1. يا دارَ رايةَ أبلى ثوبَ جِدَّتها

    تقادُمُ العهدِ والأرواحُ والمطرُ

    O dwelling of Rayah, the garment of whose freshness was worn away

    by the long passage of time, the winds, and the rain.

  2. صافت تُناوِحُ فيها كلُّ ساهِكةِ

    نكباءُ عُثنونُها مُستحصب كدِرُ

    Every scouring wind summered there, howling against its fellows,

    a crosswind, its beard gravel-laden and murky.

  3. حتى كأنَّ بقيَّاتِ الرسومِ بها

    وشَمٌ بمعصم ذاتِ الطوقِ أوزُبرَ

    Until the remnants of its traces seemed

    a tattoo on a necklace-wearing woman's wrist, or inscriptions.

  4. أقضى مَلائحها التَّفريقَ فارتبعت

    فيها النقانقُ والآرامُ والبقرُ

    Separation swept away its fair women; spring quarters were taken

    there by male ostriches, white gazelles, and wild cattle.

  5. كانت بها الجُردُ والأذوادُ ثم بها

    ألوَى الزمانُ فلا خيلٌ ولا عكرُ

    Once it held sleek horses and small camel herds; then against it

    time wrought ruin: neither horses nor great camel herds remain.

  6. وقد نحِلُّ بها والشملُ مجتمعٌ

    والعيشُ لا رَنقٌ فيه ولا كدَرُ

    We once would dwell there, with all our company gathered,

    and life held neither murk nor cloudiness.

  7. بيضٌ كواعبُ أترابُ يرنّحُها

    روقُ الشبابِ وماءُ الدَّلّ والخَفَرُ

    Fair-skinned, budding maidens, alike in age, swayed by

    the bloom of youth, the freshness of coquetry, and bashfulness.

  8. أترابُ رَاية إذ لا قوُمها شحطوا

    عنا ولا حبلُ ذاكَ الوصل منبترُ

    Rayah's age-mates, when her people had not gone far

    from us, nor had the cord of that union been severed.

  9. غَرثى الوشاحين شَبعى الِمرْط خرعبةٌ

    غَيْدَاءُ ماشانَها طولٌ ولا قصَرٌ

    Hungry at her twin sashes, full in her mantle, supple,

    lissome, marred by neither excessive height nor shortness.

  10. إذا تثَّنت ولاحت وهي سافرةٌ

    حارَ القضيبُ وحارَ الدّعصُ والقمر

    When she sways and appears with her face unveiled,

    the bough is bewildered, and so are the sand dune and the moon.

  11. تَهوى الغزالةُ منها حسن مَبسمها

    ويُعجب الظبيَ منها الجيدُ والحوَرُ

    The sun loves the beauty of her smiling mouth,

    and the gazelle admires her neck and her eyes, dark against white.

  12. كأنَّ أنيابَها وَهْناً حَصى بَرَدٍ

    أو أُقحوانُ سقاه طلَّه الحَدرُ

    Her canine teeth in the night seem like hailstones,

    or chamomile blossoms the laden cloud watered with its dew.

  13. يضُوعُ من خدرها أمَّا نَفاحتُها

    مسكٌ وعودٌ ولا مسكٌ ولا قَطِرُ

    From her bower wafts—such is her fragrance—

    musk and aloeswood, though neither musk nor scented wood is there.

  14. صدَّت فبانت وحالَ العهدُ وانعرجت

    فنافت الوصلَ حتى زَوْرُها عسرُ

    She turned away and departed; the bond changed, and she swerved aside,

    and rejected union, until even visiting her became hard.

  15. أنا الذي ليس في مَنْشأ أرومتهِ

    شَوْبٌ يريبُ ولا في عوده خوَرُ

    I am one whose lineage at its source holds no

    taint to stir suspicion, and whose timber has no weakness.

  16. ولا يكذّبِه أمر يحاوله

    وليسَ في شأِوه عن غايةٍ قِصَرُ

    Nor does any undertaking he attempts disappoint him,

    nor does his stride fall short of any goal.

  17. إني لمن مَعشرٍ ماضيمَ جارُهُمُ

    يوماً ولا نقضوا عهداً ولا غَدروا

    Surely I belong to a people whose protected neighbor was never wronged

    on any day; they never broke a pact or acted treacherously.

  18. شُمُّ المعاطس وفّاؤن إِن وعدوا

    يومَ العطاءِ ويعفُونَ إذا قدروا

    With noses held high, they keep their promises whenever they pledge

    on the day of giving, and pardon when they have power.

