وَمَدَّ مِن رَحلِ العَطاطِ وَرَدنَهُ

َقَدَ النَجومَ عَلى المَغارِبِ دُفَّعُ

He stretched the rope of his tent and spread out its sides,

Like the stars spread over the evening horizons.

أَدلى غُلامي دَلوَهُ يَبغي بِها

وَشلاً لِيَنشَحَ قَلبَ صادٍ يَهلَعُ

My boy let down his bucket, hoping to draw with it

Some water to quench the thirsty heart of a worried man.

فَأَتَت بِنَسجِ العَنكَبوتِ كَأَنَّهُ

ثَوبُ المَقامِ عَلى العِصِيِّ مُشَرَّعُ

It came back covered with spider webs, as if

It were the garment of a house left hanging on a pole.

فَلَوى الرَشاءَ وَطَرَت فَوقَ شَمَلَّةٍ

وَجناءَ دانِيَةِ المِراحِ تَلَذَّعُ

So he twisted the rope and threw it over a saddle blanket

And the side of a gently-swaying portable house.