1. أَلا سائِلِ الرُّكبانَ هَل طَلَّ لَعلَعٌ

    كَما كانَ مَطلولَ الأَصائِل سَجسَجا

    Ah, ask the riders: has La‘la‘ been touched by dew,

    as it once was, dew-wet in the late afternoons and temperate?

  2. وَعَن حَرَجاتِ الحَيِّ ما لي وَما لَها

    تُجَدِّدُ لي شَوقاً إِذا الرَّكبُ عَرَّجا

    And about the camp's thickets—what have I to do with them?

    They renew my longing whenever the caravan turns aside.

  3. وَعَن أَثَلاتِ الجِزعِ هَل مالَ ظِلُّها

    وَهَل تَخِذَت ريحُ الصَّبا فيهِ مَدرَجا

    And about the tamarisks at the valley bend—has their shade slanted,

    and has the east wind taken a path there?

  4. بِحَيثُ يَشِفُّ السِّترُ عَن ماءِ مَبسَمٍ

    أَرى بابَ صَبري عَنهُ أَبهَمَ مُرتَجا

    Where the veil lets a smiling mouth's sheen show through,

    I see the door of my patience without it sealed and bolted.

  5. رَكِبتُ الهَوى عُريَ السّراةِ وَرُبَّما

    رَكِبتُ إِلى الهَيجاءِ أَدهَمَ مُسرَجا

    I rode passion bareback, and many a time

    I rode to battle on a saddled black steed.

  6. فَيا رُبَّ يَومٍ قَد صَليتُ بِحَرِّهِ

    تَراهُ بِنارِ المُرهَفاتِ مُؤَجَّجا

    And oh, many a day have I burned in its heat—

    you see it ablaze with the fire of keen-edged swords.

  7. غَدَوتُ وَجَفنُ الشَّمسِ بِالنُّورِ أَزرَقٌ

    فَغادَرتُهُ بِالنَّقعِ أَرمَدَ أَدعَجا

    I set out in the morning, the sun's eyelid blue with light,

    then left it ash-gray and black with dust.

  8. سَقَيتُ العَوالي بِالنَّجيعِ فَنَوَّرَت

    بَهاراً يُرى عِندَ الطِّعانِ بَنَفسَجا

    I watered the spearheads with fresh blood, so they blossomed

    as yellow oxeyes, seen as violets amid spear-thrusts.