1. Look, my friend, at upper Tharmada in the forenoon,

    While the pale camels move, their girths askew.

  2. Did the tribe head into the valley of al-Sirr, or strike off-road?

    For my heart is captive among them, wherever they go.

  3. From the direction of Kaba, the camel-drivers urge them on,

    To inflame a devoted, lovesick man—and inflame him they have.

  4. No visit can be hoped for; barring access to them is

    A grim-faced one whose cubs have drooping ears.

  5. They swore an oath that she must not speak to us;

    Without wrongdoing or grounds for suspicion, they swore.

  6. Ah, how lovely is al-Kharj, between al-Dami and al-Udama,

    And al-Rimth, at Burqat al-Rawhan, and al-Gharaf!

  7. Visit the dwelling-site at al-Tirbaʿ; it has been altered by

    Beating downpours and roaring, tempestuous winds.

  8. As though, after the winds had moaned through it,

    It were parchment where lam and alif stand clear.

  9. Tell me of the tribe, secretly or openly;

    May a dark cloud drench you, its eye heavy with lashes.

  10. People never seek a description of anything that delights them

    But I find Umm ʿAmr above all that they describe.

  11. She is like a radiant, gleaming raincloud,

    Or a pearl whose light no shell can conceal.

  12. Her body is well fleshed, and her intelligence adorns her;

    And the roots of her canine teeth are slender.

  13. She offers a drawn draught of her saliva, the tooth-stick's dew,

    As close-set stones hold the water of a raincloud.

  14. The reproaching women said, 'Will experience restrain you?

    Do you not see the grey hair, and your companions moving slowly?

  15. Do you ever visit a dwelling-site at Asnuma

    Without a flowing stream dripping from your eyes?'

  16. O dwelling-site, our yearning has lasted so long,

    That we have grown weary, while others have turned away.

  17. I once loved the soil of Najd and those who lived there,

    And the lowland—the lowland of ʿUsfan and al-Juhaf.

  18. When we departed, our course set toward Syria,

    Juʿada said, 'This is a far-off destination.'

  19. I charged my companions with terrors, in full confidence;

    God bless them as riders, and the burdens they bore!

  20. They traveled to you from al-Sahba; before them lay

    Fayhan, then al-Hazn, then al-Samman, then Lawakaf.

  21. Driving toward you worn-out camels with wrapped feet,

    Afflicted by bruising, worn-through hoofpads, and wasting.

  22. Two months of travel shrink their last reserves,

    Till breast-straps are fastened to their girths.

  23. Since they left the people of Usnuma, there has been

    No watering or fodder for them save a steady trot.

  24. No water for the travelers unless they halt at Barada,

    When darkness lifts from the camels' necks.

  25. They reached Tuma at dawn, while the bell was rung by

    The Christians' priest, our gaunt camels speeding along.

  26. O son of noble roots, whose growth is amid dense groves,

    No borer climbs within them, nor does any branch break.

  27. I shall indeed visit you, out of affection and honor,

    Until my shuffling nears an old man's fettered pace.

  28. I hope for bounty; God has favored you.

    Ah, may death reach my soul before yours!

  29. One who shuns us when our needs press upon us is not

    Like one with whom we find honor and kindness.

  30. How often I have lodged with you as a guest, and you have wrapped me in

    Your blanket's ample folds—a fine bounty to be wrapped in!

  31. They gave a hundred camels, with eight more following;

    Their gifts contain neither reminders of favors nor wastefulness.

  32. High-humped, massive as hills—if they came to drink

    The water of the Euphrates, the sea would almost be drained dry.

  33. Wide in throat and belly, they never departed

    A watering-place without leaving their trough with only dregs.

  34. In summer, three-hide waterskins are filled through funnels for them,

    As though they had scooped from both channels of the Tigris.

  35. I have given thanks, having learned by experience that you

    Are compassionate toward men, even when they give no thanks.

  36. Ah, many a people, and many another, envy you,

    Yet none among them can replace you or succeed you.

  37. Indeed, your ancient heritage and the ancestors reckoned yours—

    Fine are that heritage and those forebears when they are counted.

  38. Harb and the house of Abu al-ʿAsi built for you

    Inherited glory, while some glory is newly acquired.

  39. O son of the ʿAtikas, with the finest father in the world,

    A sheltering wing of your plumage has kept me warm.

  40. Indeed, the pilgrims prayed to enjoy his presence;

    Jamʿ nearly shakes whenever they surge.

  41. No edifice of honor have people built

    But your chambers rise above the builders of lofty glory.

  42. Great in bounty and noble houses, his bright brow shines

    Like the full moon on the night the month nears its middle.

  43. God has given to you, so thank Him for His gracious favor;

    He gave you sovereignty, above which no higher honor stands.

  44. These people accept whatever you accept for them.

    If you march, they march; if you say, 'Halt,' they stop.

  45. He is the caliph, so accept what he decrees for you;

    He proclaims the truth, with no crookedness in his words.

  46. He delivers the judgment by which hypocrisy is cured,

    So the people rejoiced in the truth they recognized.

  47. You bring blessing, and your conduct is auspicious;

    Had you not straightened people's crookedness, they would have fallen into discord.

  48. You were clothed in a robe of sovereignty, no new invention,

    Before thirty; goodness begins anew.

  49. You call, and the people of Syria lend their aid; indeed, they are

    A people who obey the rulers of truth and stand united.

  50. There is neither broken faith nor sickness in their hearts;

    When you attack a lawless man who casts off allegiance, they attack.

  51. People have learned, before today, that they

    Do not panic when the leather shields are rattled.

  52. The house of al-Muhallab—may God cut off their last remnant—

    They became ashes, with neither root nor branch.

  53. They lamented when God disgraced their faction,

    The house of al-Muhallab, in humiliation—indeed, they lamented.

  54. The Azd gained nothing from their misleader's summons

    But wrists and necks being snatched away.

  55. And the Azd made al-Mantuf, the Plucked One, their commander,

    So God's armies massacred them, and they were plucked bare.

  56. At Dhu al-ʿAqr their skulls tumble, mere skullcaps,

    As though they were striped colocynth gourds being cracked open.

Sol 6.1