1. على الرَّبعِ رَبْعِ الرّاحلين سلامي

    وإنْ هاج تسليمي عليه أُوامي

    My greeting be upon the dwelling, the dwelling of those departed,

    though saluting it stirs my burning thirst.

  2. تذكّرتُ لمّا أنْ مررتُ على اللِّوى

    بِأهلِ اللّوى وجدى وطول سَقامي

    When I passed al-Liwa, I recalled

    my longing for al-Liwa's people and my long affliction.

  3. وما مكّنَ الحادون بِي من تَلُّومٍ

    عليه ولا مَن حَطّ بعضَ لثامي

    The camel-drivers allowed me no time to linger

    beside it, nor even to lower part of my veil.

  4. وساروا وقلبي من ورائي تلفُّتاً

    وإنْ كان قصدُ النّاعجاتِ أمامي

    They traveled on, while my heart kept looking behind me,

    though the swift she-camels' destination lay ahead.

  5. وَما كنتُ من قبل الّذين ترحّلوا

    أُقادُ إلى دار الهوى بزِمامِ

    Before those people departed, I had never been

    led by a halter to the abode of love.

  6. وَلمّا تَركنا الأثلَ من جَنَباتِنا

    وأطربني منهنّ نَوْحُ حَمامٍ

    When we left the tamarisks at our sides,

    and the lament of doves among them stirred me,

  7. رماني غزالُ الواديينِ بسهمِهِ

    وطاشتْ وعندي الشَّيبُ عنه سهامي

    the gazelle of the two valleys struck me with his arrow,

    but my arrows missed him, with gray hair upon me.

  8. وَما رابَهُ إلّا اِبيِضاضُ مفارقي

    وأنّ صباحي في مكان ظلامي

    Nothing dismayed him but my whitening hair-partings,

    and my dawn's taking the place of my darkness.

  9. نَفضتُ الصِّبا عن أمّ رأسي وقَلَّصَتْ

    عن الغانياتِ شِرَّتي وعُرامي

    I shook youth from the crown of my head, and there withdrew

    from beautiful women my ardor and unruliness.

  10. فما لِيَ تعريجٌ بذاتِ قلائدٍ

    ولا لِيَ إلمامٌ بذاتِ خِدامِ

    I no longer turn aside to a woman wearing necklaces,

    nor pay a visit to a woman wearing anklets.

  11. فَكَم بين أنّي رُقْتُهنّ بفاحمي

    وبينِيَ لمّا راعهنّ ثَغامي

    How far apart are my charming them with coal-black hair

    and my state when my thagham-white hair alarmed them!

  12. أقول وقد خلّفتُ سَلْعاً لناقتي

    وزفرتُها موصولةٌ ببُغامِ

    I say to my she-camel, having left Sal' behind,

    while her sigh is joined to a lowing cry,

  13. وَحنّتْ كما حنّ الأباءُ محرَّقاً

    تلاطمُهُ النّكْباءُ أيَّ لِطامِ

    and she moans as reeds moan when set alight,

    as the crosswind buffets them with mighty blows:

  14. فؤادِيَ مشتاقٌ ودمعِيَ جامدٌ

    وأنتَ بلا شوقٍ ودمعُك هامِ

    My heart longs, yet my tears are frozen;

    you have no longing, yet your tears stream.

  15. وليس بمغنٍ في سوادِ جوانحٍ

    لقلبك من وَجْدٍ بياضُ لُغامِ

    Within the darkness of your ribs, it is no substitute

    for your heart's longing, that whiteness of foam.

  16. قِفِي بي على الزَّوراءِ في خير موقفٍ

    وَعوجي بِنا منها بخير إمامِ

    Stop with me at al-Zawra, at the finest stopping-place,

    and from there turn with us toward the finest leader.

  17. فما لَكِ إنْ بلَّغْتِنِيه مشافِرٌ

    يعُدنَ إلى قطع المدَا بخطامِ

    For, if you bring me to him, no lips of yours

    shall return to crossing distances in a halter.

