1. At dusk, enticed by wavering comet-tail,
A passion led me to forget my dream, renew my ignorance.

2. At dusk, my weeping disobeyed me;
When I would sometimes say: "Those tears! Give me a respite!"

3. I feared not the seperation till I saw them
Turn back a weak, easy prey, the Gureerians.

4. For the love of an A'sami, a tribe I cherished
Who were not originally my friends or kin;

5. And I protected them in absence for the sake of that love,
Giving them my utmost, and being openhanded.

6. The wedding party of Farazdaq faltered and leaned
When a people who deemed not the alliance right for her attacked Unaiza

7. They saw the girl's betrothal as their disgrace
Since Tamim is better than Rabi'a in their eyes.

8. "Nay! Leave off Mijash'", she said, spurning him for another,
As if, after Unaiza none would wish to marry Mijash'!

9. What is the son of Zee al-Kileh to the house of Khalid,
Would the hive join forces with the bees?

10. If only your dishrags could patch the rents
Picking barren, sterile soil over fertile land!

11. The marriage bond is denied; and he may yet see
Shayban at Aynul-Ma, and A'tn lush meadows.

12. They denied Farazdaq's wedding, and allied
Against him, so he met with only blame and ill-will.

13. Your tribesmen sought no justification against you
Saying: "Give us time!" Nor said they: "Restrain yourself!"

14. While duped by Unaiza your tribesman lies,
Sleeping, with no lock fastening her in place;

15. He sleeps, though he has set no guard on her,
And wakes to look upon the shifting sands for traces.

16. Spared to Shayban, she will no more be seen
As Qeyn's bride, or having any lord but him.

17. When she slips out from Misahlan, and wards him off
With Shayban, Qeyn will find, instead, preoccupation.

18. They drew with violence on the heart of Habes' son
As a troop of cavalry, taking spoils from a train of camels.

19. You were angered we held back Mijash' long ago
Who once freely watered the waterless hollows.

20. But only fear for Malik drove the hearts
That shared the Suk's water-skin, and shared in ignorance.

21. Long had I shunned Mijash', while he was at Unaiza,
Meeting lightenings and calamities because of her.

22. They never threatened your Qeyn of Zawtar
So the sandal would stamp on the motivated foot.

23. They had no wish that Mijash's clan be allied to them
Nor did they see your features as resembling theirs.

24. After our swearing allegience these thirty pilgrimages,
You've become, Ibnu Qeyn, indefatigable.

25. When we draw back you beat your dishrags, fancying
That after the bones' decay, it will still have some ruin.

26. Your covenant misled Az-Zubair, who could not
After that, feel safe from you as a neighbor.

27. Stop! Ask the tribes: who pours the wine?
Who removes afflictions, precludes the roots?

28. And who kills the warriors while the horses charge,
Their stallions trampling the stubble with thundering hooves?

29. Oh, how many tyrants we stripped of their crowns
Who now live among us, complaining of shackles!