1. His heart was almost rent asunder, O nobility, or became confused,
And he came to desire death or a change of circumstance.

2. O hands of Saba, O nobles, after you I have not been
My eyes thus have no resting place after you.

3. And the slanderers told her I had rejected her,
And charged upon me rage - the vile informer.

4. Yet today I yield to her in pleasure,
And apologize for her anger, withdrawing.

5. I roam the precincts of al-Mujammir, from Mina,
To Umm 'Amr - I am indeed appointed.

6. Whenever the soul recalls her, it remains as though
Upon it from the perfumed rose are mouthfuls.

7. And the tears of the eye flow until it is as if
In the valley of Qura from dryness it is reddened.

8. When I say, "Greet the cave of the eye," it weeps
Copiously, and its tears pour forth abundantly.

9. Whenever a party desires to separate us,
We refuse and say: "The veiled ones are first."

10. We will grant you familiarity, if you want our union,
While we - those veiled ones are more linked.

11. She has scope - not to be overtaken -
And precedence in love - she does not change.

12. She hurls toward us in her roughness of sadness,
Waving hands to you, while I am the legs.

13. As if the calves of the people beneath her mount
When her face-veils are uncovered, are onsals.

14. They visit the Commander of the Faithful, and with him
For the one who praises are gratitude and reward.

15. He has two traits, from which are friendliness
And gravity - plunging into prohibition hastily.

16. Guard against them, for they belong to him,
And through them are safety and an assembly.

17. You are the lofty one the day their lances clashed
And the death-rattle moaned among them, writhing.

18. The like of you, whom they have devotedly served,
Your dignity is agreeable, your quarters wide.

19. You prevented the dregs when they coveted the caliphate from them
With striking the patches and stabbing until they retreated.

20. And you denied that which they spun for you in Mustaneerah
Was their right - and right does not change.

21. Your father took vengeance the day of Naq'a on a group -
The clan of 'Abd Shams - while they are driven away and slain.

22. When people devise for you from command a plan
Which for it the scheming, therein is death.

23. God has refused that to the vile-nosed ones, as if they are
Indian swords you unsheathe with Mu'tah's polish.