  18. ولستُ أُبالي كيف أصبحتِ بعدها

    أَجبَّاءَ أم كَوْماءَ ذاتَ سَنامِ

    I shall not care how you fare thereafter,

    humpless or high-backed with a hump.

  19. وَقد عَلِقَتْ كفَّيَّ بالنّبعِ من مُنىً

    فما أنا أُمْنى بعدها بثُمامِ

    My two hands have grasped the nab' tree of my hopes;

    I shall not be lured with thumam grass thereafter.

  20. فقولوا لِمَلْكِ النّاس عنِّيَ قولةً

    إذا قلتُها لم أخشَ فيه مَلامي

    So tell the king of men a word on my behalf,

    one I can say without fearing blame on his account:

  21. أَلستَ الّذي لولاه لم يكُ ركنُنُا

    بركنٍ ولا مدعومُهُ بدعامِ

    Are you not the one without whom our pillar

    would be no pillar, nor would what it bears have support?

  22. وَلَولا الّذي نظّمتَهُ منه جاهداً

    لغُودِر محلولاً بغير نظامِ

    And had you not painstakingly strung its parts together,

    it would have been left unstrung, without a binding thread.

  23. ولا كان منّا غيرُ حائمِ قفرةٍ

    يلوذ على حرّ الصَّدى بحيامِ

    Nor would any of us be more than one circling a wasteland,

    seeking escape from burning thirst by circling for water.

  24. فأين ملوكُ الأرضِ منك وأين مِنْ

    تَبَلُّجِ إصباحٍ سوادُ ظلامِ

    Where are earth's kings beside you, and where, beside

    the bright breaking of dawn, is the blackness of night?

  25. وأيُّ مليكٍ قبلك اليومَ قادرٌ

    مضى لم يطُفْ فيه بَربْعِ أثامِ

    What mighty king before you, even to this day,

    has passed a day without circling the abode of sin?

  26. وأيُّ حلالٍ قبلما أنت فاعلٌ

    رأيناهُ لم يمزِجْهُ بعضُ حرامِ

    What lawful act, before the ones you perform,

    have we seen unmixed with something forbidden?

  27. وَأَنتَ الّذي أَوْلَيتنا النّعمَ الّتي

    تركْن كِرامَ النّاسِ غيرَ كِرامِ

    You are the one who bestowed on us such favors

    that they left the generous among men seeming ungenerous.

  28. وقد جرّبوا منك الحفيظةَ حيثما

    دُعيتَ إليها والعيونُ سوامِ

    They have tested your defensive zeal whenever

    you were summoned to it, with every eye watching,

  29. لدَى ساعةٍ ما إنْ بها متحكِّمٌ

    سوى ذابلٍ لَدْنٍ وحدِّ حُسامِ

    at an hour when nothing holds command

    but a slender, supple spear and a sharp sword's edge.

  30. وأنت على جَنْبَيْ سريعٍ إلى المدَا

    كأنّك منه فوق ظهرِ شَمامِ

    You ride astride a mount swift across the distances,

    as though upon it you rode on Shamam's back.

  31. وللخيلِ إمّا من نَجيعٍ براقعٌ

    وإلّا عثارٌ في الصّعيد بِهامِ

    The horses either wear face-veils of fresh blood

    or stumble over skulls upon the ground.

  32. يثرنَ خفافاً في الوغى فكأنّما

    شَلَلْتَ على دَوٍّ قطيعَ نَعامِ

    They spring lightly into battle, as though

    you had driven a flock of ostriches across open desert.

  33. وَحولكَ طلّاعون كلَّ ثَنِيَّةٍ

    إلى الموتِ ورّادون كلَّ حِمامِ

    Around you are men who climb every mountain pass

    toward death, drawing near to every mortal doom.

