لَمّا تَبَدّى الصُبحُ مِن حِجابِهِ

كَطَلعَةِ الأَشمَطِ مِن جِلبابِهِ

When morning emerged from its veil,

Like the face of a gray-haired man appearing from his robe,

وَاِنعَدَلَ اللَيلُ إِلى مَآبِهِ

كَالحَبَشِيِّ اِفتَرَّ عَن أَنيابِهِ

And the night retreated to its abode,

Like an Abyssinian baring his teeth in a smile,

هِجنا بِكَلبٍ طالَما هِجنا بِهِ

يَنتَسِفُ المِقوَدَ مِن كَلّابِهِ

We set out with a dog we have long hunted with,

Who nearly tears the leash from his handler's grasp,

مِن صَرَخٍ يَغلو إِذا اِغلَولى بِهِ

وَميعَةٍ تَغلِبُ مِن شَبابِهِ

Driven by a frenzy that boils over when urged on,

And a wild vigor that overpowers him in his youth.

كَأَنَّ مَتنَيهِ لَدى اِنسِلابِهِ

مَتنا شُجاعٍ لَجَّ في اِنسِلابِهِ

It is as though his flanks, in his dashing,

Were the sides of a serpent intent on its slithering,

كَأَنَّما الأُظفورُ في قِنابِهِ

موسى صِناعٍ رُدَّ في نِصابِهِ

And as though the claw within its sheath

Were a craftsman's razor returned to its handle.

تَراهُ في الحُضرِ إِذا هاها بِهِ

يَكادُ أَن يَخرُجَ مِن إِهابِهِ

You see him in the chase, when the cry spurs him,

Almost leaping out of his very skin,

شَدّاً بِبَطنِ القاعِ مَن أَلهى بِهِ

يَترُكُ وَجهَ الأَرضِ في إِلهابِهِ

Sprinting across the valley floor, delighting his handler,

Leaving the face of the earth scorched in his wake,

كَأَنَّ نَشوانَ تَوَكَّلنا بِهِ

يَعفو عَلى ما جَرَّ مِن ثِيابِهِ

Like an intoxicated man we have taken into our care,

Who erases his tracks with the trailing of his robes,

إِلّا الَّذي أَثَّرَ مِن هُدّابِهِ

تَرى سَوامَ الوَحشِ تُحتَوى بِهِ

Save for the traces left by the fringes of his garment,

You see the grazing herds of wild beasts rounded up by him.