أَقولُ لِلقانِصِ حينَ غَلَّسا

وَالصُبحُ في النِقابِ ما تَنَفَّسا

I say to the hunter when he prowled

I speak to the huntsman as he sets forth in the pre-dawn gloom,

And morning in the veil scarcely breathed

While the morning, behind its veil, has yet to draw a breath.

يَقودُ كَلباً لِلطَرادِ أَطلَسا

لَم يُلفِ عَن فَريسَةٍ تَحَوُّسا

He leads a dog for hunting an Atlas mountain lion

He guides a dust-hued hound, primed for the pursuit,

That never missed prey when it hid

One never found to waver or turn aside from prey.

ما رَشَقَ الظِباءَ إِلّا قَرطَسا

وَرَّثَهُ النَجدَةَ مِمّا أَسَّسا

He only hit the gazelles with arrows

He casts not at the gazelles but that he strikes the mark,

And inherited from his ancestors who founded

Inheriting a valor rooted in his very foundations—

أَبٌ وَخالٌ لَم يَزَل مُرَأَّسا

تَخالُهُ العَينُ لِمَن تَفَرَّسا

A father and uncle who always led

From a sire and an uncle, ever crowned with command.

His eye mistakes whoever he watched

The discerning eye perceives him, upon close gaze,

في حَومَةِ الطَرِّ هُماماً أَشوَسا

إِن هَمَّ بِالشِدَّةِ يَوماً غَلَّسا

In the heat of the chase, a ferocious one

In the heat of the charge, a warrior fierce and bold.

If he was intent one day on being hard

If he resolves upon a strike one day, he rises in the dark,

فَأَعدَمَ الخَزّانَ مِنهُ الأَنفُسا

حَتّى لَقَد أَبكى القِنانَ الطُمُّسا

He would execute the guards out of him the selves

Depriving the guardians of their very souls,

To the point that he made the hidden one cry

Until he draws tears from the hidden, veiled ones.

بورِكتَ قَنّاصاً سَليلاً أَخنَسا

فَكَم رَأَينا ضاوِياً مُهَلَّسا

Blessed a silent hunter descendant

Blessings upon you, O hunter, scion of a lion-hearted line,

So how many have we seen destroyed, demolished

For how many a famished, withered wretch have we seen,

يَشكو إِذا لاقاكَ جَدّاً تَعِسا

أَصبَحَ مِن كَسبِكَ قَد تَكَردَسا

Complain when they meet you miserable

Lamenting his miserable fortune until he crossed your path,

They have been, from your work, tousled

Who then, through your spoils, became laden with abundance.