1. Did you ask about the abode or did you not ask?
Between the two answers is the desolate wilderness and Homal.

2. The meadow of yellow grass and pouring rain,
The abodes of Salma laid with no adobe bricks.

3. It became stronger and was neglected by them, so it is
After decay, like obscure verses in the scripture.

4. Abodes taken by turns by the winds, round about them,
With palm-trunk ceilings without branches above.

5. My eyes are suffering, their tears pouring forth
For dwellings whose traces were erased as if never inhabited.

6. An abode of a people I saw them once
When their glory was above all glory, never transferred.

7. For God's sake, the loss of a band I regretted,
One day at Juljaq in time long past.

8. Walking about in overlapping robes, their gait
Like that of camels, to camels with splendid howdahs.

9. Striking the sheep whose whiteness flashes
With a blow making its joints give way.

10. Mixing their poor with their wealthy,
Bestowing favors on the weak and destitute.

11. The sons of Jafnah, around the grave of their father,
The grave of the son of Mariyah, generous and preferred.

12. They live there until even their dogs do not bark
And do not ask about the approaching darkness.

13. They give drink to whoever comes upon them
With pure wine that claps with the tinkling of the pendant.

14. They are given to drink a draft of pure wine, though
Their mares were not called to the soft dunes.

15. The faces white, their lineage noble,
The scent of their noses of excellent pedigree.

16. I ascended from the land of Barys unto them
Until I leaned upon an abode never explored.

17. We walk about with carpets and musical instruments,
Between vineyards and slender palm trunks.

18. I remained among them for ages long,
Then it was as if I had never done so.

19. You would see my head changed of color,
Becoming grizzled, like a overturned cooking pot.

20. Indeed my friend sees me as if I were
In the palace of Domah or on the Sawa plain.

21. And I have drunk wine in its taverns
Pale, clear, tasting like pepper.

22. The waiter bustles toward me with his cup
Raising me with it even if I do not partake.

23. The one who handed it to me and I returned it—
“Kill her, kill her,” I said, “Bring it, do not kill her.”

24. Both of them squeeze the juice, giving me
A bottle they swing to the joints.

25. A bottle that dances with what is inside
Dances like the swaying of a camel with a hurried rider.

26. My lineage is honorable, generous,
Its seasons ripen in the south wind’s warmth.

27. The tribe entrusts its affairs to us
And we master the day of calamities and endure them.

28. Our lord roams about the nobles,
And our speaker hits the joints with his speech.

29. We undertake the important matter—its discourse
Among them we elucidate each complex issue.

30. Our mounts frequent the gates of kings,
And when we arbitrate in the wilderness, we are just.

31. A gallant man who loves praise places his wealth
Aside from his father even if not asked.

32. He gives the tribe its due and increases it,
Protecting it in baffling adversities.

33. I enjoyed it early on and did not defer it
With a bottle from the best mature vineyard.