رَأَيتُ قُدورَ الناسِ سوداً مِنَ الصَلى

وَقِدرُ الرَقاشِيِّينَ زَهراءُ كَالبَدرِ

I saw the cooking pots of people blackened by the fire,

While the pot of the Raqashis is radiant as the full moon.

تَبَيَّنَ في مِخراشِها أَنَّ عودَها

سَليمٌ صَحيحٌ لَم يُصِبهُ أَذى الجَمرِ

It is evident from its stirring-stick that the wood

Is sound and healthy, never touched by the harm of embers.

يُبَيِّتُها لِلمُعتَفي بِفِنائِهِم

ثَلاثاً كَنَقطِ الثاءِ مِن نَقَطِ الحِبرِ

They set it out at night for the guest within their courtyard,

Resting on three stones like the ink-dots of the letter Tha.

وَلَو جِئتَها مَلأى عَبيطاً مُجَزَّلاً

لَأَخرَجتَ مافيها عَلى طَرَفِ الظُفرِ

And were you to come to it when filled with fresh, chunked meat,

You could extract all its contents on the tip of a fingernail.

تَروحُ عَلى حَيِّ الرَبابِ وَدارِمٍ

وَعَمرٍ وَتَعروها قَراضِبَةُ النَمرِ

It circulates among the clans of Rabab and Darim,

And 'Amr, and the scavenging bands of Namr descend upon it.

وَلِلحَيِّ قَيسٍ نَفحَةٌ مِن سِجالِها

وَقَحطانَ وَالغُرِّ الطَوالِ بَني بَكرِ

And for the tribe of Qais there is a share from its overflow,

Along with Qahtan and the tall, illustrious sons of Bakr.

إِذا ماتَنادَوا لِلرَحيلِ سَعى بِها

أَمامَهُمُ الحَوليُّ مِن وَلَدِ الذَرِّ

When they call out to one another to depart, it is carried

Ahead of them by a yearling from the offspring of tiny ants.