1. أَلا بَكَرَت عِرسي تُوائِمُ مَن لَحى

    وَأَقرَبَ بِأَحلامِ النِساء مِنَ الرَدى

    Lo, my wife came early, echoing whoever reproached me.

    And how close women's judgments are to ruin!

  2. أَفي جَنبِ بَكرٍ قَطَّعَتني مَلامَةً

    لَعَمري لَقَد كانَت مَلامَتُها ثِنى

    Was it over a young camel that she tore me apart with reproach?

    By my life, her reproach was twofold.

  3. أَلا لا تَلومي وَيبَ غَيرِكِ عارِياً

    رَأى ثَوبَهُ يَوماً مِنَ الدَهرِ فَاِكتَسى

    Oh, do not blame—woe to someone other than you!—a naked man

    who one day saw his garment and clothed himself.

  4. فَأُقسِمُ لَولا أَن أُسِرَّ نَدامَةً

    وَأُعلِنَ أُخرى إِن تَراخَت بِكَ النَوى

    So I swear: were it not for one regret I would conceal

    and another I would proclaim if separation carried you far away,

  5. وَقيلُ رِجالٍ لا يُبالونَ شَأنَنا

    غَوى أَمرُ كَعبٍ ما أَرادَ وَما اِرتَأى

    and the talk of men who care nothing for our affairs:

    “Ka'b's course has gone astray—what he wanted and what he planned”—

  6. لَقَد سَكَنَت بَيني وَبَينَكِ حِقبَةً

    بِأَطلائِها العَينُ المُلَمَّعَةُ الشَوى

    there would have dwelt between me and you for an age

    wide-eyed, mottled-limbed wild cows with their calves.

  7. فَيا راكِباً إِما عَرَضتَ فَبَلِّغَن

    بَني مِلقَطٍ عَني إِذا قيلَ مَن عَنى

    So, O rider, if you pass that way, be sure to tell

    the sons of Milqat, on my behalf, when asked, “Whom did he mean?”

  8. فَما خِلتُكُم يا قَومُ كُنتُم أَذِلَّةً

    وَما خِلتَكُم كُنتُم لِمُختَلِسٍ جَنى

    For I never thought you, O people, were abject,

    nor thought you were ripe fruit for a snatcher.

  9. لَقَد كُنتُم بِالسَهلِ وَالحَزنِ حَيَّةً

    إِذا لَدَغَت لَم تَشفِ لَدغَتَها الرُقى

    You were surely a serpent on plain and rugged ground:

    when it bit, no incantations could heal its bite.

  10. فَإِن تَغضَبوا أَو تُدرِكوا لي بِذِمَّةٍ

    وَأَصبَحَ زَيدٌ بَعدَ فَقرٍ قَد اِقتَنى

    So if you are angered, or secure redress for me under a pledge,

    and Zayd, after poverty, has now acquired possessions,

  11. وَإِن الكُمَيتَ عِندَ زَيدٍ ذِمامَةٌ

    وَما بِالكُمَيتِ مِن خَفاءٍ لِمَن رَأى

    and indeed, the bay horse in Zayd's keeping is an obligation of honor,

    and the bay horse is unmistakable to anyone who has seen him.

  12. يَبينُ لِأَفيالِ الرِجالِ وَمِثلُهُ

    يَبينَ إِذا ما قيدَ في الخَيلِ أَو جَرى

    He stands out even to dull-witted men, and one like him

    stands out when led among horses or when he runs.

  13. مُمَرٌّ كَسَرحانِ القَصيمَةِ مُنعَلٌ

    مَساحِيَ لا يُدمي دَوابِرَها الوَجى

    Tightly built, like a wolf of the sandy thicket, shod

    with spade-like hooves whose heels no bruising makes bleed;

  14. شَديدُ الشَظى عَبلُ الشَوى شَنِجُ النَسا

    كَأَنَّ مَكانَ الرِدفِ مِن ظَهرِهِ وَعى

    strong in the splint bones, thick-limbed, taut of thigh-sinew,

    as though the rear rider's seat on his back were a rock.