قَد أَغتَدي وَاللَيلُ في إِهابِهِ

أَدعَجُ ما جُرِّدَ مِن خِضابِهِ

I've translated the Arabic poem into English while preserving the poetic form:

I set out early while the night is wrapped in its hide,

In the night's deepening gloom his form took shape—

Pitch-black, its dark dye not yet stripped away,

مُدَثَّرٌ لَم يَبدُ مِن حِجابِهِ

كَالحَبَشِيّ انسَلَّ مِن ثِيابِهِ

Dark stripped thing no garment drapes—

Heavily cloaked, revealing nothing from behind its veil,

A shrouded thing no veil escapes—

Dark as an Abyssinian slipping naked from his robes,

بِهَيكَلٍ قوبِلَ في أَنسابِهِ

مُرَدَّدُ الأَعوَجِ في أَصلابِهِ

Like a Galla sloughed his very capes—

Upon a massive steed, noble in his pedigree,

Misshapen his lineage—perverse his traits—

The blood of Al-A'waj flows distinct through his sires,

يَهديهِ مِثلُ العَقوِ في انتِصابِهِ

وَكاهِلٍ وَعُنُقٍ يَأبى بِهِ

Crooked in his grandsires' loins his fate—s—

Guided by a neck towering like a mountain peak,

Madness tilts his spear erect and straight—

With high withers and a head held in proud disdain,

يُصافِحُ اللَدانَ مِن أَضرابِهِ

بِوَقِحٍ يَقيهِ في انسِيابِهِ

Neck and withers obedience await—

He brushes against the pliable spears of his riders,

Greets the buttocks—such are his mates—

With a hardened hoof guarding him as he streams forward,

نَشا المَطاريدَ وَحَدَّ نابِهِ

حَتّى إِذا الصُبحُ بَدا مِن بابِهِ

Shameless member nothing abates—

Reared among the chase, his teeth sharpened for the hunt,

Hunted game and bared his fangs—

Until, when the Morning appeared at its gate,

وَكَشَّرَت أَشداقُهُ عَن نابِهِ

عَنَّ لَنا كَالرَألِ لا نَرى بِهِ

Dawn appeared; he gaped and sprang—

And its jaws grinned wide to reveal the tooth of light,

Showed himself different from the gang—

A target appeared to us, swift as a young ostrich,

ذو حُوَّةٍ أُفرِدَ عَن أَصحابِهِ

يَفري مَتانَ الأَرضِ مَع سِهابِهِ

Freak apart from friends estranged—

A dark-hued beast, isolated from his herd,

Rending earth—he headlong ranged—

Tearing across the earth's back with his stride,

أَطاعَهُ الحوذانُ في إِسرابِهِ

فَقَد رَماهُ النَحضُ في أَقرابِهِ

Jackals followed where he changed—

The wild herbs bending to him in his flight,

Cast out by his tribe and kin—

Pure muscle ripples along his sturdy flanks,

وَالطَرفُ قَد زُمِّلَ في ثِيابِهِ

قائِدُهُ مِن أَرَنٍ يَشقى بِهِ

Lost his clothes their state within—

While the noble steed stood wrapped in his coverings,

From sheep he leads to die therein—

His handler struggling with his wild exuberance,

قُلنا لَهُ عَرَّهِ مِن أَسلابِهِ

فَلاحَ كَالحاجِبِ مِن سَحابِهِ

Shed your furs! we cried. He grinned—

We cried to him: "Strip him of his heavy gear!"

Sudden as cloud-bank wind dispelled—

Then he flashed forth like the sun breaking through clouds,

أَو كَالصَنيعِ استُلَّ مِن قِرابِهِ

فَسَدَّدَ الطَرقَ وَما هاها بِهِ

As babe new-born shines fresh beheld—

Or like a polished blade drawn from its scabbard,

Blocked roads—no caution held—

He struck a straight path, without a moment's hesitation,

فَاِنصاعَ كَالأَجدَلِ في اِنصِبابِهِ

أَو كَالحَريقِ في هَشيمِ غابِهِ

Bowed like tree when tempests wield—

Swooping down like a hawk in its dive,

Or flames in bushy brakes propelled—

Or like fire consuming the dry brush of a forest,

مُلتَهِباً يَستَنُّ في التِهابِهِ

كَأَنَّما البَيداءُ مِن نِهابِهِ

Consuming—fiercely swelled—

Blazing fiercely, raging in his fiery speed,

As though the waste his being knelled—

As though the vast desert were his captured spoil,

فَحازَهُ بِالرُمحِ في أَعجابِهِ

شَكُّ الفَتاةِ الدُرُّ في أَحزابِهِ

Speared in ecstasy sublime—

He pierced the quarry with a spear thrust to its flank,

Doubt's own pearl its class and time—

Smooth as a maiden threads pearls upon a string.