1. لِمَنِ الدَيارُ عَفَونَ بِالتهطالِ

    بَقِيَت عَلى حِجَجٍ خَلَونَ طِوالِ

    Whose are the dwellings, effaced by pouring rain?

    They have remained through long years gone by.

  2. بَكَرَت تَلُومُ وَأَمسِ ما كلَّلتُها

    وَلقد ضَلَلتُ بِذاكَ أيَّ ضَلالِ

    She came early to reproach me; yesterday I had not wearied her.

    And indeed, in that I went utterly astray.

  3. وَكَأَنَّ عِيرَهُمُ تُحَثُّ غُدَيَّةً

    دَومٌ يَنُوءُ بِيانِعِ الأَوقالِ

    Their caravan, urged onward in the early morning, seemed

    like doum palms bowed beneath ripe fruit.

  4. أَرَأَيتَ إِن بَكَرَت بِلَيلٍ هامَتِي

    وَخَرَجتُ مِنها بالِياً أَوصالِي

    Tell me: if my death-owl sets out by night,

    and I leave them behind, my limbs decayed,

  5. هَل تَخمِشَن إِبلي عَليَّ وجُوهَها

    أَو تَضرِبَنَّ نُخُورَها بِمآلِي

    will my camels scratch their faces in mourning for me,

    or beat their snouts with mourning cloths?

  6. وَإِذا رأَيتُ السَّيلَحِينَ وَبارِقاً

    أَغنَينَ عَن عَمرٍو وَأُمٍّ قتالِ

    And when I see al-Saylahin and Bariq,

    they spare me the need for Amr and Umm Qital.

  7. مَلَكَ الخَوَرنَقَ والسَدِيرَ ودانَهُ

    ما بَينَ حِميَرَ أَهلِها وَأُوالِ

    He ruled al-Khawarnaq and al-Sadir; subject to him was

    all between the people of Himyar and Uwal.

  8. حَلاَّ بأُبليٍّ وَراحَ عَلَيهِما

    نَعَمُ القَطِينِ وَعازِبُ الخَوّالِ

    The two settled at Ubli, and toward evening there came to them

    the residents' livestock and the herdsmen's far-ranging stock.

  9. حَتّى إِذا خَفَقَ السِماكُ وَأَسحَرا

    وَتَبالَيا في الشَّدِّ أيَّ تَبالِ

    Until, when al-Simak set and the two reached the predawn hour,

    and tested each other in running to the utmost,

  10. سَلَّى سَلامانُ اللُبانَةَ عَنهُما

    بِنَمِيرَةٍ زَرقاءَ بَينَ ظِلالِ

    Salaman eased their longing

    with sweet, blue water amid the shadows.