زمُّوا جِمالَهُمُ وبدَّدَ شْملَهُمْ

بينٌ ولم يرعَ المقيمَ الراحلُ

They gathered their beauty and scattered their union

A separation that did not consider the settled or the departing

بذلوا الوفاءَ وكان آخرُ عهدِهمْ

غَدْراً وأخلفَ ما رآهُ الباذِلُ

They showed loyalty, yet their last vow

Was betrayal - the generous saw the betrayer's deed

ما كان أنضرَ عهدَنا لو صحَّ ما

ألوى المطولُ بهِ وضنَّ الباخِلُ

Our pact would not have withered, had the dilator been true

Or the miser let his avarice fade

فتبِعتُهُمْ أنا والرفيقُ ومقلةٌ

تَذري النجيعَ وأريحيٌّ بازلُ

So I followed them, and my friend, saddened

Left the encampment, grieved and withdrawn

حتَّى تكشَّفت الدُّجَى عن واضحٍ

كالبَيض أسلمهُ النَعامُ الجافِلُ

Until the gloom cleared to reveal a bright dawn

Like an ostrich egg relinquished by a tossing ostrich

ولحقتُ آثارَ الحمول ودونَها

غيرانُ سطوتُهُ القضاءُ النازلُ

And we reached the tracks of the caravans, but over them

Destiny had cast its unpredictable decrees

ونظرْنَ من خَللِ السُّجوفِ بأعيُنٍ

أهدابُهنَّ وقد نُصبنَ حَبائِلُ

And we looked through the litters’ drapes with eyes

Whose glances were like archers’ arrows, poised to fly

ما كنتُ أعلمُ قبل أن عرضتْ لنا

أنّ العيونَ قواتلٌ ومقاتِلُ

I did not know, until we were visited by them

That eyes could be deadly warriors and valiant slayers

واستوقفتْ عجلَى الركاب فمُقلةٌ

للركبِ شاخصةٌ وقلبٌ ذاهِلُ

And they stopped the galloping steeds, so my friend

Stood tall before the riders, though her heart quailed