1. أَصبَحَ حَبلُ وَصلِكُمُ رِماما

    وَما عَهدٌ كَعَهدِكِ يا أُماما

    The cord of union with you has become tatters;

    and no pledge is like yours, O Umama.

  2. إِذا سَفَرَت فَمَسفَرُها جَميلٌ

    وَيُرضي العَينَ مَرجِعُها اللِثاما

    When she unveils, her revealed face is beautiful;

    and her replacing the veil delights the eye.

  3. تُري صَديانَ مَشرَعَةً شِفاءً

    فَحامَ وَلَيسَ وارِدَها وَحاما

    She shows a thirsty man a healing watering-place;

    so he circled, without reaching its water, and circled on.

  4. أَمَنَّيتِ المُنى وَخَلَبتِ حَتّى

    تَرَكتِ ضَميرَ قَلبي مُستَهاما

    Did you hold out hopes and beguile me, until

    you left my heart's innermost depths love-bewildered?

  5. سَقى الأُدَمى بِمُسبِلَةِ الغَوادي

    وَسُلمانينَ مُرتَجِزاً رُكاما

    May al-Udama be watered by pouring morning rainclouds,

    and Sulmanayn by a massed, thundering cloud.

  6. سَمِعتُ حَمامَةً طَرِبَت بِنَجدٍ

    فَما هِجتَ العَشيَّةَ يا حَماما

    I heard a dove warbling in Najd;

    how you stirred me this evening, O dove!

  7. مُطَوَّقَةً تَرَنَّمُ فَوقَ غُصنٍ

    إِذا ما قُلتُ مالَ بِها اِستِقاما

    A ring-necked dove, singing above a branch;

    whenever I thought it bent beneath her, it straightened.

  8. سَقى اللَهُ البَشامَ وَكُلَّ أَرضٍ

    مِنَ الغَورَينِ أَنبَتَتِ البَشاما

    May God water the balsam trees and every land

    of the two lowlands that has brought forth balsam.

  9. أُحِبُّ الدَورَ مِن هَضَباتِ غَولٍ

    وَلا أَنسى ضَرِيَّةَ وَالرِجاما

    I love the dwellings among Ghawl's hills,

    and do not forget Dariyya and al-Rijam.

  10. كَأَنَّكَ لَم تَسِر بِجَنوبِ قَوٍّ

    وَلَم تَعرِف بِناظِرَةَ الخِياما

    As though you had never traveled south of Qaww,

    nor known the tents at Nazira.

  11. عَرَفتُ مَنازِلاً بِجَمادِ قَوٍّ

    فَأَسبَلتُ الدُموعَ بِها سِجاما

    I recognized dwellings at Jamad Qaww,

    and there let my tears flow in streams;

  12. وَسُفعاً في المَنازِلِ خالِداتٍ

    وَقَد تَرَكَ الوَقودُ بِهِنَّ شاما

    and blackened hearthstones, enduring among the dwellings,

    on which burning fuel had left dark marks.

  13. وَقَفتُ عَلى الدِيارِ فَذَكَّرَتني

    عُهوداً مِن جُعادَةَ أَو قَطاما

    I stood by the dwellings, and they recalled to me

    former days with Ju'ada or Qatam.

  14. أَظاعِنَةٌ جُعادَةُ لَم تُوَدِّع

    أُحِبُّ الظاعِنينَ وَمَن أَقاما

    Is Ju'ada departing without bidding farewell?

    I love those who depart and those who stay.

  15. فَقُلتُ لِصُحبَتي وَهُمُ عِجالٌ

    بِذي بَقَرٍ أَلا عوجوا السَلاما

    So I said to my companions, who were hurrying,

    at Dhu Baqar: 'Come, turn aside to offer greeting.

  16. صِلوا كَنَفي الغَداةَ وَشَيِّعوني

    فَإِنَّ عَلَيكُمُ مِنّي زِماما

    Come to my side this morning and see me off,

    for a bond of duty to me rests upon you.'

  17. فَقالوا ما تَعوجُ بِنا لِشَيءٍ

    إِذا لَم تَلقَهُم إِلّا لِماما

    They said, 'You turn us aside to no purpose

    if you meet them only rarely.'

  18. مِنَ الأُدَمى أَتَينَكَ مُنعَلاتٍ

    يُقَطِّعنَ السَرائِحَ وَالخِداما

    From al-Udama they came to you, shod,

    wearing through their leather straps and foot-bands.

