1. Worries crept in, so I couldn't sleep,
And the brother of worries plots every scheme.

2. Homes became confined after the broad plain,
And life became hard after those people.

3. After we left, the caravan leaders went their own ways,
And the camel-drivers marched on their paths.

4. I saw you as the one who gathered love,
Binding with your promise the best abode.

5. When I stood at the plain, overcome with love,
My unrestrained tears flowed.

6. The hunter of hearts approached you inappropriately,
Not the proper time for visiting, so go back in peace!

7. You brushed your teeth with the most delicate twig,
As if it were frost descending from rainclouds.

8. If your promise were as you told us,
It would have reached that, not fallen apart.

9. I join those whose company I desire
With ropes, neither rough nor frayed.

10. And I saw myself, though still youthful,
Among honorable young men of pleasant conversation.

11. They sought burdens to carry into the lands
To join each outcast and distant wanderer.

12. If not for others' watchful eyes, we would have shown
Lowered spears and intimate conversation.

13. When they heard my greetings, they looked
Like steeds hearing the jingling bridle.

14. The maidens lied - had they seen our resting place
With the snorting stallion and galloping mare!

15. The stallions, spare but with sturdy legs
Like cows with hanging udders or strutting ostriches.

16. I lead the mares, each with a smooth saddlecloth,
Deeply set, bound with strong girth.

17. Their sweat sprinkles the saddlecloth's hem
As the branding iron glows red hot.

18. The pillow lies by the arm of my beloved
As I fold its straps with a short rope.

19. The son of the date-pit eater has unjustly
Waged heavy war against you.

20. Al-Farazdaq was born into the worst family of Malik -
And for successors, the worst boy ever nursed.

21. Wait, Farazdaq! Among your people are
Faint hearts and fleeting dreams.

22. Slandering the blind, all of them,
And settling in the worst abode.

23. Evil horsemen on the day of Nuqasha's bier!
The horses bolting with snapped reins.

24. Had it been others who hosted az-Zubayr and his camel,
They would have shown proper neighborliness to the commoners.

25. The reins were forbidden to your father
While wine was not prohibited.

26. I openly acknowledge my humiliation,
Since the vile are not honorable to me.

27. You have been surpassed in virtues -
So attribute your father to Urwa ibn Hizam!

28. You persist running confusedly in your foolishness
Until you have become entangled with me and my she-camels.

29. When men dislike my sweetness,
I become bitter, whetted like an Indian sword.

30. Why argue when I have surpassed you,
Lofty one, with fortresses and sanctuaries?

31. I penetrated an aloof man - had you thrown him,
He would have fallen before getting his footing.