وَبيضٍ تَرَقّى مِن بَناتِ مُجاشِعٍ

بِهِنَّ إِلى المَجدِ التَليدِ مَفاخِرُه

White and bright, daughters of a tender father,

Through them to time-honoured glory are the tribe's prides.

بَناتِ أَبٍ حورٍ كَأَنَّ حُمولَها

عَلَيها مِنَ الوَحشِ الهِجانِ جَآذِرُه

Daughters of a free man, as though the snarling beasts

Had loaded them with terror from the waste at night.

كَساهُنَّ مَحضَ اللَونِ سُفيانُ وَاِصطَفى

لَهُنَّ عَتيقَ البَزِّ إِذ جاءَ تاجِرُه

For them Sufyan chose the finest linen

When he met their merchant with treasures of old.

رَعَت لِبَأَ الوَسمِيِّ حَيثُ تَفَقَّأَت

سَوابي الغَمامِ الغُرِّ وَاِنعَقَّ ماطِرُه

They pastured the branded camels where clouds parted

And the rain’s abundance soaked all the hills and wadis.

تَعاوَرنَ مِن أَزواجِهِ وَذُكورِهِ

وَأَحرارِهِ حَتّى تَهَوَّلَ زاهِرُه

They took turns with the males, the freedmen and clients

Till their camp on the plain bloomed like a garden.

حِمىً لَم يَحُط عَنهُ سَريعٌ وَلَم يَخَف

نُوَيرَةَ يَسعى بِالشَياهينِ طائِرُه

A sanctuary no horseman challenged or Shaykh

Whose hawk sought prey while he coursed with greyhounds.

فَإِن تَمنَعا الأَمثالَ أَو تُطرَدا بِها

عَلَيها فَقَد أَحمَت رُماحاً هَواجِرُه

And if they deny such maidens or spurn the peerless,

Their tall spears they will defend them from all reproach.

يَجولُ مِنَ الصَحراءِ يَنفي عَنيقَها

لَها مِن يَدِ الجَوزاءِ بِالقَيظِ ناجِرُه

He roams the desert protecting them from heat

That sears at noon when their sheltering tree is parched.

لَعَمري لَقَد أَرعى زُرارَةَ في الحِمى

صَريفِ اللِقاحِ المُستَظِلِّ وَحازِرُه

By my life, Zurarah pastured them in sanctuary

While the dripping pollen stained their shade and courtyard.