  19. فَلَيتَ العيسَ قَد قَطَعَت بِرَكبٍ

    وِعالاً أَو قَطَعنَ بِنا صَواما

    Would that the pale camels, carrying a caravan, had crossed

    Wi'al, or crossed Sawam with us.

  20. كَأَنَّ حُداتَنا الزَجلينَ هاجوا

    بِخَبتٍ أَو سَماوَتِهِ نَعاما

    As though our loud-chanting camel-drivers had startled

    ostriches in Khabt or on its open upland.

  21. تُخاطِرُ بِالأَدِلَّةِ أُمُّ وَحشٍ

    إِذا جازوا تَسومُهُمُ الظِلاما

    A mother of wild beasts gambles with the guides;

    when they cross her, she subjects them to darkness.

  22. مُخَفِّقَةً تَشابَهُ حينَ يَجري

    حَبابُ الماءِ وَاِرتَدَتِ القَتاما

    Shimmering, she resembles the flowing

    ripples of water, and has cloaked herself in dust.

  23. تَرى رَكبَ الفَلاةِ إِذا عَلَوها

    عَلى عَجَلٍ وَسَيرُهُمُ اِقتِحاما

    You see the desert caravan, when they ascend her,

    hurrying, their journey a headlong rush.

  24. إِذا نَشَزَ المَخارِمَ في ضُحاها

    حَسِبتَ رِعانَها حُصناً قِياما

    When it climbs the mountain passes in her morning light,

    you would take her mountain-spurs for standing stallions.

  25. أَبيتُ اللَيلَ أَرقَبُ كُلَّ نَجمٍ

    مُكابَدَةً لِهَمِّيَ وَاِحتِماما

    I spend the night watching every star,

    wrestling with my grief and anxious brooding,

  26. لِمَرِّ سِنينَ قَد لَبِسَت شَبابي

    وَأَبلَت بَعدَ جِدَّتِها العِظاما

    for the passing years that have worn my youth

    and worn out my bones after their freshness.

  27. مَشَيتُ عَلى العَصا وَحَنَونَ ظَهري

    وَوَدَّعتُ المَوارِكَ وَالزِماما

    I walked leaning on a staff, and they bent my back;

    and I bade farewell to saddle footrests and reins.

  28. وَكَيفَ وَلا أَشُدُّ حِبالَ رَحلٍ

    أَرومُ إِلى زِيارَتِكِ المَراما

    And how, when I do not tighten a saddle's ropes,

    can I pursue my goal of visiting you?

  29. مِنَ العيدِيِّ في نَسَبِ المَهارى

    تُطيرُ عَلى أَخِشَّتِها اللُغاما

    Of 'Idi stock, in the Mahri lineage,

    they send foam flying over their nose-pegs.

  30. وَتَعرِفُ عِتقَهُنَّ عَلى نُحولٍ

    وَقَد لَحِقَت ثَمائِلَها اِنضِماما

    You recognize their noble breeding despite their leanness,

    and their bellies are already drawn tightly in.

  31. كَأَنَّ عَلى مَناخِرِهِنَّ قُطناً

    يَطيرُ وَيَعتَمِمنَ بِهِ اِعتِماما

    As though cotton lay upon their nostrils,

    flying, as they wrap it about their heads like turbans.

  32. أَميرُ المُؤمِنينَ قَضى بِعَدلٍ

    أَحَلَّ الحِلَّ وَاِجتَنَبَ الحَراما

    The Commander of the Faithful has judged with justice;

    he permitted the lawful and shunned the forbidden.

  33. أَتَمَّ اللَهُ نِعمَتَهُ عَلَيكُم

    وَزادَ اللَهُ مُلكَكُمُ تَماما

    May God perfect His blessing upon you,

    and may God increase your dominion to its fullness;

  34. وَبارَكَ في مَسيرِكُم مَسيراً

    وَبارَكَ في مَقامِكُم مَقاما

    and bless you in each journey you make,

    and bless you in each place where you stay.

  35. بِحَقِّ المُستَجيرِ يَخافُ رَوعاً

    إِذا أَمسى بِحَبلِكَ أَن يَناما

    By the terror-fearing refuge-seeker's right

    to sleep when evening finds him under your protection—

  36. فَيا رَبَّ البَرِيَّةِ أَعطِ شُكراً

    وَعافِيَةً وَأَبقِ لَنا هِشاما

    O Lord of creation, grant us gratitude

    and well-being, and preserve Hisham for us.

