1. لرايةَ ربعٌ بالعَقيقِ فكبكبِ

    تلوحُ كعنوانِ الكتابِ المعرَّبِ

    Raya has a dwelling-site at al-Aqiq, then Kabkab,

    gleaming like the heading of a book rendered into Arabic.

  2. عفاهُ من الوسميّ كل مجلجلٍ

    منيفِ الغَمامِ برقه غير خُلَّبِ

    Every thunderous cloud of the autumn rains has effaced it,

    towering with clouds, its lightning no rainless flash;

  3. وساهِكةٍ هوجٍ كأن حنينها

    حنينُ مثاكيلٍ يقابلنّ نُدّب

    and a scouring, raging wind, whose moaning is like

    the wailing of bereaved women facing other mourners.

  4. وقفتُ بها صهبَ العثانين نمتري

    شئوناً متى عنَّ التذكُّر تَسكُبِ

    There I halted the tawny-bearded camels; we drew tears

    from tear-ducts that pour whenever remembrance stirs.

  5. وهل أبصرت عيناكَ أمس ظعائناً

    جوازعَ أعراص الَّلِوى فالمحصَّبِ

    And did your eyes yesterday behold women in their litters,

    crossing the open grounds of al-Liwa, then al-Muhassab?

  6. كأنّ السفين الفارغاتِ تمايلت

    بأشرعُها فوق الخِضَمّ المحدّبِ

    As though empty ships were swaying

    with their sails above the swelling deep.

  7. عقائلُ من سرّ العتيك ويعربٍ

    يذللنّ آساد العتيكِ ويعربِ

    Noblewomen from the finest stock of al-Atik and Ya'rub,

    subduing the lions of al-Atik and Ya'rub.

  8. يلُثن المروطَ الأتحميات والمُلا

    بأمثال أدعاص النَّقا المتصوّبِ

    They wind Athami mantles and fine wraps

    around forms like the sloping mounds of dune-sand.

  9. ترى كل مبهاجٍ شَموعٍ كأنها

    قضيبُ لجينٍ إذ تُجرَّد مذهبِ

    You see each radiant, playful woman, as though she were

    a gilded rod of silver when she is unclothed.

  10. وذي خطلٍ في القول لم يألُ مُمعناً

    بَتعذالِ مسلوبِ الفؤاد المعذّبِ

    And a man of foolish speech spared no effort, persisting

    in reproaching a tormented man whose heart was stolen.

  11. فقلتُ له قدكَ اتئدْ إنما الهوى

    مليكٌ على عقلِ المليكِ المحجْبِ

    So I told him, 'Enough! Go gently: love is indeed

    a sovereign over the mind of the secluded sovereign.'

  12. أما والهجانِ الواسِجات إلى منى

    ترُف رَفيفَ الرُّبْد في كل سَبْسبِ

    Lo, by the white camels striding swiftly toward Mina,

    fluttering as gray ostriches flutter across every open plain,

  13. يُقطِّعنَ أسبابَ السَّباسبِ بعدما

    كَسى الليلُ أجسام اللوى ثوب غَيهبِ

    they traverse the paths of the desert plains, after

    night has clothed al-Liwa's bodies in a robe of deep darkness.

  14. ترى كل حمراء الملاطين حرَّةٍ

    وأعيَس دوَّارِ الملاطين صَلْهبِ

    You see each noble-bred she-camel, red on both flanks,

    and each pale, round-flanked, tall and massive he-camel,

  15. بكل منيبٍ طاِلبٍ بمسيرهِ

    رضاء الإلهِ وهو أشرفُ مُكْسبِ

    with every penitent seeking, through his journey,

    the pleasure of God, which is the noblest gain.

  16. يميناً لنعْمَ الدارُ في عَرصَاتها

    قِرى كل ضيفٍ طارقٍ متأوِّبِ

    I swear: how fine the house, within whose open courts

    there is fare for every guest who comes calling by night.

  17. وإني بعِقرِ المُتلياتِ وعقرها

    زَعيمٌ لدى ظَن اليتمِ المخيَّبِ

    And, for hamstringing the camels with young and slaughtering them,

    I stand surety when an orphan's hope is thwarted.

  18. أبشُّ لضيفي من سرورٍ بزوْرةٍ

    وأوسعُهُ فَضلي ولم أتصعَّبِ

    I beam upon my guest, delighted by his visit,

    and lavish my bounty on him without reluctance.

  19. وركبٍ عَوَى مُستنبحاً منهم فتى

    كلاب حُلولٍ صوتها لم يكذب

    And many a band of riders—a youth among them howled, seeking barks

    from the dogs of encamped folk, whose voice did not deceive.

  20. رفعتُ لهم سَفراء يعلو سَناؤها

    كَرَايةِ ديباجٍ على ظهر مَرقَبِ

    I raised for them a radiant fire, its brilliance rising

    like a brocade banner upon the crest of a lookout hill.

  21. فلما رأوها كبَّروا الله وانثنوا

    يجيبون داعي صوتها المُتلهبِ

    When they saw it, they cried 'God is greatest!' and turned,

    answering the summons of its blazing voice.

  22. فقلتُ لهم أهلاً وبادرتُ مصلتاً

    حُسامي ولم أجنحْ لقولٍ مؤنّبِ

    So I told them, 'Welcome!' and hastened, baring

    my keen sword, not yielding to a reproacher's words.

  23. فعارضني كومٌ صِعابٌ كأنها

    هضابُ سدورٍ أو شماريخُ عُرَّبِ

    Then high-humped, unruly camels confronted me, as though they were

    the hills of Sudur or the pinnacles of Urrab.

  24. فبادرتُ أولاها فترَّ وظيفُها

    فخرَّتْ ترَدَّى بالنَّجيعِ المصَّبب

    So I rushed at the first, and its shank was severed,

    and it fell, cloaked in gushing blood.

  25. وفاجأتُ أخرى فاتَّقتْ بتَليلها

    حُسامي فعجَّتْ بالرُّغاءِ المذبذبِ

    And I surprised another; it shielded itself with its neck

    against my sword, then cried out in a wavering bellow.

  26. فخرَّتُ لوَ شْكٍ ثم ملتُ لشارِفٍ

    عقيلة مالٍ مثلها لم يُقصَّبِ

    So I fell at once, then turned to an aged she-camel,

    a prized beast of the herd, whose like had never been butchered.

  27. فجدَّلتُها ثم اهتتفتُ بأعُبدي

    فجاؤا كما انقضّت ضواري ُأذْؤُب

    So I felled it, then shouted for my slaves,

    and they came as ravening wolves swoop down.

  28. فمن ناجرٍ أو كاشطٍ أو مُوشقٍ

    ومن مُقدر أو نِاشقٍٍ أو مضهّبِ

    Some chopping, some skinning, some cutting meat into strips,

    and some cooking in pots, some skewering, some lightly roasting,

  29. ومن حاملٍ ماءً ومن نِاشطٍ قرًى

    وبذلُ القرى للضيفِ أوجبُ واجب

    and some carrying water, and some busily supplying guest-fare.

    And offering hospitality to a guest is the most binding of duties.

  30. فهذي طباعي لم أزُل عن قديمها

    وقد كان جدي هكذا وكذا أبي

    So these are my ways; I have never departed from their old course,

    and my grandfather was like this, as was my father.