أَيا هِندُ لا تَنكحي بُوهَةً

عَلَيهِ عَقيقَتُهُ أَحسَبا

O Hind, do not marry an uncouth man

Whose marriage payment is still counted

مُرَسَّعَةً بَينَ أَرساغِهِ

بِهِ عَسَمٌ يَبتَغي أَرنَبا

With splayed fingers between his ribs—

In him is a blemish seeking prey.

لِيَجعَلَ في يَدِهِ كَعبها

حِذارَ المَنيَّةِ أَن يُعطَبا

Let him keep his heel in his hand

Beware of death lest you be maimed.

فَلَستُ بخرزافَة في القُعو

دِ وَلَستُ بِطَيّاخَةٍ أَخدَبا

I am neither a potter in his shop

Nor a patcher of worn-out shoes.

وَلَستُ بِذي رَثيَةٍ إِمر

إِذا قيدَ مُستَكرها أَصحَبا

I am not a man of abject poverty

When adversity seizes his companion.

وَقالَت بِنَفسي شَبابٌ لَهُ

ولمَّتُهُ قَبلَ أَن يَشجَبا

And my soul said in its prime, which belongs to it

I have enjoyed it before growing old.

وَإِذ هيَ سَوداءُ مِثلُ الجَنا

حِ تَغَشّى المَطانِبَ وَالمَنكَبا

And when she is black like a courtyard

Covering the terraces and shoulders.

فَلَمّا انتَحَيتُ بِعَيرانَةٍ

تُشَبِّهُها قطيَماً مُصعَبا

So when I turned away with a she-camel

Likening her to an unbroken young camel

تَجاوَبُ أَصواتُ أَنيابِها

كَما رُعتَ في الضالَةِ الأخطَبا

The voices of her teeth resound

As if aroused among the lost camels.

كأَكدَرَ مُلتَئِمِ خَلقُهُ

تَراهُ إِذا ما عَدا تَولَبا

Like the inborn nature of an ugly man

You see him, when he turns hostile, ferocious.