1. لَعَمرُكَ ما قَلبي إِلى أَهلِهِ بِحُر

    وَلا مُقصِرٍ يَوماً فَيَأتِيَني بِقُر

    By your life, my heart is not free where its loved ones are concerned,

    nor will it ever desist and bring me cool relief.

  2. أَلا إِنَّما الدَهرُ لَيالٍ وَأَعصُرِ

    وَلَيسَ عَلى شَيءٍ قَويمٍ بِمُستَمِر

    Lo, time is only nights and ages,

    and never persists in any settled state.

  3. لَيالٍ بِذاتِ الطَلحِ عِندَ مُحَجَّرِ

    أَحَبُّ إِلَينا مِن لَيالٍ عَلى أُقَر

    Nights at Dhat al-Talh, near Muhajjar,

    are dearer to us than nights at Uqar.

  4. أُغادي الصَبوحَ عِندَ هِرٍّ وَفَرتَنى

    وَليداً وَهَل أَفنى شَبابِيَ غَيرُ هِر

    I would take the morning wine with Hirr and Fartana,

    as a young lad—and who but Hirr wore out my youth?

  5. إِذا ذُقتُ فاهاً قُلتُ طَعمُ مُدامَةٍ

    مُعَتَّقَةٍ مِمّا تَجيءُ بِهِ التُجُر

    Whenever I tasted her mouth, I said, "The taste of wine,

    well-aged, of the sort the merchants bring."

  6. هُما نَعجَتانِ مِن نِعاجِ تِبالَةِ

    لَدى جُؤذَرَينِ أَو كَبَعضِ دُمى هَكِر

    They are two wild cows among the wild cows of Tibala,

    beside two wild calves, or like some of Hakir's statues.

  7. إِذا قامَتا تَضَوَّعَ المِسكُ مِنهُما

    نَسيمَ الصَبا جاءَت بِريحٍ مِنَ القُطُر

    When the two rise, musk wafts from them,

    like the east wind's breeze that came bearing the scent of aloeswood.

  8. كَأَنَّ التُجارَ أُصعِدوا بِسَبيئَةٍ

    مِنَ الخِصِّ حَتّى أَنزَلوها عَلى يَسَر

    As though the merchants had been sent upland with purchased wine,

    from al-Khiss, until they unloaded it at Yasar.

  9. فَلَمّا اِستَطابوا صُبَّ في الصَحنِ نِصفُهُ

    وَشُجَّت بِماءٍ غَيرِ طَرقٍ وَلا كَدِر

    Then, when they found it good, half of it was poured into the bowl,

    and it was diluted with water neither fouled by beasts nor muddy,

  10. بِماءِ سَحابٍ زَلَّ عَن مُتنِ صَخرَةٍ

    إِلى بَطنِ أُخرى طَيِّبٍ ماؤُها خُصَر

    with rainwater that slipped off the back of a rock

    into the hollow of another, its water sweet and cold.

  11. لَعَمرُكَ ما إِن ضَرَّني وَسطَ حِميَرٍ

    وَأَقوالِها إِلّا المَخيلَةُ وَالسُكُر

    By your life, nothing harmed me among Himyar

    and its chieftains except pride and drunkenness,

  12. وَغَيرُ الشَقاءِ المُستَبينِ فَلَيتَني

    أَجَرَّ لِساني يَومَ ذَلِكُمُ مُجِر

    and the reversals of manifest misfortune; would that

    a tongue-slitter had slit my tongue that day!

  13. لَعَمرُكَ ما سَعدٌ بِخُلَّةِ آثِمٍ

    وَلا نَأنَإٍ يَومَ الحِفاظِ وَلا حَصِر

    By your life, Sa'd has no sinner's disposition,

    nor is he a weakling when honor must be defended, nor tongue-tied.

  14. لَعَمري لَقَومٌ قَد نَرى أَمسَ فيهِمُ

    مَرابِطَ لِلأَمهارِ وَالعَكَرِ الدَثِر

    By my life, a people among whom we saw yesterday

    tethering grounds for foals and abundant camel herds

  15. أَحَبُّ إِلَينا مِن أُناسٍ بِقِنَّةٍ

    يَروحُ عَلى آثارِ شائِهِمُ النَمِر

    are dearer to us than people on a hilltop,

    where the leopard follows their sheep's tracks at dusk.

  16. يُفاكِهُنا سَعدٌ وَيَغدو لِجَمعِنا

    بِمَثنى الزِقاقِ المُترَعاتِ وَبِالجَزُر

    Sa'd entertains us and comes in the morning to our gathering

    with pairs of brimful wineskins and camels for slaughter.

  17. لَعَمري لَسَعدٌ حَيثُ حَلَّت دِيارُهُ

    أَحَبُّ إِلَينا مِنكَ فافَرَسٍ حَمِر

    By my life, Sa'd, wherever his dwellings lie,

    is dearer to us than you, O mouth of a surfeited horse!

  18. وَتَعرِفُ فيهِ مِن أَبيهِ شَمائِلاً

    وَمِن خالِهِ أَو مِن يَزيدَ وَمِن حُجَر

    And in him you recognize traits of his father,

    and of his maternal uncle, or of Yazid and Hujar:

  19. سَماحَةَ ذا وَبِرَّ ذا وَوَفاءِ ذا

    وَنائِلَ ذا إِذا صَحا وَإِذا سَكِر

    one's generosity, another's kindness, another's loyalty,

    and another's bounty, when sober and when drunk.