1. أُمَيمَ أَجِدّي عافِيَ الرُزءِ وَاِجشَمي

    وَشُدّي عَلى رُزءٍ ضُلوعَكِ وَاِبأَسي

    O Umayma, renew the faded grief, and bear its hardship.

    Brace your ribs against loss, and grieve.

  2. حَرامٌ عَلَيها أَن تَرى في حَياتِها

    كَمِثلِ أَبي جَعدٍ فَعودي أَوِ اِجلِسي

    Never in her lifetime shall she see

    The like of Abu Jaʿd—so return, or sit—

  3. أَعَفَّ وَأَجدى نائِلاً لِعَشيرَةٍ

    وَأَكرَمِ مَخلودٍ لَدى كُلِّ مَجلِسِ

    One more chaste and more generous in gifts to a clan,

    Or a nobler long-lived man at any gathering,

  4. وَأَليَنَ مِنهُ صَفحَةً لِعَشيرَةٍ

    وَخَيراً أَبا ضَيفٍ وَخَيراً لِمَجلِسِ

    Or gentler of countenance than he toward a clan,

    Or a better father to a guest, or better for a gathering.

  5. تَقولُ هِلالٌ خارِجٌ مِن غَمامَةٍ

    إِذا جاءَ يَجري في شَليلٍ وَقَونَسِ

    You would say, “A crescent emerging from a cloud,”

    When he comes running in an under-mail tunic and a crested helm.

  6. يَشُدُّ مُتونَ الأَقرَبينَ بَهاؤُهُ

    وَيُخبِثُ نَفسَ الشانِئِ المُتَعَبِّسِ

    His splendor braces the backs of his close kin,

    And embitters the soul of the scowling hater.

  7. وَلَيسَ بِمِكبابٍ إِذا اللَيلُ جَنَّهُ

    نَؤومٍ إِذا ما أَدلَجوا في المُعَرِّسِ

    He is not one to lie face-down when night enfolds him,

    Nor a heavy sleeper at the halting-place when they set out by night;

  8. وَلَكِنَّهُ مِدلاجُ لَيلٍ إِذا سَرى

    يُنِدُّ سُراهُ كُلَّ هادٍ عَمَلَّسِ

    But he is a tireless night-traveler when he journeys,

    His night march puts every swift, hardy guide to flight.