يا عاذراً لامرئٍ قد هام في الحضر

وعاذلاً لمحبّ البدو والقفر

O you who reproach a man who is infatuated in settled areas,

O you who make excuses for one enamored with city life, yet blame the lover of the desert and the wild lands,

And blame the lover of deserts and wilderness,

Do not disparage dwellings whose loads are light, while praising homes made of mud and stone.

لا تذممنّ بيوتاً خفّ محملها

وتمدحنّ بيوت الطين والحجر

Do not condemn lightly loaded houses,

If you knew what lies within the desert, you would excuse me; but you are ignorant, and ignorance brings great harm.

And praise houses of clay and stone.

Or had you awakened in the Sahara, ascending a carpet of sand where pebbles shine like pearls,

لو كنت تعلم ما في البدو تعذرني

لكن جهلت وكم في الجهل من ضرر

If you knew what troubles me in the desert,

Or roamed through a meadow whose vista delights, teeming with every beautiful, fragrant hue,

But you were ignorant and how much harm there is in ignorance,

Inhaling a breeze so pure to the breath, reviving the spirit, untainted by filth,

أو كنتَ أصبحت في الصحراء مرتقياً

بساط رملٍ به الحصباء كالدرر

Or you would wake up in the morning in the desert

Or had you, at the dawn following a night of pouring rain, climbed a high lookout or cast your gaze about,

On a sandy carpet strewn with pebbles like pearls,

You would see, across every expanse of its plains, herds of wild game grazing on the finest shrubs.

أو جلتَ في روضةٍ قد راق منظرها

بكل لونٍ جميل شيّق عطر

Or you would wander in a meadow with a pleasant scene

Oh, what a moment! It leaves no trace of sorrow in a weary heart, nor burden for the distressed.

With every beautiful, fascinating, fragrant color,

At times we set out early to ambush the hunt, keeping the prey in constant terror of us.

تستنشقنّ نسيماً طاب منتشقاً

يزيد في الروح لم يمرر على قذَر

You inhale a gentle breeze, smelling sweet,

How often we have overtaken the ostrich in its stride, even if it were to fly through the air like a hawk.

Increasing joy in the soul, never passing anything rotten.

On the day of departure, when our howdahs are fastened, they resemble anemones bathed in rain clouds.

أو كنت في صبح ليل هاج هاتنه

علوت في مرقبٍ أو جلت بالنظر

Or you were on a passionate night

Within them are maidens who have fashioned small windows, stitched with the gaze of wide, lovely eyes.

At the top of a watchtower or wandering with sight,

The camel drivers march, chanting a song behind them sweeter than the flute, the dulcimer, or the lute.

رأيت في كلّ وجهٍ من بسائطها

سرباً من الوحش يرعى أطيب الشجر

You would see in every part of its plain,

While we, atop noble steeds, gallop them forward, their saddle-cloths adorning their flanks and croups.

A flock of beasts grazing the most delicious trees.

We chase the wild game and overtake the gazelles from afar, for nothing escapes our lean, swift mounts.

فيا لها وقفة لم تبق من حزن

في قلب مضنى ولا كدّا لذي ضجر

Oh what a standstill, no sadness remains

We return to the tribe at nightfall after they have settled in encampments unstained by any filth.

In the heart of the distressed, nor worry for the bored.

Their soil is musk—nay, even purer—blessed by the pouring rain clouds at dusk and at dawn.

نباكرُ الصيد أحيانا فنبغته

فالصيد منّا مدى الأوقات في ذعر

We hunt sometimes excelling,

We find the tents pitched in rows, appearing like the heavens adorned with bright, shining stars.

For hunting is ours most of the time in alarm.

The ancients spoke a truth confirmed by both tradition and reason, for the truth remains unchanged:

فكم ظلمنا ظليما في نعامته

وإن يكن طائراً في الجو كالصقر

How unjust we were to the oppressed,

Splendor reveals its true beauty in two types of 'houses': the house of verse, and the house of hair.

Be it a bird in the sky like an eagle.

When our flocks return in the evening, you would mistake their lowing for the rumble of thunder before dawn.

يوم الرحيل إذا شدّت هوادجنا

شقائق عمّها مزنٌ من المطر

On the day of departure, when our litters were loaded,

They are the ships of the desert—safer for the rider than the ships of the sea, which are fraught with peril.

Hyacinths covered them with drizzling rain.

We possess Mahari camels whose speed the gazelle cannot match; through them and our horses, we claim every glory.

فيها العذارى وفيها قد جعلن كوىً

مرقعاتٍ بأحداقٍ من الحور

In them are maidens, and they made camps

Our steeds are forever saddled for war; whoever seeks our aid, give him the glad tidings of victory.

With pillows and languorous eyed houries.

