وَكَأَنَّهُنَّ مِنَ الكَلالِ أَهِلَّةٌ

أَو مِثلُهُنَّ عَطائِفُ الأَقواسِ

As though they were the tents of the night encampment

And as if, from exhaustion, they are crescent moons,

Or like them, gentle curving bows

Or their likeness is the curvature of bows;

قودٌ طَواها ما طَوَت مِن مَهمَهٍ

نائي الصُوى وَمَناهِجٍ أَدراسِ

Led along by whatever the day led them to

Gaunt mounts, worn thin by the wilderness they traversed,

Of far-off dwellings and well-trodden paths

With distant landmarks and paths long since effaced.