1. نَعم ساوَرَ الهمُّ الفؤاد فأبْهَرا

    ولجَّ به البَين المشتُّ فأسْهرَا

    Yes, grief assailed the heart and left it breathless;

    scattering separation pressed upon it and kept it sleepless.

  2. وبانَ الذي ألوى بقلبك حبُّه

    أتصبرُ أم لم تأنِ أن تتصبَّرا

    The one whose love twisted your heart has departed.

    Will you endure, or has the time not come to school yourself in patience?

  3. علقتُ فتاةً كالوَذيلةِ كاعباً

    بَرْهرَهةَ ريَّا الروادف عبَهرا

    I loved a maiden like a silver ingot, newly full-breasted,

    soft and fair, full-hipped, beautifully formed,

  4. من القاصراتِ الطرفِ غنَّاءَ غادَةً

    يُطيّبُ ريَّاها النَّصيفَ المُعصفرا

    among the modest-eyed, sweet-voiced and graceful.

    Her fragrance perfumes her safflower-dyed veil.

  5. إذا نظرت شاهدتَ بالرّملِ فَرقداً

    أو التفتت عاَينت ريماً مُذَّعرا

    When you look, you behold a wild-cow calf upon the sands;

    or, when she turns, you glimpse a startled white gazelle.

  6. لها بشرٌ لو باشرَ الوردُ بعضَه

    بناعمةٍ بلْهَ الرياضَ لأثَّرا

    Her skin is such that, were roses to touch any part of it

    with a soft touch—let alone the gardens—they would leave a mark.

  7. ووجهُ إذا ما قابلتْ وهي سافرٌ

    به الشمسَ خَلِناهُ من الشمسِ أنورا

    And a face which, when unveiled, she turns

    toward the sun, we deem brighter than the sun.

  8. وجيٌد كجيدِ العوهجِ الخاذِل انتحت

    جبالَ الغَضى ترعى عَراراً ونوفَرا

    And a neck like that of a lone doe that has headed for

    the ghada-covered hills, grazing on 'arar flowers and water lilies.

  9. ونَهد كُحقِّ العاجِ أملسَ ناعمٍ

    حَصَانٌ به صاك العبيرُ فعفَّرا

    And a breast like a smooth, soft little ivory casket,

    inviolate; blended perfume has clung to it and dusted it.

  10. وصدرٌ منير كالسَّجنجَل مشرق

    ثَنا لونه الجادِيُّ بالنَّضْح أصفرا

    And a radiant chest, gleaming like a mirror,

    whose hue sprinkled saffron has turned yellow.

  11. وترخي على المَتنينِ أسحَمَ فِاحماً

    غدائره يحملنَ مِسكاً وعنبرا

    She lets dark, coal-black hair fall over her back,

    its braids bearing musk and ambergris.

  12. وتبسِمُ عن حُمّ المراكزِ نُصَّع

    عذابِ يحاكين الأقاح المنوَّرا

    She smiles to reveal dark-rooted, dazzling-white teeth,

    sweet, resembling daisies in bloom.

  13. وما قهوة صَهباءُ صرفٌ مِزاجها

    مَعينٌ زُلالُ اللون ليس بأكدرا

    Neither pure, tawny wine, whose admixture

    is flowing water, clear in hue and not turbid,

  14. ونَشْرُ يلَنجوجٍ يُعَلُّ بعنبرٍ

    يخالطُ مِسكاً في الزجاجةِ أذفرا

    nor the scent of aloeswood, repeatedly infused with ambergris,

    mingling with pungent musk within the flask,

  15. بأطيبَ من فيها سُحيراً إذا هفَت

    نجومُ الدجى بالغربِ والليلُ أدبرا

    is sweeter than her mouth just before dawn, when

    the stars of darkness sink westward and night retreats.

  16. لهوتُ بها في خَفض عيشٍ ولذةٍ

    وما خلتُ ذاك الدهر أن يتغَّيرا

    I dallied with her in a life of ease and pleasure,

    never imagining that those days would change.

