لَمّا رَأتنِى أُمُّ عَمرٍو صَرَفَت

قَد بَلَغَت بِى ذِروَة فَألحَفَت

When Umm ʿAmr saw me, she turned away;

old age had borne me to its utmost peak and pressed hard,

وَابيَضَّ مِن بَعدِ السَّوادِ الشَّعَفَة

وَهامَة كَاَنَّها قَد نُتِفَت

whitening the crown of my head after its blackness,

leaving my head as though its hair had been plucked;

وَانعاجَتِ الاَحناءُ حَتَّى احقَوقَفَت

وَقَحِلَت جِلدَتُهُ وَشَظِفَت

my frame bowed until it hunched into a curve,

and my skin was parched and made rough.

وَاَحدَثَت لِي بِغضَةً وَشَنِفَت

وَسُرُح دَوسَرَة قَد شَرَفَت

She fixed me with a hateful glare and showed aversion.

Then a massive, free-striding she-camel towered high;

كَلَّفتُها الدُّلجَةَ حَتَّى اَسدَفَت

حَتَّى اِذا ظَلماؤُها تَكَشَّفَت

I charged her with night travel until the dark deepened,

until, when its blackness lifted

عَنِّى وَعَن صَيهَبَةٍ قَد شَرَفَت

عادَت تُبارِى الاَزفَلَى وَاستَأنَفَت

from me and from the lofty tawny she-camel,

she went back to racing the foremost and began anew

ذَا قَبَلٍ دَيدَنَها فَاَوجَفَت

تَنفِى بِرِجلَيها الحَصَى كَما نَفَت

what had long been her habit, then sped on.

With her foot she swept the gravel aside, just as

اَيدِى الصَّارِيفِ وِراقاً زُيِّفَت

تَنجِلُهُ نَجلاً اِذا تَقَيَّفَت

money-changers’ hands cast away silver coins judged false;

she flung it far whenever she bounded onward.

يا ابنَ ابي العاصِى اِلَيكَ لَهَفَت

تَشكُو اِلَيكَ سَنَةً قَد جَلَفَت

O son of Abū al-ʿĀṣ, toward you she hastened eagerly,

complaining to you of years that stripped away

اَموالَنا من اَصلِها وَجَرَّفَت

تَرجُو اجتِبارَ عَظمِها اِذ ازحَفَت

our wealth from its roots and swept it off,

hoping her broken bone might be mended after she had gone lame.

فَامرَعَت لَمَّا اِلَيكَ اَهدَفَت

اَغَرَّ مِثلَ الشَّمسِ اِذ تَشَوَّفَت

She found abundance when she aimed straight for you—

a radiant man, like the sun when it comes into view,

مِن عِترَةٍ قَد كَثُرَت وَشَرُفَت

تَنمِى اِلَى جُرثُومَةٍ قَد اَشرَفَت

sprung from a lineage grown numerous and noble,

ascending to an ancestral root that towered

عَلَى الجَراثِيمِ الاُلَى وَاِن عَفَت

اَهلَ خِلافاتٍ وَدينٍ قَد صَفَت

above the earliest roots, though their traces have faded:

a people of caliphates and of a faith made pure.

لَهُم رَسَت اَوتادُها وَاستَحصَفَت

فَالمُلكُ فِيهِم خالِد ما هَتَفَت

For them its stakes were driven deep and firmly secured;

so sovereignty among them shall endure as long as

وَرقاءُ فِى اَفنانِ غِيلٍ اَو هَفَت

مِثلُ اللُّيُوثِ الحُمسِ اِذ تَغَضَّفَت

a gray dove calls among a thicket’s branches, or beats its wings.

They are like fierce lions when they snatch their prey.

وَمَم لَهُ فِينَا يَداً قَد سَلَفَت

وَكَفُّهُ ما اَتلَفَتهُ اَخلَفَت

How many favors of his among us have gone before;

his palm replaces whatever loss has destroyed.

هِيَ الحَيَا اِذا السِّنُونَ اَجحَفَت

وهَبَّتِ الرِّيحُ بَليلاً وَزَفَت

It is life-giving rain when the years deal ruin,

when wind rises in the night and races on,

ثَلجاً وَصُرّاداً لَهُ وعَصَفَت

وَشَدَّبَت عِضاهَها وَجَفَّفَت

driving snow and bitter cold, and lashes the land,

pruning its thorn trees and stripping them bare.