yielded to his authority;
his she-camels submitted, tracing his ancestral line.

46. Until the wolf's cry differed from his own
And the camels met him with ease in an open plain.

47. Youth then shielded him from hardship with its freshness
And the fetters slipped off the paws of the lionesses and their cubs.

48. He strode gracefully over the sands as though
A shooting star fallen for one trying to secretly glimpse its tail.

49. When I lifted his shackles, pulling up
His roots and wiping out all trace of his original ancestor,

50. He abandoned the guest house that had been
His dwelling place where throngs would converge most eagerly at his gate

51. Envying anyone who saw the dark-faced one
Sitting in the wide courtyard among his friends.

52. A man whose lions roared with the lions of his tribe,
And whose son roared with them out on the hunt.

53. David! You have reached, alongside Hatim, Glory's zenith!
You have spread your renown far and wide.

54. The tribes of Qabeesah and Al-Muhallab built bastions, yet
You built your home amidst impenetrable mountains.

55. This, that, and more while you remain
Ever rising in nobility and the breadth of your abode.

56. Will you shun a man who says to Mujaddib:
"Dismount and water your riding beast!” when it flees the rain by galloping into barren lands?

57. David! Your rain, when it waters the land,
Is sure to bring abundant fruit. I guarantee it will bear heavily on its boughs.

58. Eloquent, he consumes foes in debate, hitting or missing the mark with his logic.
You turned him away from the Maiden's Path forcibly, stopping him with your response.

59. When ambitions wear modest disguises,
The lowly are left to the vultures and crows.

60. The men of Yemen submitted their affairs to you,
And the mighty Rabee’ah tribe of Nizār.

61. The little crown sits at Karīhah utterly spent alongside the one known
For his ferocity with the sword during campaigns.

62. When the arrow of meeting journeys forth against his armour,
Its sights are adjusted by the feathers of separation and distance.

63. His house is shaded when assailed such that one would imagine,
So gentle are its sides and doors left ajar.

64. Finding him has enabled many destitute souls
To wear riches like a garment in their youth.

65. His gifts outdo even the rising sun, bestowing generously like the rain its sought-after showers.
If fully in his right he'd give away all that is his, including his neck!

66. When the walls of his encampment are pitched among the throngs of pilgrims,
His tents are recognizable by their walls.

67. The throngs diverge at his noble guest house, its people
Rising to serve arriving visitors at his gate.

68. Some displaying eagerness to promise dependents a share upon returning,
Others dreading punishment and seeking God's grace.