1. قِفا بي عَلى تِلكَ الطّلولِ الرّثائثِ

    مُحِينَ بنَسْجِ المُعصِراتِ المواكثِ

    Halt with me, you two, beside those tattered ruins,

    effaced by the weaving of lingering rainclouds.

  2. وَلا تَسأَلوا عَن اِصطِبارٍ عهِدتُما

    فَقَد بانَ عنّي بِاِنتِهاكِ الحوادثِ

    And do not ask about the endurance you two once knew;

    for it has left me under the ravages of calamities.

  3. كَأنَّ فُؤادي بِالنّوى لَعِبتْ بهِ

    نُيوبُ أُسودٍ أو مخالبُ ضابثِ

    As though my heart, in separation, were toyed with

    by lions' fangs or a clutching beast's claws.

  4. أُجَوِّلُ في الأَطلالِ نَظرةَ عابثٍ

    وَما أَنا حزناً واِشتِياقاً بِعابثِ

    I let a trifler's gaze wander among the ruins,

    yet, in grief and longing, I am no trifler.

  5. كَأنِّي وَقَد سارَتْ مطيُّ حُدوجِهِمْ

    أُلاطِمُ موجَ اللُّجَّةِ المتلاطِثِ

    As though I, when their howdah-bearing camels departed,

    were battling the crashing waves of the deep.

  6. فَللّهِ حِلمي يومَ مرَّتْ رِكابُنا

    على عَجَلٍ منها برِمْثِ العناكِثِ

    God, what forbearance was mine the day our riding camels passed,

    in their haste, by the saltbush of al-ʿAnākith.

  7. وَودّ فُؤادي أنَّهنُّ رَوائثٌ

    وَهُنّ بما يُحفَزْنَ غيرُ روائثِ

    My heart wished that they would linger,

    but, spurred onward as they were, they did not linger.

  8. جَحدتُ الهَوى لَمّا سُئِلتُ عَنِ الهَوى

    وَكَمْ غِرّةٍ مِن ذي شَجىً في المباعثِ

    I denied love when I was questioned about love,

    and how often a sorrowful man is caught unguarded when stirred!

  9. وَآليتُ خَوفَ الشرِّ ألّا أُحبَّكمْ

    وَتِلكَ لعَمْر اللَّهِ حِلفةُ حانثِ

    And, fearing harm, I swore that I would not love you,

    yet that, by God's life, was an oath-breaker's oath.

  10. بَني عَمّنا لا تَطمَعوا في لِحاقنا

    فَكَمْ بَينَ أَسماكِ السُّهى والكثاكِثِ

    Sons of our uncle, do not hope to overtake us;

    for what a gulf lies between Suhā's heights and the dust-heaps!

  11. سَبَقناكُمُ عَفواً وَلَم تَلحَقوا بنا

    عَلى جُهْدِ مجهودٍ ولَهْثَةِ لاهِثِ

    We outstripped you effortlessly, and you did not catch us,

    for all a spent man's striving and a panting man's gasps.

  12. وَقِدْماً عَهِدتُمُ دَفْعَنا عنكُمُ وقدْ

    عُضِضتُمْ بِأَنيابِ الخطوبِ الكوارثِ

    And long ago you knew our defense of you, when

    you were bitten by the fangs of devastating calamities.

  13. وَنَحنُ عَلى إمّا جِيادٍ ضَوامرٍ

    وَإِمّا عَلى أَقتادِ خوصٍ دلائثِ

    While we rode either lean steeds,

    or the saddle-frames of narrow-eyed, easy-going camels.

  14. وَما زِلتُمُ مُستَمطِرينَ سَحائباً

    بِنَصرِكُمُ ما بَينَ تلكَ الهثاهثِ

    You never ceased seeking rain from clouds

    to bring you aid amid those tumults.

  15. فَخَرْتُمْ بغير الدّين فينا وإنّما

    فَخَرتمْ بأنسابٍ لِئامٍ خبائِثِ

    Your boasts against us were not of religion; you only

    boasted of base and foul lineages.

  16. وإِنَّ لكم أطمارَ ذُلٍّ كأنّها

    من الشّينِ أطمارُ النّساءِ الطّوامِثِ

    And yours are rags of humiliation, as though

    in their disgrace they were menstruating women's rags.

  17. وقلتُمْ بأنّا الآمرون عليكُمُ

    وذاك بأسبابٍ ضعافٍ نكائثِ

    And you said, 'We are the ones who command you,'

    but that rests on weak, frayed ties.

  18. وما ضرّنا أنّا خَلِيّون من غِنىً

    وكم شِبَعٍ يهفو بهِ غَرْثُ غارثِ

    It has not harmed us that we are without wealth;

    and how often a starving man's hunger makes satiety falter!

