1. ما بالُ عينك منها الدَّمع مدرار

    كأنما فيضُها في الخدّ أنهارُ

    What ails your eye, that tears pour from it,

    as though its flood upon your cheek were rivers,

  2. أو ماءُ حَنَّانةٍ وطفاءَ حلَّ بها

    رعدٌ من الجانبِ الغربيّ مِهدارُ

    or rain from a rumbling, heavy-laden cloud, where

    thunder roars from the western quarter?

  3. أم من تذكر أحبابِ بهم شحطت

    عنكَ العشَّية طِيَّاتٌ وأسفارُ

    Or from remembering loved ones borne far away

    from you that evening by distant destinations and journeys?

  4. أم نَوحُ فاختهٍ تبكي أليفتَها

    لهَا من النوحِ ترجيعٌ وتكَرارُ

    Or a turtledove's lament, weeping for her mate,

    her mourning full of refrains and repetitions?

  5. أم هاج شوْقكَ من مكتومةٍ طللٌ

    تكشَّفتْ منه آياتٌ وآثارُ

    Or has a ruined dwelling of Maktumah stirred your longing,

    with its signs and traces laid bare?

  6. نعم هو الرَّبع أبكاني وحيرني

    وفي المعاهد المُشتاق تذكارُ

    Yes, it is the dwelling that made me weep and bewildered me;

    in familiar haunts lies remembrance for the yearning lover.

  7. معالم الحيَّ أبلى ثوبَ جدَّتها

    بعد الأحبة أرواحٌ وأمطارُ

    The camp's landmarks—the garment of their freshness was worn out

    after the loved ones left, by winds and rains.

  8. يبدو لعينك منها بعد ما مصَحتْ

    نؤيٌ ومحتطَبٌ بالٍ وأحجارُ

    After they faded, what your eye can see of them is

    a trench, an old firewood site, and stones—

  9. سُفعٌ جنحن على هابٍ كما جنحت

    على طلىً بازآءِ الحوضِ أظأرُ

    soot-black, they leaned over ashes, as did

    nurse-camels over calves beside the watering trough.

  10. إلى لوائح من أطلال أحْويةٍ

    كأن أرسمها في الطّرس أسطارُ

    Toward visible traces of ruined tent-clusters,

    as though their outlines were lines on parchment.

  11. جارتْ عليها يد الأيام فانقلبت

    وللياليَ إقبالٌ وإدْبارُ

    The hand of days dealt harshly with them, and they changed;

    and nights have their coming and their going.

  12. أوقفتُ فيها المطايا القُودَ أسألها

    وما بها بعدَ بينِ الحيّ دَّيارُ

    I halted my long-necked mounts there, questioning the ruins,

    though no one dwelt there after the tribe's departure.

  13. فاستعجمتْ عن جوابي لم تُطقْ خبراً

    وأين منْ دمنٍ عُرين أخبارُ

    They were mute to my question; they could give no news.

    And how could stripped-bare encampment traces give news?

  14. لله أيامُنا ما كاَن أحسنهَا

    فيها وللَّهو إيرادٌ وإصدارُ

    God be praised for our days—how beautiful they were

    there, as pleasure came and went!

  15. أيَّامَ مكتومةٌ لمْ يثنها عَذَلٌ

    عني ولمْ يغش صفو العيش أكدارُ

    Days when Maktumah was not turned away by reproach

    from me, nor troubles clouded life's serenity.

  16. هيفاءُ عجزاُء مصقولٌ ترائُبها

    بيضاُء ناهدةُ الثديينِ مِعطارُ

    Slender-waisted, full-hipped, her upper chest polished,

    fair-skinned, with swelling breasts, richly perfumed.

  17. خَودٌ حَصانٌ رداَح لا يلمُّ بها

    عابٌ يقال ولم يُعلقْ بها عارُ

    A tender young woman, chaste and full-figured, touched by no

    fault anyone could name; no shame clung to her.

  18. رَّيا المخلخَل أمُلود يظلُّ لهَا

    فوق الحشية خِلخالٌ ودينارِ

    Full-fleshed at the ankle, supple; there remain for her

    above the mattress an anklet and a dinar.

  19. كأنما ثغرها وهَناً حَصى برد

    قدْ علَّهَ بسُلاف الخمر خمّارُ

    As though her teeth, late at night, were hailstones

    that a vintner has drenched with the choicest wine.

