ألا بأبي مَنْ حِيلَ دونَ مَزارِهِ

وقد بِتُّ أسْتَسْقي الغَمامَ لِدارِهِ

By the one who was denied access to his grave

Though I implored the clouds for rain on his abode

عهِدْتُ بِها خِشْفاً أغَنَّ كأنّني

أرى بمَخَطِّ النُّؤْيِ مُلْقى سِوارِهِ

I left it as barely habitable ruins, yet it seems

As if I see his bracelet flung in the sandy hollow

فلا بَرِحَتْ تَسري الرّياحُ مَريضةً

بِها ويُحيّيها الحَيا بانْهمارِهِ

The winds never ceased blowing upon it sickly

While the torrents gave it life with their downpour

وقَفْتُ بِها نِضْواً طَليحاً وشَجْوُهُ

يُلوّي عُرا أنْساعِهِ بهِجارِهِ

I stopped at it, a youthful lover, whose passion

Makes the does twist their slender bodies in anguish

ويَعْذُلُني منْ غِلْمةِ الحيّ باسِلٌ

على شيمَتَيْهِ مَسْحةٌ منْ نِزارِهِ

And a smooth-cheeked youth blames me, upholding

His virtue, while the red streak adorns his cheek

ويزْعُمُ أنّ الحُبَّ عارٌ على الفتى

أما علِموا أني رَضيتُ بِعارِهِ

Claiming that love is shameful for the youth

Do they not know that I have accepted its shame?

