طرقت أميمة والعيون نيام

شعثاً وأطلاحاً بهن أوام

Umayma came by night while all eyes slept,

on shaggy, travel-worn mounts, thirst burning within them.

أوقعن تحليل اليمين بقفرة

يهماء طامسة بها الأعلام

Their hooves touched the wilderness only for the instant needed to discharge an oath—

a blind, trackless waste whose landmarks were effaced.

جبن الدجى وجشمن كل تنوفة

حتى كأن صحاحهن سقام

They traversed the darkness and shouldered every boundless desert,

until even the healthy among them seemed sick.

حيا الإله خيالها من زائر

ومع التحية خيرة وسلام

May God greet her phantom—what a visitor!

And with that greeting, blessing and peace.

أأميم إنك لو بليت خلائقي

لعلمت أني ماجد بسام

O Umaym, if you were to put my character to the test,

you would know me noble and ever smiling—

شهَاد أندية الكِرام مزور

وفر التلاد ملوم لوام

a constant presence in the assemblies of the noble, much visited,

abundant in inherited wealth, blamed and a persistent reproacher.

أشبهت آبائي فجئت كمثلهم

كانوا الأولى قدم لها وإمام

I resembled my forefathers and came forth just like them;

they had precedence in these qualities and were their exemplars.