  20. يا ُّأيها الرَّاكبُ المُزْجي مطيّته

    بهِ تقاذَفُ أوعارٌ فأوعارُ

    O rider urging his mount onward,

    as rugged tract after rugged tract tosses him onward,

  21. أبلغْ لديكَ ملوك الأرْض مألكةً

    قدْ صاغها قائل بالصّدق فخّارُ

    deliver a message to the kings of the earth before you,

    crafted by a speaker who boasts truthfully:

  22. مُتوَّج من بني هُودٍ النّبي لَهُ

    آباءُ صدقٍ أقاموا الملك أطهارُ

    a crowned man of the sons of Hud the prophet, whose

    upright, pure forefathers established kingship.

  23. إني نذير لُكم مني مجاهرةً

    ولا يلامُ فتى يهديهِ إنذارُ

    I am a warner to you, proclaiming my warning openly,

    and a young man whom warning guides is not blamed.

  24. لا بُدَّ أنْ أتركَ الأقيال ثَاويةً

    صَرْعي لها جارحات الطير زوَّراُ

    I must leave the chieftains lying

    slain, visited by birds of prey.

  25. أين المفرُّ لكم من ضيغمٍ حكمت

    في لَحِمكْم منه أنيابٌ وأظفارُ

    Where can you flee from a lion that has gained dominion

    over your flesh through its fangs and claws?

  26. إني أنا الدَّهرُ لكنْ ما انطويت على

    غدرٍ وذا الدَّهر خواَّن وغدَّار

    I am Time itself, yet I have never harbored

    treachery, whereas this Time is faithless and treacherous.

  27. جالي الكوارث خمّادُ الهثاهثِ قطَ

    اعُ الكثاكث نفّاع وضرَّارُ

    Dispeller of calamities, quencher of tumults, cleaver

    of dense throngs, bringer of benefit and harm;

  28. جمُّ المواهب فَلأل الكتائب وهَّ

    اب السَّلاهبِ بالمعروف أمَّارُ

    abundant in gifts, shatterer of battalions, lavish giver

    of tall steeds, constantly enjoining what is right;

  29. حامي الحقيقة وفّاءُ أخو كَرمٍ

    ضخمُ الدَّسيعةٍ في المَشتاةِ نحَّارُ

    defender of honor, ever faithful, a man of generosity,

    vast in bounty, slaughtering livestock freely in winter;

  30. مهذبٌ طاهرُ الأثواب ذو شَرَفٍ

    للظلم والعدلِ طواَّءٌ ونشَّار

    refined, pure of garments, possessed of honor,

    folding away injustice and spreading justice.

  31. كم قَوَّمت نعمتي من مائلٍ وصبٍ

    كما تُقِّوم قِدحَ النّبعِة النار

    How many a faltering, ailing man my bounty has set upright,

    as fire straightens an arrow-shaft of nabʿ wood.

  32. حسبي من المالِ فضفاضٌ وسابحةٌ

    وصارمٌ مُرهف الحدَّينِ بتار

    Enough wealth for me: a roomy coat of mail and a swift mare,

    and a sword, keen on both edges, cleaving clean through;

  33. وبيضةٌ مثل نجمِ الصُّبحِ لامعةٌ

    وذابلٌ قعَضبيّ الصدرِ خطار

    and a helmet gleaming like the morning star,

    and a slender spear with a Qaʿḍabī head, quivering.

  34. إني لمن مَعْشَرٍ ما مسهم جُبُن

    يومَ اللقاءِ ولم يُهْضَم لهم جارُ

    I am indeed of a people whom cowardice never touched

    on the day of battle, nor was any neighbor under their protection wronged.

  35. هُم هُم في العلى والمجدِ إرثهمُ

    هاتي الممالكِ أمجادٌ وأخبارُ

    They—yes, they—are high in rank and glory; their inheritance:

    these kingdoms, glorious deeds, and stories.

  36. مبرّؤونَ بَها ليلٌ ذوو كرمٍ

    شُمُّ المعاطسِ لاخاموا ولا جاروا

    Blameless, noble chiefs, endowed with generosity,

    lofty-nosed, they neither quailed nor dealt unjustly.

  37. في الجاهليِة سادوا العالمينَ فهم

    لأحمدٍ ولدينِ اللهِ أنصارُ

    In the pre-Islamic age they ruled the peoples; and so they are

    supporters of Ahmad and the religion of God.

  38. ما زالَ ينحلُنا للمُلكِ من يمنٍ

    وللمكارمِ جبَّار فجبارُ

    From Yemen, we have ever been endowed for kingship

    and noble deeds by mighty ruler after mighty ruler.

  39. فما لمفخرنا حدٌّ يصيرُ له

    وكلُّ شيءٍ له حدٌّ ومقدارُ

    Thus our glory has no limit at which to end,

    while everything has its limit and measure.