كأني غَداةَ البَيْنِ من دَهَشِ النّوى

صَريعُ يَدِ السّاقي عَقيرُ عَقارِهِ

As if, the morning after separation's shock

I am laid low by the cupbearer's hand, drunk on wine

فصاحَ غُدافيٌّ شَجاني نَعيبُهُ

يهُزُّ جَناحَيْ فُرْقَةٍ منْ مَطارِهِ

A crested francolin then called, its cry distressing me

Flapping the wings of a flock taking flight

بجِزْعٍ بِطاحيٍّ يَنوشُ أراكَهُ

مَهاً في خَليطَيْ أُسْدِهِ ونِمارِهِ

With a terrorized sandgrouse that sips the mixture

Of the lion and the panther's watering hole

حَبَسْتُ بها العِيسَ المَراسيلَ أجْتَلي

على مُنْحَنى الوادي عُيونَ صِوارِهِ

I detained the freely wandering camel herd

By the valley's bend, the pools their evening waters

وأعْذُلُ حَيّاً منْ كِنانَةَ خيّموا

بحيْثُ شَكا الصّبُّ الطّوى في وِجارِهِ

And I blame the people of Kinanah who camped

Where the crying of children complained of the heat

وقد مَلأَتْ عُرْضَ السّماوةِ أينُقٌ

تلُفُّ خُزامى رَوضِها بِعَرارِهِ

The plateau fills the horizon with sand dunes

That wrap around the gardens with their fresh foliage

أسرَّهمُ أن الربيعَ أظلَّها

وجرَّ بِها الكَلْبيُّ فَضْلَ إزارِهِ

Delighting them that spring has shaded it

And the dog days have dragged their robes

وتحتَ نِجادي باتِرُ الحَدِّ صارِمٌ

تَدِبُّ صِغارُ النّملِ فوقَ غِرارهِ

Beneath my tent peg lies a keen drawn sword

With ants crawling over it above the embers

فَلَيّاً بأعرافِ الجِيادِ على الوَجى

تَزُرْهُ هَوادي الخَيْلِ في عُقْرِ دارهِ

How excellent are the meadows with the stallions

Watered in the valley basin of his abode

ورِمّةِ كَعْبٍ إنّ مالاً أُصيبُهُ

لِجاري وقد يُعْشَى إِلى ضَوْءِ نارِهِ

By the Lord of the place, if only my property grows

So my slave girl can have firewood for her hearth

ولَسْتُ كمَنْ يُعْلي إِلى الهُونِ طَرْفَهُ

ولا يَرْكَبُ الخَطّيَّ دونَ ذِمارِهِ

I am not like one who lifts his gaze to villainy

Or rides his finely built horse without his quiver

فقدْ سادَ جَسّاسُ بنُ مرَّةَ وائِلاً

بقَتْلِ كُلَيْبٍ دونَ لَقْحةِ جارِهِ

Indeed, Jassas ibn Murrah prevailed over Wail

By killing Kulayb, not regarding his neighbor

حَلَفْتُ بمَحْبوكِ السّراةِ كأنّني

أنوطُ بذَيْلِ الرّيحِ ثِنْيَ عِذارِهِ

I swore by the Braid constellation, it was as if

I harnessed the train of the wind inside my quiver

وتلْمَعُ في أعْلى مُحيّاهُ غُرّةٌ

هيَ الصُّبْحُ شَقَّ اللّيلَ غِبَّ اعْتِكارِهِ

At the top of his cheek shines a redness

It is the dawn that split the darkness of its gloom

وتَلْطِمُهُ أيْدي العَذارى بخُمْرِها

إذا انتَظَرَ السّاري مَشَنَّ غِوارِهِ

And the virgins' hands strike him with their wine skins

If the guard awaits the thickening of its sediment

ويشتدُّ بي والرّححُ يلْثِمُ نَحْرَهُ

إِلى كلِّ قِرْنٍ للأسنّةِ كارِهِ

With me the ostrich gets rough, biting its throat

To the horn of each malicious slanderer

وتحتَ القَنا للأعْوَجيّاتِ رنّةٌ

بضَرْبٍ يُطيرُ الهامَ تحتَ شَرارِهِ

Beneath thebranched acacias, the young oryx females cry out

Under a blow that sends the wild beasts flying off

ويَزْجُرُها مني أُشَيْعِثُ يرْتَدي

بأبيضَ يُلقي عنهُ أعْباءَ ثارِهِ

And a disheveled man clad in white keeps them off

Casting off the burdens of his revenge

لأَدَّرِعَنَّ اللّيلَ حتى أُزيرَهُ

أغَرَّ يُناصي الشُّهْبَ يومَ فَخارِهِ

I will ride the night until I subdue it

When the meteors collide on the day of his pride

إذا طاشَتِ الأحْلامُ واسْتَرْخَتِ الحُبا

تفيّأَتِ الآراءُ ظِلَّ وَقارِهِ

When worries fade and love is relaxed

Opinions recover in the shade of his dignity

وألْوى بمَنْ جاراهُ حتى كأنّهُ

مُعنّىً يُداني خَطْوَهُ في إسارِهِ

And I blame whoever contends with him

It is as if he intends to match his pace in shackles

وكيفَ يُبارَى في السّماحَةِ ماجِدٌ

متى يختَلِفْ وَفْدُ الرّياحِ يُبارِهِ

And how can he be matched in generosity, Magid

Whenever the delegation of winds contend with him

تعطّفَ كهْلانُ بنُ زَيدٍ وحِمْيَرٍ

علَيْهِ فأرْسى مَجْدَها في قَرارِهِ

Kahlan ibn Zayd and Ḥimyar deferred to him

So his glory settled in its place

إلَيكَ زَجَرْنا يا عَديَّ بنَ مُهْرِبٍ

أَمُوناً وصَلْنا لَيلَهُ بنَهارِهِ

To you we forbade, O ‘Adiyy ibn Muharib

We guaranteed and joined his night with its day

يُلِمُّ بمَغْشيِّ القِبابِ ويَنثَني

حَقائِبُهُ مَملوءَةٌ منْ نُضارِهِ

He meets with the towering domes and bends over

His bags full of fresh foliage

إذا السّنَةُ الشّهْباءُ ألْقَتْ جِرانَها

كَفَيْتَ أبا الأطْفالِ عامَ غِيارِهِ

When the grey headed year cast its torrents

You sufficed, O father of children, his tempestuous year

وزارَكَ منْ عُلْيا أميّةَ مِدْرَهٌ

تهزُّ اللّيالي سَرْحَهُ لِنِفارِهِ

And a flash flood from ‘Ulyaa Umayyah visited you

Shaking its foliage for its banishment

ولولاكَ لم أخْبِطْ دُجى الليلِ بعدَما

أُعيدَ قُمَيْراً بَدْرُهُ في سِرارِهِ

Were it not for you, I would not grope the night's gloom

After Kumayr the full moon returned to its bed

وكم مَهْمَهٍ نائي المُعرَّسِ جُبْتُهُ

وذي مَرَحٍ أنْضَبْتُهُ في قِفارِهِ

And many a distant bride I seized for him

And one fleeting in the wasteland I captured in her tent

فجاءَكَ منْهوكَ العَريكَةِ ناحِلاً

وقد فارَقَ الجَرْعاءَ مِلْءَ ضَفارِهِ

So she came to you exhausted, her knee-joints knocking

Having left the liverwort, her mouth bitter