تَقولُ اِبنَتي لَمّا رَأَت بُعدَ مائِنا

وَإِطلابَهُ هَل بِالسُبَيلَةِ مَشرَبُ

My daughter asked, when she saw our water was far

And its absence, “Can we drink from the roadside pool?”

فَقُلتُ لَها إِنَّ القَوافِيَ قَطَّعَت

بَقِيَّةَ خُلّاتٍ بِها نَتَقَرَّبُ

I said, “The rhymes have interrupted

What remains of our sweet bonding time.”

رَأَيتُ بَني حِمّانَ أَسقَوا بَناتِهِم

وَما لَكِ في حِمّانَ أُمٌّ وَلا أَبُ

I saw the tribe of Himmân give their daughters water

Yet you have no mother or father among Himmân’s tribe.