لَمّا طَوى اللَيلُ حَواشي بُردِهِ

عَن واضِحِ اللَونِ نَقِيِّ وَردِهِ

When night folded up the hems of its dark cloak,

Unveiling a face of clear hue, pure in its roseate glow,

نادَيتُ فَهّادي بِرَدِّ فَهدِهِ

نِداءَ مَن جادَ لَهُ بِوُدِّهِ

I called to my keeper to bring forth his cheetah,

With the call of a friend bestowing kindness upon him.

فَجاءَ يُزجيهِ عَلى سَمَندِهِ

أَصفَرَ أَحوى بَينَ بَينَ وِردِهِ

He arrived, urging it forward upon his dun steed,

A tawny beast, dark-marked, of blended shades,

واحِدَ قَدٍّ في اِكمِلالِ قَدِّهِ

قُلتَ اِرتَدِفهُ فَاِنثَنى لِزَندِهِ

Singular in form, absolute in the perfection of its build.

I said, "Mount him behind you," and he bent to his arm,

ما كانَ إِلّا نَظرَةً مِن بَعدِهِ

وَنَظرَةً أُخرى بِأَدنى جُهدِهِ

It was but a fleeting glance that followed,

And another glance, taken with the slightest of effort,

حَتّى أَرانا العينَ دونَ وِردِهِ

مُطَرَّداً يَحسو بِشُفرَي عِدِّهِ

Before he showed us the wild ox, short of the water,

A solitary bull, driven off as it sipped from the edge.

فَاِنصاعَ مُرقَدّاً عَلى مُرقَدِّهِ

كَأَنَّهُ حينَ اِنفَرى في شَدِّهِ

Then the cheetah broke loose, speeding toward his quarry,

As though, when he burst forth in his violent charge,

وَاِمتَدَّ لِلناظِرِ في مَرتَدِّهِ

كَوكَبُ عِفريتَ هَوى لِعِدِّهِ

And stretched himself out to the beholder in his leap,

He was a demon's star, plummeting to its mark,

كَما اِنطَوى العاقِدُ مِن ذي عَقدِهِ

خَمسينَ عاماً بِيَدي مُعتَدِّهِ

Curved like the finger of one counting on hands,

Shaping 'fifty' within the palm of the reckoner,

حَتّى اِحتَوى العَينَ وَلَمّا يُردِهِ

فَنَحنُ أَضيافُ حُسامَي غِمدِهِ

Until he seized the wild ox, holding it fast from death,

And now we are guests of the twin swords in his sheath.