1. By the life of Abi 'Amr, truly fate has led him
To a grave covered with fighters' corpses,

2. To the lair of a lion in a permanent den
Where merchants exchange their goods,

3. O brother who has no brother after him, his death
Has gathered all the doctors and healers

4. So my eyes will not stay moist in this life
With tears under dusty lids,

5. I have become accustomed to it for all of my life, so his loss
Is like the loss of a great towering building,

6. He stays up at night in solitude
Like a stranger covered in his cloak,

7. Like an elderly man complaining without fault
Of the cruelty of his close relatives,

8. As a child he was raised here and became a young man
And a protector against attacking enemies,

9. He is startled by the cawing of the raven so he takes cover
In the crevices of the rocks - what an escaping fugitive!

10. One day, when he had grown old
An old man's crime presented itself to the rider

11. In winter, he would protect him from the cold
And in summer, he would shade him from the heat

12. When the old man saw him, he said - By God, who sees
A sheep like this in the end - what a protector!

13. He circled around him until he shot him when he drew near
With a brown arrow - his shooter did not miss

14. He called to his brother, then flew down swiftly
To skin it with his sharp knife

15. By God, the flapping of wings - what strength
To carry the meat of rabbits!

16. As if the hearts of birds in their dens
Were seeds thrown down at some feasts

17. So it noticed a gazelle lying down, spotted by
Some women near an enemy tribe

18. Then it passed over some wire and got entangled
Falling on its legs - failing fate!

19. It cried out as its wing appeared as though
It were an excited kite flying in the air

20. And the two chicks were left in its den
In a land with no guardian or earning breadwinner

21. Two fledglings twittering at dawn whenever
They sense the wind blowing or a mourner wailing

22. But the chicks did not see their mother by evening
Nor was there peace in the nest from their calling out

23. For this is what fate does - it has
Every sought pleasure and seeking lover