قَد أَغتَدي وَاللَيلُ في اِعتِكارِهِ

بِأَغضَفٍ يَموجُ في شِوارِهِ

I have mounted and the night has donned its cloak,

I venture forth while night is deep in gathered gloom,

With waves billowing darkly beneath its surface.

With a lop-eared hound that ripples in his leash's hold,

مُؤَدَّبٍ ما يُصطَلى بِنارِهِ

كَالوَتَرِ المُخضَرِّ في إِمرارِهِ

Tamed is the fire that flickers in its depths,

Well-trained, yet burning with a fire no man dares approach,

Like a green cord gliding through the currents.

Taut as a twisted bowstring, strained and tightly wound,

أَشرَفَ مَتناهُ عَلى فِقارِهِ

يَسبِقُ مَرَّ الريحِ في إِحضارِهِ

It climbs up the ridge line of its back

His muscular back rises high above his spine,

And outstrips the wind in its onward rush.

He outstrips the rushing wind when dashing in the chase,

في حِسِّ جِنّيٍّ عَلى إِصرارِهِ

سِمعُ فَلاةٍ غَيرَ ما اِقشِعرارِهِ

With the insistence of an obstinate jinni

Possessing a Jinni's senses in his fierce resolve,

The howling wasteland echoes its shuddering advance.

A desert wolf in spirit, though with sleek and smooth-skinned hide,

لا يُمهِلُ الظَبيَ عَلى أَقدارِهِ

حَتّى يُرى بَينَ شَبا أَظفارِهِ

It does not wait for the gazelle to match its stride

He grants the gazelle no respite, whatever its destined span,

Before its claws appear amidst the brush.

Until it lies captured fast between his sharp-edged claws,

قَبلَ رُجوعِ الطَرفِ عَن إِمرارِهِ

مَحَلُّهُ مِن يَمَنٍ وَدارِهِ

Before the gaze can turn from its passage

Quicker than a glancing eye can turn back from its gaze,

It has reached its destination south and home.

Tracing his noble lineage to Yemen's ancient lands.