  17. ولمَّا تنادَوا للرحيل وقرَّبوا

    أيانقَ يحملنَ السّجِافَ المخدَّرا

    When they called to one another to depart and brought near

    she-camels bearing the screened canopy,

  18. وقد رَاعني بالأمس أسحمُ ناعِبٌ

    غدا ناعقاً فازددتُ منه تطيُّرا

    a black, croaking raven had already alarmed me yesterday;

    it came cawing in the morning, and I grew more afraid of its ill omen.

  19. ولمَّا رأيتُ البيَن قد جَدَّ جدُّه

    وأني مُقيمُ الرحل مع من تعذَّرا

    When I saw that separation had become earnest indeed,

    and that I remained, my baggage set down, with those who held back,

  20. بكيتُ بكاءً لو بكي صخرُ تدمُرٍ

    كمعشارِه عوَّلتُ أن يتدَّمرا

    I wept such tears that, had the rock of Tadmor been wept over

    with a tenth of them, I would expect it to shatter.

  21. فدعْ ذا وسلِ الهمَّ عنكَ ببازلٍ

    وسوجٍ إذا اليومُ المؤجّجُ هَّجرا

    So leave that, and draw grief from yourself with a full-grown camel,

    swift-striding when the blazing day reaches its noontide heat,

  22. من الشَّعْشَعاناتِ الحَراجيج تامكٍ

    قمطرٍ إذا عرَّضته الوخد جَرجرا

    among the tall, lean camels, high-humped,

    sturdy, rumbling when you urge it into a brisk gait.

  23. عليهِ فتىّ من آلِ كهلانَ ماجد

    حوى سودَد أضخماً وعزاً ومفخرا

    Upon it rides a noble young man of the house of Kahlan,

    who has gained immense lordship, might, and glory,

  24. سليلُ ملوكٍ من عَرانينِ يَعربٍ

    بها ليلَ كسرى قد أذَلُّوا وقيصرا

    a scion of kings, of the foremost men of Ya'rub,

    noble lords who humbled Khosrow and Caesar.

  25. هو المُنزلُ الأعداءِ من بعدِ عزَّهم

    منازلَ لا يرضى بها الضَّبُ مَجحرا

    He lodges enemies, after their former might,

    in dwellings no spiny-tailed lizard would accept as a burrow.

  26. هو المُلْبِسُ الليثَ المُهابُ زَئيره

    نسيجين من ذلّ ٍرداءً ومِئزرا

    He clothes the lion, whose roar is feared,

    in two woven garments of abasement: a cloak and a waistcloth.

  27. هو القائدُ الجُرد الخَناذيذَ للعِدَى

    قواحل شُعثاً كالسَّراحين ضَّمرا

    He leads sleek-coated, noble steeds against the foe,

    dry-flanked and shaggy, lean as wolves.

  28. صَدوعٌ بعزمٍ ثاقبٍ وبهّمةٍ

    ورأيٍ يُريهُ مُضْمَرَ الغيبِ مُظهَرا

    He cleaves his way with piercing resolve and high ambition,

    and judgment that makes the hidden unseen manifest to him.

  29. ألم ترَ أن اللهَ أعطاهُ سورةً

    وعزاً على كل الملوك مُؤزَّرَا

    Have you not seen that God has granted him exalted rank,

    and firmly reinforced might above all kings?

  30. نماهُ إلى العلياءِ عمرٌ وعامرٌ

    فبوركَ عيصاً لا يُشَابُ ومَفْخَرا

    'Umar and 'Amir have raised him to the heights;

    blessed be he, of unmixed stock and a source of pride.

  31. أولئكَ أربابُ الخلافةِ والعُلى

    وأشرفُ من قد حازَ أمراً وأمَّرَا

    Those are the lords of the caliphate and exalted rank,

    and the noblest ever to hold power and appoint commanders.

  32. فمن يكُ عنا أيها الناُس سَائلاً

    فإنا ملوكُ الناسِ من آلِ حِمْيَرا

    So whoever, O people, is asking about us—

    we are the kings of mankind, of the house of Himyar.

  33. حَللنا مَقاماً تقصُر الشُّهبُ دونه

    ونرجو على ما دونه الشَّهبُ مظهرا

    We occupy a station which the bright stars cannot reach,

    and hope for an ascent above what the stars fall short of.