1. You blame Su’da that she moves her abode,
And which sun steadies its abode?

2. Your sick eyelids lent you her beauty,
And other perfections, abundant, that adorn her.

3. Time passes away with its vicissitudes,
And nothing interrupts the passage of time but its vicissitudes.

4. When she descended on a land, it shone with her face,
Her night and day were equalized from it.

5. The planets, though lofty in their mansions,
Revolve, but their orbits are unknown.

6. She gleams from beneath the veil as though
Over the midday sun a cloak is thrown.

7. She holds a staff of spears in the folds of her mantle,
And grasps a rod of oppression in the trains of her skirt.

8. When she unveils, she blinds the eyes,
Her shining and illumination, then how is her concealment?

9. So persist not in loving her, verily her love
Is a draft of wine, and yearning her fermentation.

10. I wounded her cheek with my glance, so she intentionally
Wounded my heart, and that was her triumph.

11. So leave her be, though she killed me, she is of a tribe,
If they become hostile, time will not delay their vengeance.

12. If guests descend, she pours her goblet,
And circulates without guilt the cups of her wine.

13. I wept, so my she-camel showed sympathy,
Answered by the neighing of my steed when her abode appeared.

14. We roamed the extremities of the earth, so she gifted us
The musk of the two abodes and their perfume.

15. And the undulations of the sand dunes appeared, but had they seen
The undulations of the one I love, prolonged would be his concealment.

16. And though I am disobedient in the wilderness of love,
I love her gazelles and fawns.

17. And I love her bustard and partridge and springtime,
Her warbling and trilling and blossoms.

18. I see that love is fire in hearts, though in truth
It makes the breaths of lovers glow like embers.

19. Restrain your eyes, O singers, for they
Are swords, and the lashes of eyelids their scabbards.

20. They fled though they saw my person, and to them
When a lion appears, protracted is their flight.

21. I swear by my soul the image of a noble steed though frail,
Deceitful its promise, hot embers its eyelashes.

22. It touched and departed, while my two abodes flourished
Where the branches of glory bear fruit.

23. Is there any wish except Abu Al-Fadl Ka’b
As its shrine, to which its pilgrimage and visit are?

24. I chose him, for the generous are springs,
Not equal are their sweet and bitter waters.

25. I kissed, when I saw him, the fetlock of a she-camel
Who brought us together, by her driving and maneuvering,

26. The strap of my saddle chafed her back, as though
From it the celestial sphere gained its power.

27. And we blamed the world, yet he surpassed, but in truth
Men’s qualities are manifested through trials.

28. One knows not mankind except through others,
Your right hand has no merit without your left.

29. Lesser efforts diminish the ambitions of the auspicious,
When eagles descend, prolonged is their descent.

30. He has the water of an indicative face,
And the freshness of past waters are its beams.

31. His sword and tongue frighten his enemies,
And terrify the fangs of lions and their wrist.

32. His hands’ generosity is like prayer, to neglect it
Are sins for him, for which pardon is hoped.

33. A free soul between his sides,
Whose hands are permitted and protected by his prestige.

34. You see his generosity as stinginess without his life,
So from it you take his flow and apology.

35. Had gain pulled him to benevolence, his soul would not be
Confined to his wealth without life.

36. He fulfills his favors so they are pure, while sometimes
Waiting taints the favors of the generous.

37. He deems negligible what he reveals, so elevates his worth,
Except that appreciating givers is their deprecation.

38. If his swords spread carnage at the battle,
And the heads rolled, that would be their harvest.

39. He narrated Da’fil in his courage and assaults,
As horses pursue steeds in their gallop.

40. If respites stretch in the heat of battle,
Then in my blades is that which shortens them.

41. If the most high veers toward another,
Far be it! Necessity drove it toward him.

42. He seizes glories and wishes, of them slightest,
Tall of build vie through him, and shortest.

43. I defended him, captivated by him, firm in battle,
And his daring is the axis upon which it revolves.

44. He is pleased by the warbling of death, submerged,
And the sea of praise complains of his turbidity.

45. A battlefield for the eagles and birds above it,
Though the pickings are its convoy.

46. A sky in which the shoes of horses are permitted,
But its smallness cannot be encompassed.

47. The knights donned from his weaving
Mantles over the coats of mail and their dust.

48. You swore by the breast of the lance in the chest of its rams,
So the mouths did not distinguish them from their shame.

49. The breast of the lance lodged in the slit of its throat,
As its bracelet once lodged on the forearm.

50. The spilt blood enveloped the corners of his armor
As the pitch enveloped the corners of the vessel.

51. The point of the lance repels the blue blade
In which is chronic inflammation and its redness.

52. Men ransom you who fear destitution despite wealth,
And in stinginess is poverty, from which there is no caution.

53. We testify that Lu’ayy is the best tribe,
And it is correct for us that the commander is its best.

54. I have not seen lions other than the family of Mufraj
Whose gifts are hoped for and their visitors secured.

55. When they determine a matter it is for generosity,
And if not determined, deliberation remains in it.

56. The mountains of Hilm made patience so weighty
Silence was attributed to them and their dignity.

57. And of their quality is excess in giving,
If it said this is shameful, that is their shame.

58. Tomorrow the stars of fortune lead his traveling,
To you, though the night darkened and its journey swayed.

59. I praise you in my praise, and praise is an adornment
Whose crafting is from me, and its blossoms from you.

60. People may praise the stars for their light,
Though their preference is from the sun of daytime.

61. Helper of dew, of lofty purpose, protector of borders,
Shedder of blood, battle igniting its fire.