1. You lamented not out of grief for graying hair
Though the springtime of youth has bid farewell

2. Whiteness shone out amid the black as if
It were showers on arid land, bringing flowers anew

3. The brothers of virtue arrived and inclined
Towards every beloved in the assembly, branches extended

4. I recalled my Salma, her stirrups as if
A wild cat wandering midst the cavalry regiment

5. I imagined to myself that she or her apparition
Had come to us in the evening when we lay down to sleep

6. So I said to her, “My home is yours, be wedded to me
And after slumber's departure, be of benefit"

7. A pampered one who never found comfort in life
And even if faced with misery then, would recoil

8. I rave about one I never fully possessed
Yet in ages past I allotted her much

9. As if the fragrance of pure camphor and musk
And the coolness of dew and perfumed herb

10. And a cheek the clouds rained their water upon
With their tusks, and the finely embroidered Persian robe

11. I am too shy to walk seeking
Any but the glorious and adorned, hoping

12. And I honor myself, refraining from many matters
To preserve, and curb its greed to covet

13. And for my Master, when his rights are violated
I take from the stubborn denier, if he refuses

14. So if the hair of my head turns white because of me
I forbid upon myself four traits

15. One, that I not spend the night resentful
When the beasts of the valley mill about me

16. Two, that I not silence our dogs
When guests arrive, eager for us to host

17. Three, that I do not disdain my neighbor
If the neighbor of a people is one to be scorned

18. Four, that I not reserve our pots
From her meat in the winter, that we may be sated

19. And I ready the horses, driven with the cane
To preserve the smooth-haired fine robes from being sullied

20. We brought the horses from the Suro valley
Until we trod upon the land of Khatha'am in its entirety

21. Whoever comes to us or impedes our path
Will find the imprints of hooves and stakes positioned

22. And discarded sandals aplenty
When the servants one day shoe them, cut up

23. Whenever a camel arises, its saddle hangs
Though it flayed their smooth flesh cut up

24.
We want the blood of the Khayfan tribe, indeed their blood

25. Is a cure, and Zubayd did not unite them
Our horsemen lead with steeds of noble breed

26. To avenge a humiliation or ward off an attack
You see the timid doe shaking her head

27. Playfully, and the little female ostrich stripped bare

28. And we remove the sandal of the slave from his poor leading
So the slave may be more humble to the plain

29. And they promised him a reward so he walked toward it
But did not attain it until he saw the dawn armored

30. And they poured blood on his heels, so his toes
Became like blood-dripping fingers in the morning

31. They ascended plateaus then the high pass
And traversed Khayf then the easiest descent

32. My spirited horses sway me a swaying
When their legs land together upon a descent

33. If one of its forelegs lands on debris
The three intermediate ones respond with a clattering

34. The galloping of a wolf or eight, you see them
When the wilderness is desolate, with a frolicking gait

35. And they left no humiliation for Hamdan
In Sa’d by morning, stripped bare

36. An accustomed she-camel I brought nearer and trained
To witness sheep or ward off an attack

37. They complain of their shoulders when walking
Is it because of the pregnancy or does the hump cause pain?

38. And among us is a chief whose opinion provides light
Venerable and forbearing, both gathered in him

39. Some hastened to glory but fell short
And Zayd bin Qays drew near so he succeeded

40. The weak stranger does not ask, when he pleases,
Of what my pots contained for him when he bid farewell

41. If it be coarse or fine, I will make
His eyes content with himself