1. أرِقتُ ومُعرِضاتُ الليلِ دوني

    لِبَرقِ باتَ يَستَعِرُ استِعارا

    I lay sleepless, the broad reaches of night before me,

    Because of lightning that blazed fiercely all night.

  2. تواضَعَ للسجاسجِ من مُنيمٍ

    وجادَ العينَ وافترشَ الغمارا

    It lowered itself toward al-Sajāsij from Munīm,

    Drenched al-ʿAyn and spread across al-Ghimār.

  3. وبات يَحُطُّ من جبلي نِزارٍ

    غواربَ سيلِهِ حُزَماً كِبارا

    All night it brought down from Nizār’s two mountains

    The crests of its flood in great masses,

  4. بسحٍّ تغرقُ النجواتُ منه

    ويبعثُ من مرابِعها الصُّوارا

    With a downpour that drowned the high places

    And roused wild-cattle herds from their spring pastures.

  5. ويصطادُ الرِّئالَ اذا علاها

    وإن أمعَنَّ من فَزَعٍ فِرارا

    It caught the ostrich chicks whenever it rose above them,

    Even if they fled far away in terror.

  6. وحَبلٌ من جُمانَةَ مستجدٌ

    أبيتُ لأهلِهِ إِلا ادِّكارا

    And a bond with Jumāna, ever renewed—

    I would give its people nothing but remembrance—

  7. يُطالعُني بدَومةَ يا لَقومي

    اذا ما قلتُ قد نَهضَ استحارا

    Appears before me at Dūma—O my people!—

    Whenever I say it has gone, it returns.

  8. فما غراءُ في دَمثٍ هيامٍ

    أراد بها السهولةَ والقرارا

    No gleaming white egg in soft, loose sand,

    For which he sought smooth ground and a resting place,

  9. بأحسنَ من جُمانَةَ يومَ ردوا

    جمالَ البينِ وارتحلوا نهارا

    Was lovelier than Jumāna the day they brought back

    The camels of parting and set off by daylight.

  10. وقِيدَ الى الظعينةِ ارحَبيٌّ

    جلالٌ هيكَلٌ يصفُ القطارا

    An Arḥabī camel was led to the departing woman,

    Huge and large-framed, lining up with the camel-train.

  11. فقلنَ لها اركبي لا تحبسينا

    أبت خَفَراً وخالَطَت انبِهارا

    The women said to her, 'Mount; do not delay us.'

    She refused out of modesty, seized by breathless confusion.

  12. تهدُّ محالَ آدمَ دوسريٍّ

    تجوزُ بها ملاطاه القفاراَ

    She crushes the backbone of a dusky, powerful camel,

    Whose two flanks carry her across the barren wastes.

  13. تدافع بالمناكبِ من بعيدٍ

    وتسترُ بالمطارفِ أن تضارا

    She is shielded by shoulders keeping others at a distance,

    And screened with fine cloaks lest she suffer harm.

  14. ترى السمكَ الطوالَ يَحدنَ عنها

    وتبهرُ في المقاومةِ القِصارا

    You see the tall, lofty women turn aside from her,

    And she eclipses the short when they stand beside her.

  15. فلما قامَ كبّرَ من يليها

    وقالوا خالطَ الجملُ انكسارا

    When the camel rose, those beside her cried, 'God is great!'

    And said, 'The camel is beginning to buckle.'

  16. فما ذكري جُمانةَ غيرَ أَني

    كصاحبِ خِلعةٍ ذكرَ القمارا

    My remembrance of Jumāna is only that I

    Am like a man with a robe who remembers gambling.

  17. وخُصّي في الحوادثِ أَن قيساً

    أصابوا بعد خُضبِهمُ الغيارا

    And note especially among calamities that Qays

    Met reversals after their prosperity.

  18. وتغلِبُ جَدَّعَ السرواتِ منها

    وذاقَت من تَخَمطِها البوارا

    And Taghlib—her chieftains were mutilated,

    And she tasted ruin from her fierce arrogance.

  19. وما كلبٌ بجازيةٍ بنعمى

    ولا بهراءُ تَطَلعُ الديارا

    And Kalb is not one to repay with kindness,

    Nor does Bahrāʾ visit the homesteads.

  20. فلولا الخيلُ من غاري كلابٍ

    وحيٌّ بني الحُبابِ ومن أجارا

    But for the cavalry from Kilāb’s two hosts,

    And the clan of Banū al-Ḥubāb, and whoever gave protection,

  21. لما دُعِيَت غداةَ الروعِ قيسٌ

    ولا كانَت نِزارُهُمُ نِزارا

    Qays would not have been called upon that morning of terror,

    Nor would their Nizār have been Nizār.

  22. وإنّا يومَ نازَلَهُم شُعيبٌ

    كليثِ الغابِ أَصحَرَ فاستغارا

    And we, the day Shuʿayb met them in battle,

    Were like a thicket lion that came into the open and charged.

  23. ظلَلنا ما من الحَيينِ الا

    يرى الصَّبرَ التجملَ والفخارا

    We stood all day, and each of the two clans

    Saw steadfastness as dignity and glory,

  24. بضرب تنعسُ الابطالُ منه

    وتمتكرُ اللحى منه امتكارا

    With blows that made the champions nod

    And dyed their beards through and through.

  25. تجدَّلَ كاهلٌ ونجا ابنُ بدرٍ

    نجاءً من اسنَّتِنا فِرارا

    Kāhil was felled, while Ibn Badr escaped,

    In swift escape, fleeing from our spearpoints.

  26. وغودر هوَبرٌ وبنو مليكٍ

    كمن قد ماتَ في زمنٍ فبارا

    And Hawbar and Banū Mulayk were left behind,

    Like one who died in a former age and perished.

  27. فلا شَمِتَ الاعادي في شبيبٍ

    ومن قاسى ومن بالسرو غارا

    May the enemies never gloat over Shabīb,

    Or those who endured, or those who raided at al-Sarw.

  28. فاني قد وجدت بني نفيلٍ

    يشنون القنابلَ والغوارا

    For I have indeed found Banū Nufayl

    Unleashing cavalry bands and raids

  29. على كلبٍ وأَهلِ الشامِ طراً

    كشدّ الاسدِ غَصباً واهتصارا

    Against Kalb and all the people of al-Shām,

    Like the charge of lions, forcibly seizing and crushing.