إِذا قُلتُ أَنّي آيِبٌ أَهلَ بَلدَةٍ

وَضَعتُ بِها عَنهُ الوَلِيَّةَ بِالهَجرِ

When I say I yearn for the people of a place

Where I put aside power through estrangement

تَرى بَينَ مَجرى مِرفَقَيهِ وَثيلِهِ

هَواءً كَفَيفاةٍ بَدا أَهلُها قَفرِ

You see between the course of its elbows and flanks

An air like a whirlwind, its people seem deserted

إِذا صَرَّ يَوماً ماضِغاهُ بِجِرَّةٍ

نَزَت هامَةٌ فَوقَ اللَهازِمِ كَالقَبرِ

When one day it chewed with Molars

A cloud descended over the summits like a grave

وَإِن عَبَّ في ماءٍ سَمِعتَ لِجَرعِهِ

خَواةً كَتَثليمِ الجَداوِلِ في الدَبرِ

And if it roared in water, you’d hear its gulp

Like the trickling of streams at nightfall

وَإِن خافَ مِن وَقعِ المُحَرِّمِ يَنتَحي

عَلى عَضُدٍ رَيّا كَسارِيَةِ القَصرِ

And if it feared the forbidden's impact, it sidled

On adelicate arm like a palace column

تَلَتهُ فَلَم تُبطِئ بِهِ مِن وَرائِهِ

مُعَقرَبَةٌ رَوحاءُ رَيِّثَةُ الفَترِ

I followed it but no trained she-camel behind it

Could keep up, though easy of gait and slack of rein

إِلى عَجُزٍ كَالبابِ شُدَّ رِتاجُهُ

وَمُستَتلِعٍ بِالكورِ ذي حُبُكٍ سُمرِ

To a rump like a door whose bolt is drawn

And a hip ridged as if clad in coat of mail