وَغَيْثٍ مَرِيعٍ لمْ يُجَدَّعْ نَبَاتُهُ

وَلَتْهُ أَهَالِيلُ السِّمَاكينْ مُعْشِبِ

With a downpour unceasing, the plants did not wither,

As night fell, insects hummed songs nigh the meadows.

بَسَرْتُ وغَنَّانِي الذَبابُ عَشِيَّةً

بِذَابِلِهِ والشَّمْسُ لَمَّا تَغَيَّبِ

The sun sank on the horizon, its rays withdrawing

Like tent ropes coiled in a dark, shaded dweeling.

وللشَّمْسِ أَسْبَابٌ كَأَنَّ شُعَاعَهَا

مَمَدُّ حِبَالٍ في خِبَاءٍ مُطنبِ

A fox with a bushy tail trotted by stealthily,

His coat was the color of sand in the dunes drifting high.

بِذِي مَيْعَةٍ كَأَنَّ بَعْضَ سِقَاطِهِ

وتَعْدَائِهِ رِسْلاً ذَآلِيل ثَعْلَبِ

Escaping his collar, he twisted and raced from the trap,

Not halting his stride till he found a flat burrow nearby.

جَرَى قَفِصاً وارْتَدَّ مِنْ أَسْرِ صُلْبِهِ

إِلَى موضِعٍ مِنْ سَرِجْهِ غَيْرَ أَحْدَبِ

His brush and lithe frame were suited for pouncing with ease

On a plump partridge distracted while pecking some grain.

كَأَنَّ ذُنَابَاهُ ومَنْسِجَ مَتْنِهِ

مَدَاحِضُ وَقْعِ القَطْرِ عَنْ تَيْسِ حُلَّبِ

His legs were poised to take flight, his belly low

As a cloak draped over a rider while galloping free.

يَكَادُ بِرِجْلَيْهِ يَطِيرُ وبَطْنُهُ

بِطَيِّ رِدَاءِ الرَّاكِبِ المُتَلِّببِ

With arrogance he scorned all except the most noble,

None could enter his den save those grave and sublime.

ومُسْتَكْبرٍ مَنْ بَاتَ حَاجِبَ بَابِهِ

مِنَ الناسِ إلاَّ ذَا المَهَابَةِ يُحْجَبِ

He emerged like a hawk with his feathers groomed fair,

Attired in a tunic embroidered with patterns sublime.

بَدَا كَعَتِيقِ الطيرِْ قَاصِرَ طَرْفِهِ

مُسَرْبَلَ دِيبَاجِ القَمِيصِ المُطَيَّبِ

I brandished a stick and startled the knave,

Defending another from his acts so depraved.

عَرَضْتُ بِأَجْدَالٍ له فَضَرقْتُهُ

مُدَافَعَةً عَنْ ذَنْبِ آخَرَ مُذْنِبِ

When he fled, I was glad, for in his jaws

He held a small chick stolen from an enemy's cage.

فَرُحْتُ بِبُرْدَيْهِ ومَنْ كَانَ عِنْدَهُ

يَعَضُّ البَنَانَ مِنْ عَدُوٍّ ومُعْجَبِ