  19. لا يجزعونَ إذا لم يُنصروا أسَفاً

    يوماً ولا يرتدونَ العُجبَ إن نُصروا

    They do not despair in grief if they are denied victory

    one day, nor don conceit if they are victorious.

  20. إذا دُعُوا لُملِمٍّ فادحٍ وثبوا

    وإن أُتيح عليهم كارث صبروا

    When summoned to a crushing calamity, they spring up;

    and if catastrophe befalls them, they endure.

  21. بَني لهم جدُّهم قحطانُ بيتَ عُليّ

    تنحطُّ عن ذرْوتيه الأنجمُ الُّزهرُ

    Their forefather Qahtan built them a lofty house

    beneath whose two summits the bright stars sink.

  22. كم مُجحرٍ بالمَواضي البيضِ قد قَتلوا

    وماِلكٍ قاهرٍ سَادوه أو أسروا

    How many a warrior who drove foes into hiding have they slain with keen, bright blades,

    and how many a domineering ruler they mastered or captured!

  23. وكم تركنا غداةَ الرَّوْعِ من بطلٍ

    ولحمه لسَرَاحينِ الفلا جَزَرُ

    And how many a champion we left on the morning of terror,

    his flesh butchered meat for the wolves of the wilderness!

  24. دَانت لنا تغلبُ العَلياء وانخضعت

    بكرُ بن واِئلَ وانقادت لنا مُضرُ

    Lofty Taghlib submitted to us, and in submission bowed

    Bakr ibn Wa'il; Mudar, too, yielded to us.

  25. أبْلِغ نزاراً وخيرُ القولِ أصدقُه

    والقولُ ينفُذُ مالا تنفذُ الإبرُ

    Tell Nizar—and the best speech is the truest,

    and speech pierces what needles cannot—

  26. إن تفخروا برسولِ اللهِ إنَّ لنا

    به كأضعافِ ما أشياخُكم فخروا

    if you boast of God's Messenger, surely we have

    in him many times the pride your elders boasted of.

  27. طردتموه فآوَيناه وانبعثت

    منكم كتائبُ تبغي حرَبه جَوَرُ

    You drove him out, so we sheltered him; there arose

    from among you unjust battalions seeking war against him.

  28. قصدَّكم عنه منا مَعشرٌ أْنُفٌ

    بيضٌ قلامسُ مهما حاربوا ظفروا

    A proud company of ours drove you back from him,

    fair-faced, mighty chiefs: whenever they fought, they triumphed.

  29. أتَطردون نبيّاً بينَ أظْهُركم

    ببعِثه جاءتِ الآياتُ والسُّوَرُ

    Do you drive out a prophet from your midst,

    with whose mission came the verses and surahs?

  30. ساورتموه وُسمر الخَطِ ًمُشرَعةٌ

    والبيضُ تُرفضُّ من أطرافها الشررُ

    You assailed him while the brown spears of al-Khatt were levelled,

    and sparks scattered from the tips of the bright swords.

  31. ذُدناكم عنه بالأسيافِ مُصْلَتَةً

    حتى استمرَّت له في يَثربٍ مِرَرُ

    We drove you away from him with swords unsheathed,

    until his cords of power grew firm in Yathrib.

  32. حتى أتى مدحُنا في الذّكِر مشتهِراً

    وأيُّ مَدحٍ كذا في الذكرِ مشتهرُ

    Until praise of us came forth, proclaimed in the Remembrance;

    and what praise is so renowned in the Remembrance?

  33. كم بينَ من حاربوه أو له طَردوا

    وبين قومٍ هم آوُوه أو نَصروا

    How far apart are those who fought him or drove him out,

    and a people who sheltered him or gave him aid!

  34. وكم لنا قبلَ هذا المجد من شرفٍ

    وسُؤدَدٍ أطْرقَت صِغراً له البشرُ

    And how much honor was ours before this glory,

    and eminence before which humankind lowered their heads, abased!

  35. مَهلاً فنحن سَراة القومِ كلَّهمِ

    وما أضيفَ إلينا فهو محتقرُ

    Enough! For we are the chiefs of all the people,

    and whatever is set beside us is deemed paltry.

  36. بَني لنا اللُه عزاً لا يُباذِخُه

    عزٌّ وإن لم تنله الشّمسُ والقمرُ

    God built for us a glory that cannot be rivalled

    by any glory, even one the sun and moon cannot reach.

  37. وليسَ يَعلو مَن الرَّحمنُ خافضُه

    وليس يُدرَك ما لا يُسعِد القَدَرُ

    And none whom the Merciful brings low can rise,

    and what destiny does not favor cannot be attained.