وَعيدٌ أَتاني مِن زِيادٍ فَلَم أَنَم

وَعيدٌ أَتاني مِن زِيادٍ فَلَم أَنَم

وَسَيلُ اللَوى دوني وَهَضبُ التَهائِمِ

وَسَيلُ اللَوى دوني وَهَضبُ التَهائِمِ

A threat came to me from Ziyad, so I did not sleep,

A warning came from Ziyad, and I could not sleep

Though al-Lawa’s torrent and the hills of the Tihamah lowlands lay between us.

The torrents of passion raged below me, and beasts prowled above

فَبِتُّ كَأَنّي مُشعَرٌ خَيبَرِيَّةً

فَبِتُّ كَأَنّي مُشعَرٌ خَيبَرِيَّةً

سَرَت في عِظامي أَو لُعابُ الأَراقِمِ

سَرَت في عِظامي أَو لُعابُ الأَراقِمِ

So I spent the night as though stricken with a Khaybar fever

So I spent the night as if a date-palm of Khaybar

That coursed through my bones—or with the spittle of speckled serpents.

Had crept into my bones, or the spittle of vipers