1. قلتُ لعمرو جَذِلا

    اُشجُجْ بها هامَ الفلا

    I said to ʿAmr, rejoicing:

    With it, cleave the crowns of the deserts;

  2. فما اجتويتَ منزلا

    إلا انتجعتَ منزلا

    For never have you found a dwelling hateful

    without seeking out another dwelling.

  3. وإنّ من تسجُنه

    أوطانُه لمُبتَلىَ

    And surely, whoever is imprisoned

    by his homelands is truly afflicted—

  4. قعيدةُ الخدرِ فما

    تعرِفُ إلا المِغزَلا

    a woman confined to her curtained chamber, who

    knows nothing but the spindle.

  5. أما ترى الطائرَ في

    أُفحوصه مقلقَلا

    Do you not see the bird in

    its nesting hollow, restless,

  6. يستخدم الجَنوبَ في

    جَناحهِ وَالشَّمأَلا

    harnessing the south wind with

    its wing, and the north wind too,

  7. مخلِّفا وراءَه

    حمامةً وجَوْزلا

    leaving behind it

    a dove and a fledgling,

  8. إما يصيبُ جازئا

    من قُوته أو أجدَلا

    either finding a sufficient portion

    of its food, or a falcon?

  9. والقدرَ المحتومُ لا

    يحُزُّ إلا المَقِصلا

    And inescapable fate does not

    cut except at the neck.

  10. لما رأيتُ الذلَّ قد

    أبرز ناباً أعصَلا

    When I saw that humiliation had

    bared a crooked fang,

  11. شاورتُ عزمى ما ترى

    فقال هاتِ وهَلا

    I consulted my resolve: “What do you think?”

    It said, “Bring—come now!—

  12. إما عتاقا للنجا

    ء أو هجانا بزلا

    either thoroughbred steeds for escape,

    or white, purebred, full-grown camels.”