We are the true kings, so compare no one to us; for what life is there for one who lives under another's guard?

تمشي الحداة لها من خلفها زجلٌ

أشهى من الناي والسنطير والوتر

The lutes walk behind them, more delicious than flute, zither and strings

We bear no injustice; if one oppresses, we abandon him and his land, for all honor lies in journeying.

While we on horses race them,

And if a neighbor sours his companionship with us, we depart from him, neither harming nor suffering harm.

ونحن فوقَ جياد الخيل نركضها

شليلها زينة الأكفال والخصر

Swaying their anklets and waist.

We pass the night with the fire of hospitality visible to the traveler, holding the cure for both hunger and biting cold.

We chase beasts and gazelles catching up with them

Our enemy finds no refuge nor shelter, while we possess the swift chargers of conquest and triumph.

نطارد الوحش والغزلان نلحقها

على البعاد وما تنجو من الضمر

From afar, and none escapes from our pursuit.

Their drink is pure milk, unmixed with water; and truly, the milk of camels is unlike that of cows.

We go to encamp after they alight

We are ever distributing the spoils of our enemies, dividing them with justice and fair measure.

نروح للحيّليلا بعدما نزلوا

منازلاً ما بها لطخٌ من الوضر

In places without any trace of harm.

There is no flaw in the Bedouin life to be scorned, save for its excess of chivalry and boundless generosity.

Its soil is musk, even purer, shooting

The health of the body therein is undeniable, while infirmity and disease are confined to the city.

ترابها المسك بل أنقى وجاد بها

صوب الغمائم بالآصال والبكر

Towards clouds with spikes and first rain.

He who does not die by the spear among us lives long, for we are the longest-lived of God's creation.

We pitch tents lined up thereby becoming

نلقى الخيام وقد صفّت بها فغدت

مثل السماء زهت بالأنجم الزهر

Like the sky studded with sparkling stars.

The wise one said they have passed genuinely

قال الألى قد مضوا قولا يصدّقه

نقلٌ وعقلٌ وما للحق من غير

In speech, conveyance and mind, and the truth has no other.

Beauty shows its brilliance in two verses

الحسن يظهر في بيتين رونقه

بيتٌ من الشعرِ أو بيتٌ من الشعَر

A verse of poetry or a house of hair.

When our cattle return at night, their voices

أنعامنا إن أتت عند العشيّ تخل

أصواتها كدويّ الرعد بالسحر

Sound like thunder in the stillness of dark.

Ships of land but safer for their rider

سفائن البرّ بل أنجى لراكبها

سفائن البحر كم فيها من الخطر

Than ships at sea, how much danger lies therein.

To us belong the fillies, nothing matches their speed,

لنا المهارى وما للريم سرعتها

بها وبالخيل نلنا كل مفتخر

With them and horses we surpass all pride.

Our steeds are always adorned for war.

فخيلنا دائما للحرب مسرجةٌ

من استغاث بنا بشّره بالظفر

Whoever calls upon us, give him good tidings of victory.

We are kings so match none with us

نحن الملوك فلا تعدل بنا أحداً

وأيّ عيشٍ لمن قد بات في خفر

And what living is there for one who spent night standing guard?

We do not bear grudges against a neighbor, leaving

لا نحمل الضيم ممن جار نتركه

وأرضه وجيمع العزّ في السفر

Him and his land while honor gathers on travel.

If a neighbor does evil, his company

وإن أساء علينا الجار عشرته

نبين عنه بلا ضرٍّ ولا ضرَر

We shun without harm or penalty.

We pass villages, their fires appear at night to our visitors

نبيت نار القرى تبدو لطارقتنا

فيها المداواة من جوع ومن خصر

Therein relief from hunger and privation.

Our enemy has no refuge or burden

عدوّنا ما له ملجا ولا وزرٌ

وعندنا عاديات السبق والظفر

While with us are racers of outstrip and victory.

Its drink is from milk, nothing mixes with it,

شرابها من حليبٍ ما يخالطه

ماء وليس حليب النوق كالبقر

Not the milk of she-camels like cows.

Properties of enemies every while

أموال أعدائنا في كلّ آونة

نقضي بقسمتها بالعدل والقدر

We dispense dividing justly by share.

No defect in nomadism to blame it

ما في البداوة من عيب تذمّ به

إلّا المروءة والإحسان بالبدرِ

Except honor and charity like the full moon.

Bodily health therein is not hidden

وصحّة الجسم فيها غير خافيةٍ

والعيب والداء مقصورٌ على الحضَر

While defect and disease confined to settlements.

Whoever did not die by our spears, lived to the end

من لم يمت عندنا بالطعن عاش مدى

فنحن أطول خلق اللَه في العمر

For we are God’s longest living creatures.