  37. وَثِقنا بِالنَجاحِ إِذا بَلَغنا

    إِمامَ العَدلِ وَالمَلِكَ الهُماما

    We were sure of success when we reached

    the imam of justice and the valiant king.

  38. عَطاءُ اللَهِ مَلَّكَكَ النَصارى

    وَمَن صَلّى لِقِبلَتِهِ وَصاما

    God's bounty has made you ruler over the Christians

    and whoever prays toward his qibla and fasts.

  39. تُعافي السامِعينَ إِذا أَطاعوا

    وَلَكِنَّ العُصاةَ لَقوا غَراما

    You pardon those who heed you when they obey,

    but the disobedient have met lasting punishment.

  40. وَكانَ أَبوكَ قَد عَلِمَت مَعَدٌّ

    يُفَرِّجُ عَنهُمُ الكُرَبَ العِظاما

    Your father—as Ma'add well knew—used to

    relieve them of their mighty afflictions.

  41. وَقَد وَجَدوكَ أَكرَمَهُم جُدوداً

    إِذا نُسِبوا وَأَثبَتَهُم مَقاما

    They have found you noblest among them in ancestry,

    when their lineages are traced, and firmest in standing.

  42. وَتُحرِزُ حينَ تَضرِبُ بِالمُعَلّى

    مِنَ الحَسَبِ الكَواهِلَ وَالسَناما

    And when you cast the Mu'alla arrow, you win

    the shoulders and hump of noble lineage.

  43. إِلى المَهدِيِّ نَفزَعُ إِن فَزِعنا

    وَنَستَقي بِغُرَّتِهِ الغَماما

    To the rightly guided one we turn if we are afraid,

    and by his radiant brow we seek rain from the clouds.

  44. وَما جَعَلَ الكَواكِبَ أَو سُهَيلاً

    كَضَوءِ البَدرِ يَجتابُ الظَلاما

    He did not make the stars, or Suhayl,

    like the full moon's light cleaving the darkness.

  45. وَحَبلُ اللَهِ تَعصِمُكُم قُواهُ

    فَلا تَخشى لِعِروَتِهِ اِنفِصاما

    And the strands of God's rope keep you safe,

    so you need not fear a break in its loop.

  46. وَيَحسَرُ مَن تَرَكتَ فَلَم تُكَلِّم

    وَيُغبَطُ مَن تُراجِعُهُ الكَلاما

    Whoever you leave without a word is grieved,

    and whoever you converse with is envied.

  47. رَضينا بِالخَليفَةِ حينَ كُنّا

    لَهُ تَبَعاً وَكانَ لَنا إِماما

    We were content with the caliph when we were

    his followers and he was our imam.

  48. تَباشَرَتِ البِلادُ لَكُم بِحُكمٍ

    أَقامَ لَنا الفَرائِضَ وَاِستَقاما

    The lands rejoiced for you in a rule

    that established our prescribed duties and remained upright.

  49. وَريشي مِنكُمُ وَهَوايَ فيكُم

    وَإِن كانَت زِيارَتُكُم لِماما

    My plumage comes from you, and my love is for you,

    though my visits to you are rare.

  50. وَقَيتَ الحَتفَ مِن عَرَضِ المَنايا

    وَلُقَّيتَ التَحيَّةَ وَالسَلاما

    May you be spared death from the assaults of fate,

    and may you receive greeting and peace.

  51. لَقَد عَلِمَ البَرِيَّةُ مِن قُرَيشٍ

    وَمِن قَيسٍ مَضارِبَهُ الكِراما

    Indeed, the people of Quraysh know,

    and those of Qays, his noble origins.

  52. نَماكَ الحارِثانِ وَعَبدُ شَمسٍ

    إِلى العَليا فَعِزُّكَ لَن يُراما

    The two Hariths and 'Abd Shams raised you

    to the heights, so your glory will never be assailed.

  53. سُيوفُ الخالِدينَ صَدَعنَ بَيضاً

    عَلى الأَعداءِ في لَجَبٍ وَهاما

    The swords of the Khalids split helmets

    and skulls, amid the tumult of battle against their foes.

  54. وَسَيفُ بَني المُغيرَةِ لَم يُقَصِّر

    سُيوفُ اللَهِ دَوَّخَتِ الأَناما

    And the sword of Banu al-Mughira did not fall short;

    God's swords subdued mankind.

  55. رَأَيتُ المَنجَنيقَ إِذا أَصابَت

    بِناءَ الكُفرِ هَدَّمَتِ الرُخاما

    I saw the catapult, when it struck

    the edifice of unbelief, shatter the marble.