كَأَنِّي وَرَحْلِي رَوَّحَتْنَا نَعَامَةٌ

كَأَنِّي وَرَحْلِي رَوَّحَتْنَا نَعَامَةٌ

تَجَرَّمَ عَنْهَا بالقفَيْر رِئَالُهَا

تَجَرَّمَ عَنْهَا بالقفَيْر رِئَالُهَا

As though an ostrich bore my saddle and me onward at evening—

her chicks having left her at al-Qufayr—

وتَهْوِى إِذَا العِيسُ العِتَاقُ تَفَاضَلَتْ

وتَهْوِى إِذَا العِيسُ العِتَاقُ تَفَاضَلَتْ

هُوِيَّ قَدُومِ القَيْنِ حَالَ فِعَالُهَا

هُوِيَّ قَدُومِ القَيْنِ حَالَ فِعَالُهَا

she plunges ahead when the noble white camels vie with one another,

with the downward sweep of the smith’s adze as its stroke shifts.