كَأَنَّ حِجاجَ مُقلَتِها قَليبٌ

كَأَنَّ حِجاجَ مُقلَتِها قَليبٌ

مِنَ السَقبَينِ يُخلِفُ مُستَقاها

مِنَ السَقبَينِ يُخلِفُ مُستَقاها

As though the socket of her eye were a well

Her tear ducts are like a waterskin

At al-Saqbayn, replenishing the water drawn from it.

Whose outpourings follow fast upon each other,

وَتَرقُبُهُ بعامِلَةٍ قَذُوفٍ

وَتَرقُبُهُ بعامِلَةٍ قَذُوفٍ

سَرِيعٍ طَرفُها قَلِقٍ قَذاها

سَرِيعٍ طَرفُها قَلِقٍ قَذاها

And she watches him with an active, far-ranging eye,

And she checks its flow with eyelids

Swift in its glance, its motes restless.

Swift to act, their glances restless, darting.

أَلا أَبلِغ بَني شَيبان عَني

أَلا أَبلِغ بَني شَيبان عَني

فَقَد حَلَبَت صُرامُ لَكُم صَراها

فَقَد حَلَبَت صُرامُ لَكُم صَراها

Listen: tell the sons of Shaybān on my behalf:

O tribes of Shayban, I have a message:

For Ṣurām—War—has milked her stored milk for you.

The swords you sharpened have stripped her bare.

دَعاها صَوتُ قُرَّة مِن سُواجٍ

دَعاها صَوتُ قُرَّة مِن سُواجٍ

فَجَنبَي طِخفَةٍ فَإِلى لِواها

فَجَنبَي طِخفَةٍ فَإِلى لِواها

Qurra’s voice summoned her from Suwāj,

A voice called out from the litter’s drapery,

Then along both sides of Ṭikhfah, then to its curving sands.

And the camel-borne houdah veered towards it.