أَفي رَسمِ أَطلالٍ بِشَطبٍ فَمِرجمِ

دَوارِسَ لَمّا اِستُنطِقَت لَم تَكَلَّمِ

In the drawing of ruins with erased traces

When the spinning girls were asked to speak, they did not utter a word

تُكَفكِفُ أَعداداً مِنَ العَينِ رُكِّبَت

سَوانِيُّها ثُمَّ اِندَفَعنَ بِأَسلُمِ

They cover their eyes in groups

Their spindles then rushed in violently

فَأَصبَحَ مِن تِربَي خُصَيلَةَ قَلبُهُ

لَهُ رِدَّةٌ مِن حاجَةٍ لَم تَصَرَّمِ

So his heart became from the soil of his ribs

With a need it did not announce

كَذي الظَلعِ إِن يَقصِد عَلَيهِ فَإِنَّهُ

يَهُمُّ وَإِن يَخرَق بِهِ يَتَيَمَّمِ

Like rough ground, if headed towards, it worries

And if penetrated, it dresses its wounds

وَما ذِكرُهُ تِربى خُصَيلَةَ بَعدَما

ظَعَنَّ بِأَجوازِ المَراضِ فَتَغلَمِ

And the mention of the soil of his ribs after

It suffered from the splitting of veins so it darkened

فَأَصبَحنَ بِاللَعباءِ يَرمينَ بِالحَصى

مَدى وَحشِيِّ لَهُنَّ وَمُستَمي

In the morning they threw pebbles

A savage range belonging to them extending

مُوازِيَةً هَضبَ المُضَيَّحِ وَاِتَّقَت

جِبالَ الحِمى وَالأَخشَبينِ بِأَخرُمِ

Parallel to the plateau of Mudhayyah, and it feared

The mountains of sanctuary and the two bare (hills) of Akhshabayn

إِلَيكَ تَبارى بَعدَما قُلتُ قَد بَدَت

جِبالُ الشَبا أَو نَكَّبَت هَضبَ تَريمِ

Towards you they compete after I said the

Mountains of youth have appeared or the plateau of Traym bowed down

بِنا العيسُ تَجتَابُ الفَلاةَ كَأَنَّها

قَطا الكُدرِ أَمسى قارِباً جَفرَ ضَمضَمِ

With us the camel herds roam the desert as if they are

The ships of brackish waters that have become vessels sailing freely

تَشَكّى بِأَعلى ذي جَراوِلَ مَوهِناً

مناسِمُ مِنها تَخضِبُ المَروَ بِالدَمِ

They complain at the top of the one with prominent anklebones

Whose landscapes dye Al-Marw with blood

تَنوطُ العِتاقَ الحِميَرِيَّةَ صُحبَتي

بِأَعيَسَ نَهّاضٍ عَلى الأَينِ مِرجَمِ

My company ties the she-camels of Itiq herd

With a stimulator on the thick rope

كَأَنَّ المَطايا تَتَّقي مِن زُبانَة

مَناكِبَ رُكنٍ مِن نَضادِ مُلَملَمِ

As if the riding beasts avoid the shoulder

Of a pillar of the scrubbed and smooth (idol)

