أَلَم تَرَ أَنّي يَومَ جَوَّ سُوَيقَةٍ

بَكَيتُ فَنادَتني هُنَيدَةُ مالِيا

Did you not see when on the day of Suwaqah

I wept, so Hunaydah called out: What ails you?

فَقُلتُ لَها إِنَّ البُكاءَ لَراحَةٌ

بِهِ يَشتَفي مَن ظَنَّ أَن لا تَلاقِيا

I said to her: Weeping is solace

By which one who thought there'd be no union is comforted

قِفي وَدِّعينا يا هُنَيدُ فَإِنَّني

أَرى الحَيَّ قَد شاموا العَقيقَ اليَمانِيا

Stop, Hunaydah, and bid us farewell, for I

See the tribe has had their fill of Yemeni wine

قَعيدَكُما اللَهَ الَّذي أَنتُما لَهُ

أَلَم تَسمَعا بِالبَيضَتَينِ المُنادِيا

May Allah who you belong to provide you company

Did you not hear the two camps calling out?

حَبيباً دَعا وَالرَملُ بَيني وَبَينَهُ

فَأَسمَعَني سَقياً لِذَلِكَ داعِيا

A beloved called and the sands between me and him

So he made me hear one calling me to that

فَكانَ جَوابي أَن بَكَيتُ صَبابَةً

وَفَدَّيتُ مَن لَو يَستَطيعُ فَدانِيا

My response was that I wept copiously

And ransomed one I wish I could ransom

إِذا اِغرَورَقَت عَينايَ أَسبَلَ مِنهُما

إِلى أَن تَغيبَ الشِعرَيانِ بُكائِيا

When my eyes pour down, they flow

Until the streams of my weeping disappear

لِذِكرى حَبيبٍ لَم أَزَل مُذ هَجَرتُهُ

أَعُدُّ لَهُ بَعدَ اللَيالي لَيالِيا

For the memory of a beloved I have not ceased since his parting

To count over the nights, night after night

أَراني إِذا فارَقتُ هِنداً كَأَنَّني

دَوى سَنَةٍ مِمّا اِلتَقى في فُؤادِيا

When I depart from Hind is as though I

For a year have recalled what lodged in my heart

فَإِن يَدعُني بِاِسمي البَعيثُ فَلَم يَجِد

لَئيماً كَفى في الحَربِ ما كانَ جانِيا

If the lost one calls me by name but does not find

A coward - my war days suffice as my defender

وَما أَنتَ مِنّا غَيرَ أَنَّكَ تَدَّعي

إِلى آلِ قُرطٍ بَعدَما شِبتَ عانِيا

You are not one of us but you claim

To the house of Quraysh after you've grown old and bent

تَكونُ مَعَ الأَدنى إِذا كُنتَ آمِناً

وَأُدعى إِذا غَمَّ الغُثاءُ التَراقِيا

You stay with the lowliest when you feel safe

And are called on when the torrential rain pours

عَجِبتُ لِحَينِ اِبنِ المَراغَةِ أَن رَأى

لَهُ غَنَماً أَهدى إِلَيَّ القَوافِيا

I wonder that Ibn Maragha saw

He had sheep which he gifted to me, rhyming verse!

وَهَل كانَ فيما قَد مَضى مِن شَبيبَتي

لَهُ رُخصَةٌ عِندي فَيَرجو ذَكائِيا

Was there in my past youth

License for him to hope for my genius?

أَلَم أَكُ قَد راهَنتُ حَتّى عَلِمتُمُ

رِهاني وَخَلَّت لي مَعَدٌّ عَنانِيا

Did I not bet until you knew

My wager, and the reins were loosened for me?

وَما حَمَلَت أُمُّ اِمرِئٍ في ضُلوعِها

أَعَقَّ مِنَ الجاني عَلَيها هِجائِيا

No mother ever bore in her breast

One more spiteful than I in my satire

وَأَنتَ بِوادي الكَلبِ لا أَنتَ ظاعِنٌ

وَلا واجِدٌ يا اِبنَ المَراغَةِ بانِيا

While you are in Wadi Kalb, not a transgressor

Nor a founder, O Ibn Maragha, a builder

إِذا العَنزُ بالَت فيهِ كادَت تُسيلُهُ

عَلَيكَ وَتَنفي أَن تَحُلَّ الرَوابِيا

When the nanny goat pees there she almost

Washes you away, unable to cross the meadows

عَلَيكُم بِتَربيقِ البِهامِ فَإِنَّكُم

بِأَحسابِكُم لَن تَستَطيعوا رِهانِيا

Take the maiming of the camel hen - you

Cannot withstand my wager by your accounts

بِأَيِّ أَبٍ يا اِبنَ المَراغَةِ تَبتَغي

رِهاني إِلى غاياتِ عَمّي وَخالِيا

Through what father, O Ibn Maragha, do you seek

My wager to the furthest ends of my paternal and maternal uncles?

هَلِمَّ أَباً كَاِبنَي عِقالٍ تَعُدُّهُ

وَواديهِما يا اِبنَ المَراغَةِ وادِيا

Bring me a father like my two sons of ʿIqāl

And their valley, O Ibn Maragha, as my valley

تَجِد فَرعَهُ عِندَ السَماءِ وَدارِمٌ

مِنَ المَجدِ مِنهُ أَترَعَت لي الجَوابِيا

You will find its branch by the sky, and it has

Of glory drinking troughs it provided for my camels

بَنى لي بِهِ الشَيخانِ مِن آلِ دارِمٍ

بِناءً يُرى عِندَ المَجَرَّةِ عالِيا

The two elders of the house of Dārim

Built for me a structure seen lofty at the galaxy