ألا حييا الربع القواء وسلما

وربعا كجثمان الحمامة أدهما

Come, you two, greet the desolate campsite and salute it,

And a dark campsite, like the body of a dove,

بصارة فالقوين لايا عرفته

كما عرف الحبر الكتاب النمنما

At Ṣārah, then al-Quwayn; I scarcely recognized it,

As a scholar recognized finely embellished writing.

من الغاليات في وسام كأنما

تثاب رضابا من سحاب محطما

One of those prized for beauty, as though

She were granted shattered cloud-drops for saliva.

مدحنا لها روق الشباب فعارضت

جناب الصبي في كاتم السر أعجما

We praised youth's bloom to her, and she turned toward

The precincts of youthful passion, in a mute, secret-keeping place.

بني الحظفي هل تدفنن أباكم

كليباً ومولاكم حراماً ليلتما

Sons of al-Ḥaẓfī, will you indeed bury your father,

Kulayb, and your patron Ḥarām [final word uncertain]?

فكل كليبي عليه علامة

من اللؤم تبدو حاسراً ومعمما

For every Kulaybite bears a mark

Of baseness, visible whether bareheaded or turbaned.

فإنك قد جاريت سابق حلبة

نجيب جياد بين فرعين معلما

For you have raced a champion of the course,

A thoroughbred among fine steeds, distinguished in both bloodlines,

لزاز حضار يسبق الخيل عفوه

على الدفعة الأولى وفي العقب مرجما

A tenacious, swift runner whose easy pace outruns the horses

At the first burst, and at the finish flinging stones.

لقى حملته أمه وهي ضيفة

فجاءت بنز للنزالة أرشما

A castoff: his mother conceived him while she was a guest,

And bore a scrawny runt, greedily sniffing out guests' fare.

مدامن جوعات كأن عروقه

مسارب حيات تشرين سمسما

Long inured to bouts of hunger, as though his veins

Were tracks of fiercely stirring snakes—so slight and wiry was he.

فألقى عصا طلح ونعلا كأنها

جناح سماني صدرها قد تجذما

So he cast aside an acacia staff and a sandal like

A quail's wing, its forepart already broken off.

وأبيض ذي تاج أشاطت رماحنا

بمعترك بين السنابك أقتما

And a fair-skinned, crowned man our spears slew,

In battle among the hooves, darkened with dust.

هوى بين أيدي الخيل إذ خطرت به

صدور العوالي ينضح المسك والدما

He fell before the horses, as he was borne swaying

By the heads of tall spears, spurting musk and blood.

ونحن حدرنا طيئاً عن بلادها

ونحن رددنا الحوفزات مكلما

And we drove Ṭayyiʾ down from their lands,

And we drove al-Ḥawfazāt back wounded.

ضربنا بطون الخيل حتى تداركت

ذوي كلع والأشعثين وخثعما

We struck the horses' bellies until they overtook

The lords of Kulaʿ, the two Ashʿaths, and Khathʿam.

وكل معد قد جزينا قروضهم

فبؤسي ببؤسي أو بنعماء أنعما

And all Maʿadd—we have repaid their loans:

So hardship for hardship, or for kindness, greater kindness.