تُعالي وَقَد نُكّبنَ أَعلامَ عابِدٍ

بِأَركانِها اليُسرى هِضابَ المُقطَّمِ

You rise after the flags of `Abid were overturned

With their left pillars, the plateaus of Mugattam

تَرى طَبَقَ الأَعناقِ مِنها كَأَنَّهُ

إِلَيكَ كُعوبُ السَمهَرِيِّ المُقَوَّمِ

You see their necks like

The curved goblets of Samhar made even

إِذا اِنتَقَدَت فَضلَ الأَزِمَّةِ زَعزَعَت

أِنابيبُها العُليا خَوابِيَ حَنتَمِ

When the surplus of the crisis shook them

Their upper pipes shook the ridges of Hantam

تَزورُ اِمرِءاً أَمّا الإِلَهَ فَيَتَّقي

وَأَمّا بِفِعلِ الصالِحينَ فَيَأتَمي

They visit a man, as for God, they avoid Him

And as for the deeds of the righteous, they inspire him

نُجِدُّ لَكَ القَولَ الحَلِيَّ وَنَمتَطي

إِلَيكَ بَناتِ الصَيعَرِيِّ وَشَدقَمِ

We will lavish our sweet words upon you and we will mount

The daughters of Say'ari towards you and Shadaqam

إِلَيكَ فَلَيسَ النَيلُ أَصبَحَ غادِياً

بِذي حُبُكٍ يَعلو القُرى مِتَسَنَّمِ

Towards you, so the Nile did not become flowing

With crooked course, rising above the settlements

بِطامٍ يَكِبُّ الفُلكَ حَولَ جَنابهِ

لَأَذقانِهِ مُعلَولِبَ المَدِّ يَرتَمي

With a flood that topples ships around its sides

With its violent, high, overwhelming waves

بِأَفضَلَ سَيباً مِنكَ بَل لَيسَ كُلَّهُ

كَبَعضِ أَيادي سَيبِكَ المُتَقَسَّمِ

With the best arrows from you, but not all of them

Are like some of the arrows you have distributed

رَأَيتُ اِبنَ لَيلى يَعتَري صُلبَ مالِهِ

مَسائِلُ شَتّى مِن غَنِيٍّ وَمُصرِمِ

I saw the son of Layla, various issues bother him

From a rich or a deprived person

مَسائِلُ إِن توجَد لَدَيهِ تَجُد بِها

يَداهُ وَإِن يُظلَم بِها يَتَظَلَّمِ

Issues, if found with him, you find his hands with them

And if he is wronged with them, he complains

يَداكَ رَبيعٌ يُنتَوى فَضلُ سَيبِه

وَوَجهُكَ بادي الخَيرِ للمُتَوَسِّمِ

Your hands are spring, the surplus of its arrows abound

And your face openly good to the destined

لَقَد أَبرَزَت مِنكَ الحَوادِثُ لِلعِدى

عَلى رَغمِهِم ذَرِّيَّ عَضبٍ مُصَمِّمِ

You have surely brought out from yourself against the enemies

Descendants of anger, determined, hardened

وَذي قَونَسٍ يَوماً شَكَكتَ لُبانَهُ

بِذي حُمَةٍ في عامِلِ الرَمحِ لَهذَمِ

And Thul-Qarnayn one day you doubted his purity

With Thul-Huma in the worker of the spear to crush him

وَذي مَغرَمٍ فَرَّجتَ عَن لَونِ وَجهِهِ

صُبابَةَ ذي دَجنٍ مِنَ الهَمِّ مُظلِمِ

And to the love-sick you relieved the complexion of his face

The youthfulness of Thul-Dajn from the gloomy worries

وَعانٍ فَكَكتَ الغُلَّ عَنهُ وَكَبلَهُ

وَقَد أَندَبا مِنهُ بِساقٍ وَمِعصَمِ

And to the chained you removed the shackle from him and bound it

While they both appealed with a leg and wrist

وَلَو وُزِنَت رَضوى الجِبالِ بِحِلمِهِ

لَمالَ بِرَضوى حِلمُهُ وَيَرَمرَمِ

And if the consent of mountains was weighed with his forbearance

His forbearance would tilt and the mountains crumble

مِنَ النفَرِ البيضِ الَّذينَ وُجوهُهُم

دَنانيرُ شيفَت مِن هِرَقلٍ بِرَوسَمِ

Of the fair-skinned group whose faces

Are dinars poured from Heraclius with stamps

فَأَنتَ إِذا عُدَّ المَكارِمُ بَينَهُ

وَبَينَ اِبنِ حَربٍ ذي النُهى المُتَفَخِّمِ

So you, when virtues are counted between him

And the son of Harb, the one with arrogant commands

مَتى ما أَقُل في آخِرِ الدَهرِ مِدحَةً

فَما هِيَ إِلّا لِاِبنِ لَيلى المُكَرَّمِ

When I utter a final eulogy at the end of time

It will only be for the honorable son of Layla