  34. إذا قُذِفوا في حَوْمَةٍ فكأنّما

    تَضَرَّمُ منه قَفْرُها بضرامِ

    When hurled into the thick of battle, it is as though

    its barren ground blazed with fire from the fray.

  35. تراهمْ كراماً بالنّفوسِ لدى الوغى

    ولكنّهمْ في الحربِ جِدُّ لِئامِ

    You see them generous with their lives in battle,

    yet in war they are utterly ruthless.

  36. جعلتُك حِصْني يوم خوفي من الأذى

    وتُرساً من الأعداء يوم أُرامي

    I made you my fortress on the day I feared harm,

    and a shield against enemies when I traded arrows.

  37. فأنتَ سِناني يوم طعنِيَ في الكُلى

    وأنت حُسامي إن سلَلْتُ حسامي

    You are my spearhead when I thrust into kidneys,

    and my sword whenever I draw my sword.

  38. ولستُ أُبالي بعد أن إِبْتَ بالّذي

    تريع جروحي عنده وكِلامي

    I do not care, now that I have returned with that

    by which my wounds and gashes close and heal.

  39. وإنّ عَنائي في هواك لَراحةٌ

    وَإِنّ اِنتِقاصي في رضاك تمامي

    My suffering in love for you is truly rest,

    and my diminution in pleasing you is my completeness.

  40. وَعَن كُلَّ شيءٍ تَجتَويهِ طرائدي

    وفي كلِّ شيءٍ ترتضيهِ حِيامي

    My quarry lies far from everything you loathe,

    and my circling is around everything you approve.

  41. وما ضرّني لمّا شَرِبتُك أنّني

    غَرَفتُ فلم أشربْ كؤوس مُدامِ

    It did not harm me, when I drank you in, that I

    scooped a draught and drank no cups of wine,

  42. وَلا أنّ كفّي لم أَنُطْها بِعصْمَةٍ

    من النّاس أطواراً وأنت عصامي

    nor that I did not attach my hand to any protection

    from men at various times, for you are my binding cord.

  43. وحوشيتُ أَنْ ألقى سواك مُمَلَّكاً

    هوايَ ومعطي باليدين غرامي

    May I be spared meeting anyone but you as master

    of my love, and yielding my passion with both hands.

  44. فإنْ تكُ أسبابٌ لديك ضعيفةٌ

    فأسبابُ قربي منك غيرُ رِمامِ

    If there are cords with you that are weak,

    the cords of my closeness to you are not rotten strands.

  45. فلا حان يومٌ منك فيه قطيعتي

    ولا آن وقتٌ فيه منك صِرامي

    May no day come when I am cut off from you,

    nor any time arrive for my severance from you.

  46. ولا اِطُّرِحَتْ إلّا برَبْعِك أرحُلي

    وَلا كانَ إلّا في ذُراك مقامي

    May my saddles be laid down only at your dwelling,

    and may my abode be only in your shelter.

  47. وأيُّ كلامٍ لم يكنْ بمفَاخرٍ

    سبقت بها سِلْكاً فليس كلامي

    Any speech that does not tell of glories

    in which you outstripped Silk is not my speech.

  48. وهُنِّيتَ يومَ المِهْرَجانِ فإنّه

    كفيلٌ بما تهوى بكلِّ مَرامِ

    May you have joy on Mihrjan day, for it

    guarantees what you desire in every pursuit.

  49. يبشّرنا فيما نرى بإقامةٍ

    وفي نعمٍ أُلْبِستَها بدوامِ

    It gives us, as we see, glad tidings of continuance,

    and permanence in the blessings with which you are clothed.

  50. وَما جاءنا إلّا بِأَسعدِ طالعٍ

    وَلا زارَنا إِلّا بأفضلِ عامِ

    It came to us only under the happiest rising star,

    and visited us only in the finest year.

  51. ومهما تَدُمْ فالعينُ فيه قريرةٌ

    وكلُّ غصونٍ للأنامِ نوامِ

    As long as you endure, eyes rejoice in it,

    and all humankind's branches flourish.