1. ما اسْتماعي لمقالِ العُذَّلِ

    ما لهم في حُبّ أسمَاءَ ولي

    Why should I listen to the reproachers' words?

    What concern have they with loving Asma, or with me?

  2. ما هي إلاَّ أهَيْلٌ في أهيفٍ

    ما هي إلاَّ أهيفٌ في أهيلِ

    She is but a soft sandhill in a slender form;

    she is but a slender form in a soft sandhill.

  3. قِيْلَ مَا تعشقُ مِنْ أجفنِها

    قلتُ كَحلاَ وإن لمِ تُكْحَلِ

    It was asked, 'What do you love in her eyelids?'

    I said, 'Their kohl-darkness, though no kohl was applied.'

  4. قِيْلَ فانظر ثغرها في شعرها

    قُلْتُ ذا المظلم فوق المنُجلي

    It was said, 'Then look at her mouth amid her hair.'

    I said, 'This darkness above that radiance.'

  5. عُوْفيتْ لّما رأتني مُبتَلي

    أينَ مَنْ عُوفي مِمن قد بُلي

    She was spared when she saw me afflicted;

    how far apart are one spared and one afflicted!

  6. كلمّا قال لها القدُّ انهضي

    قالت الأرداف لا لا تفعلي

    Whenever her figure told her, 'Rise,'

    her buttocks said, 'No—do not do it!'

  7. كلمّا قال لها الحسنُ اسْمَحي

    تربحي قال لها التيهُ ابخلي

    Whenever beauty told her, 'Be generous;

    you will gain,' pride told her, 'Be stingy.'

  8. وبنَعْمَانَ إذا مَرَّت به

    فاح عَرف المسك عرفَ المندل

    And at Na'man, whenever she passed through it,

    musk's fragrance wafted—the fragrance of aloeswood.

  9. وبيوم الدّجْن أدلى حَمّلتْ

    قدحاً لي من سُلافٍ سلسلِ

    And on a cloudy day—[unclear: 'lowered']—she had someone carry

    a goblet for me of pure, smooth-flowing wine.

  10. قَوّستْ لي حَجبيْها عرضاً

    وَرَمِتْني فأصَابتْ مقتلي

    She bent her two eyebrows into bows for me, crosswise,

    and shot at me, striking my mortal spot.

  11. أه ما بي أه ما عندي كما

    حَمَلُوها فوقَ ذاك المحَمْلَي

    Ah, what ails me! Ah, what I bear, as

    they carried her onto that camel-litter!

  12. ما قتيلُ الحُسنِ إلاّ عامرٌ

    والهوى هُوْ لَهُُ والشعر لي

    Beauty's slain one is none but Amir;

    and passion is his, and poetry mine.

  13. وإذا ضاقت برحلي بلدة

    فإلى البدر بن بكر بن علي

    And when a town grows too cramped for my saddle,

    then to al-Badr, son of Bakr, son of Ali;

  14. وإلى موزع تُحدي أينقى

    وإلى ذاك الربيع الخَضلِ

    and to Mawza' my she-camels are driven with song,

    and toward that lush spring.

  15. كيف لا أمدحُ يا أهلَ الثنا

    من تسَّمى بالنبي المُرْسَلِ

    How could I not praise, O people of praise,

    the namesake of the Prophet sent as messenger?

  16. تغليٌ وائليٌ قومُهُ

    خَضَبُوا سمرَ الرماح الذبّلِ

    His people are Taghli, of Wa'il;

    they stained the brown, slender spears.

  17. ربعيّ كان كسرى فارس

    طَبّقَ الأرضَ بالفي جحْفلِ

    He is of Rabi'a; Kisra of Persia had

    covered the earth with two thousand mighty hosts.

  18. فتلقوه بَنُوا شيبانِه

    أركبوه كلّ عضبٍ فيْصلِ

    Then the sons of his Shayban clan confronted him;

    they struck him with every sharp, cleaving sword.

  19. المجيرون ابنة النعمان منْ

    شرّه وهو بَغْيظٍ ممتلي

    Those who sheltered al-Nu'man's daughter from

    his evil, while he was filled with rage.

  20. يا ابن بكرٍ يا سميَّ المصطفى

    يا عروسَ الخيل بدرَ المحفلِ

    O son of Bakr, O namesake of the Chosen One,

    O bride of the steeds, full moon of the assembly!

  21. من يساويك ومن مثلك لا

    ما سبيك التّبْرِ مثلُ الجندلِ

    Who equals you? Who is like you? No—

    an ingot of gold is not like stone.

  22. خاضها من قُرْتُبٍ حتى أتى

    عدناً خوضَ القِلاص البُزّلِ

    He waded through it from Qurtub until he reached

    Aden, wading like she-camels in their prime.

  23. لم تزل سَدَّاد ثغر فاتِحاً

    بِالعَوالي كل ثغر مُقفَلِ

    You have always defended a frontier, opening

    with lofty spears every barred stronghold.