  19. قَعَدتُمْ عنِ الإجمالِ فينا بباعثٍ

    وَقُمنا بهِ فيكمْ بلا بعثِ باعثِ

    You held back from fair dealing with us at a prompter's urging,

    while we practiced it toward you without a prompter's urging.

  20. وَما غَرّكمْ إلّا التغافلُ عنكُمُ

    عَلى ظالمٍ مِنكمْ لَدينا وعائثِ

    Only our turning a blind eye to you deceived you,

    despite the wrongdoer and ravager from your ranks in our midst.

  21. فَأُقسِمُ بِالبيتِ الّذي جوّلتْ بهِ

    أَخامص أقوامٍ كرامٍ مَلاوِثِ

    So I swear by the House around which have roamed

    the soles of noble chieftains;

  22. وَبالبُدْنِ في وادِي مِنى يومَ عَقْرِهمْ

    يُقَدْنَ إلى أيدٍ هناك فوارثِ

    and by the sacrificial camels in Minā's valley on their slaughter-day,

    led there to eviscerating hands.

  23. تَخالُ رِباطَ الفاتقين نحورَها

    برشِّ دمٍ منها غُلالَةَ طامثِ

    You would think the bindings of those who slit their throats,

    spattered with their blood, a menstruating woman's shift.

  24. ومَنْ بات في جَمْعٍ كليلاً من الوَجا

    إلى شُعُثٍ من السُّرى وأشاعثِ

    And by whoever spent the night at Jamʿ, worn out by sore feet,

    beside the unkempt from night travel and the tousled—

  25. لَنحنُ بِنشر الفخرِ أعبقُ منكُمُ

    وَأَسمق مِنكمْ في الجبالِ اللّوابِثِ

    we are indeed more fragrant than you with glory's perfume,

    and loftier than you among the enduring mountains.

  26. لنحنُ السَّلَفُ الأعلى الّذي تعهدونَهُ

    علقنا بهِ من وارثٍ بعد وارثِ

    We are indeed that loftiest ancestral stock you know,

    to which we have clung, heir after heir.

  27. هُمُ أوسعوا في النّاسِ ضمنَ أكفّهمْ

    وَهمْ أَوسعوا في الأزْمِ جوعَ المغارثِ

    They lavished among the people what their palms held,

    and in famine satisfied the hunger of famished bellies.

  28. وهُمْ ورّثوا آباءهمْ مأثرَاتِهمْ

    وأنتمْ من العلياء غيرُ مَوارِثِ

    They bequeathed their noble deeds to their fathers,

    while you are no inheritors of high honor.

  29. وهمْ نزّهوا أولادَهمْ بأواخِرٍ

    وشِنْتُمْ قديماً كان منكمْ بحادِثِ

    They kept their children unsullied through later deeds,

    while you stained what was ancient in you with something new.

  30. وَنَحنُ غَداة الجَدْبِ خيرُ مَخاصبٍ

    وَنَحن غداةَ الرَّوعِ خيرُ مَغاوثِ

    And in drought, we are the best sources of plenty,

    and in terror, the best sources of help.

  31. وَأَطعنُ مِنكمْ لِلكلى بمثقّفٍ

    نَضمّ عليهِ بالطّوالِ الشّوابثِ

    And we outdo you at piercing kidneys with a straightened spear,

    closing our long, gripping fingers around it.

  32. وَأَضربُ مِنكمْ للرؤوس لدى وغىً

    وأوْهبُ منكمْ للهِجانِ الرواغثِ

    And we outdo you at striking heads amid battle,

    and give more freely than you noble white camels nursing their young.

  33. لنا في النّدى سَحٌّ وهَطْلٌ ووابِلٌ

    وكيف لكمْ فيه بقَطْرِ الدثائثِ

    In generosity, ours are pouring rain, streaming rain, and downpours;

    and how can you match that with drizzle's droplets?

  34. وما خَزِيَتْ منّا رؤوسٌ بريبةٍ

    تُكشّفها في النّاسِ نبثةُ نابِثِ

    No heads of ours have been disgraced by a taint

    that a searcher's probing exposes among the people.

  35. فكيف لكمْ نَكثٌ ومِنَ أجلِنا

    ولم تُبْتَلوْا منّا بنَكْثةِ ناكثِ

    How, then, can you break faith—and on our account—

    when you have suffered no betrayer's treachery from us?

  36. فَلا تَكسِفوا أَنوارَنا بظلامكمْ

    ولا تعدِلوا أصقارَنا بالأباغِثِ

    So do not eclipse our lights with your darkness,

    nor equate our falcons with feeble birds.

  37. خُذوا كلامي اليومَ زفرةَ زافرٍ

    وأنّةَ مَكروبٍ ونفثَةَ نافثِ

    Take my words today as a sigh from one who sighs,

    and a troubled man's moan, and a breath from one who breathes out.