لتسقي زُغْباً بالتَّنوفةِ لَمْ يكن

خِلافَ مُوَلاَّها لهنّ حميمُ

To quench thirst with a waterskin has never

Been against their Master, it is intimate to them

تَرائكَ بالأرضِ الفَلاة ومن يَدَعْ

بمنزلها الأولادَ فهو مُلِيمُ

You see them in the barren land, and whoever calls

His home their first stop, he is kind

إذا استقبلْتها الريحُ طَمَّتْ رفيقةً

وهنَّ بمهْوىً كالكُراتِ جُثُومُ

When the wind meets them, it knocks down a friend

And they coo with passion like turtle doves

يُراطِنَّ وَقْصاءَ القَفا وَحْشَةَ الشَّوى

بدعوى القَطا لَحْنٌ لهنّ قديمُ

They chatter to dispel the dread of the journey

With their ancient tune, as if lamenting

فبِتْنَ قريراتِ العيونِ وقد جرى

عليهنّ شِرْبٌ فاستَقيْنَ مُنِيمُ

So they slept with blinking eyes after

Drinking their fill, slumbering silently

صَبِيبُ سِقاءٍ نِيطَ قد بَرَكَتْ به

مُعاوِدةٌ سَقْيَ الفِراخِ رَؤومُ

The pouring of a youth's waterskin on which they

Greedily drank to quench the chicks' thirst again