1. دعاني الهوى إذ شَرَّقَ الحيُّ غدوةً

    وما كُنتُ تدعوني الخطوبُ الضَّعائِفُ

    Longing called me when the clan went east at dawn,

    though petty misfortunes had never called me.

  2. وهيَّج أحزاني حُمولٌ تَرَفَّعَت

    عليهنَّ غِزلانٌ عليها الزَّخارِفُ

    And departing camel-litters stirred my sorrows,

    bearing gazelles decked in rich adornments.

  3. وبالأمسِ قد كانَت بَدَت ليَ طيرُهم

    جَرَت بارِحاً لو زَجَّرَ الطيرَ عائِفُ

    Yesterday their birds had already appeared to me,

    flying right to left—had an augur read the birds.

  4. فيا قاتَلَ اللهُ الغواني فإنها

    قريبٌ بَعيدٌ وَصلُهُنَّ تنائِفُ

    Ah, may God confound the fair women! They are

    near yet far; union with them lies across desert wastes.

  5. تراهُنَّ يختلن الأقاومَ بالصبا

    وهُنّ على ما يختَتِلنَ سَخائِفُ

    You see them beguiling peoples with youthful passion,

    yet for all their scheming they are foolish.

  6. بَكَرنَ فلم يُنجِزنَ وَعداً وَعَدنَه

    إِلى البُخلِ تحدو ظَعنَهُنَّ المناصِفُ

    They set out early without fulfilling a promise they had made;

    the serving-maids drive their litters toward miserliness.

  7. وقد كانَ فيهِم ما دَنَوا لي نعمَةٌ

    وقرةُ عينٍ دَمعُها اليومَ ذارِفُ

    While they were near, I had happiness among them,

    and solace for an eye whose tears stream today.

  8. ومِن لذَّةِ الدنيا حَديثٌ ونعمةٌ

    ولهوٌ وحاجاتٌ تُتلّى طرائِفُ

    Among this world's delights are conversation and ease,

    and amusement, and fresh desires pursued in turn.

  9. فَشَتَّ النوى من بَعدِ طولِ اقامةٍ

    وما كُلُّ ما تهوى النُّفوسُ يُساعِفُ

    Then separation scattered us after a long stay,

    and not all that souls desire is granted.

  10. فان أُمسِ قَد بُدِّلتُ حِلماً وشيبةً

    مشيبيَ من بعدِ التَّبَختُر دالِفُ

    If I have now been given forbearance and gray hair instead,

    my old age creeps in after my swaggering days.

  11. فَكَم من حَبيبٍ بانَ نهوى جِماعَهُ

    وخطب خطوبٍ كلَّفتني التَّكالِفُ

    How many a beloved has departed whose company we desire,

    and how many grievous trials have burdens laid upon me,

  12. وراحٍ سُلافٍ شَعشَعَ التَجرُ مَزجها

    لنحمى وما فينا عن الشّربِ صادِفُ

    and choice, first-run wine whose blend the merchants thinned,

    to warm us, with none of us turning away from drink.

  13. فصالوا وَصُلنا واتقَونا بماكِرٍ

    ليعلمَ مافينا عن البَيعِ كانِفُ

    They pressed us and we pressed them; they countered us with a wily man,

    to learn that none of us would withdraw from the bargain.

  14. فحطّوا إلينا شاصِياتٍ كأنها

    مِن السِندِ مسلوبُ القميصِ رواعِفُ

    They lowered bulging wineskins to us, as though they were

    shirtless men from Sind, their noses streaming.

  15. فلما انتشينا عَدِّني من صديقِهِ

    وعادَ الصَّبوحُ والشّواءُ السدائِفُ

    Once we grew tipsy, count me among his friends;

    and back came morning wine and roasted slices of hump-fat.

  16. أذلك أم بيضاءُ مِلأُنسِ حُرَّةٌ

    أتاها بِوِدِّ القَلبِ مني الخطاطِفُ

    Is it that, or a fair, freeborn woman of humankind,

    to whom the swallows brought my heart's affection?

  17. لها رَوضَةٌ في القَلبِ لم يَرعَ مثلَها

    فَروكٌ ولا المستعبراتُ الصلائِفُ

    She has a meadow in my heart whose like was never grazed

    by a husband-hating woman, nor by haughty, weeping women.

  18. أرى الحَقَّ لا يعيى عليَّ سبيلُه

    إذا ضافني ليلاً مع القَرِّ ضائِف

    I see what is right; its path never baffles me,

    when a guest visits me by night in the bitter cold,

  19. إذا كَبَّدَ النجمُ السماءَ بشَتوةٍ

    على حين هَرَّ الكلبُ والثَّلجُ خاشِفُ

    when the star reaches mid-heaven in wintry weather,

    as the dog growls and the snow crackles.

  20. ربيعةُ أبائي الأُلى اقتسموا العلى

    إذا عُدَّ باقٍ من زمانٍ وسالِفُ

    Rabiʿa are my forefathers, who shared glory among themselves,

    whenever the present and the past are reckoned.

  21. وتغلِبُ بَحري طَمَّ سيلاً بأبحُرٍ

    فلم يَستَطِع تيارَهُنَّ المجاذِفُ

    And Taghlib is my sea, its flood swelled by seas,

    so no oarsman could master their currents.

  22. وبَكرٌ وعبدُ القيسِ اخوتُنا معاً

    كفتنا لُكَيزٌ منهُمُ والحَنائِفُ

    And Bakr and ʿAbd al-Qays are both our brothers;

    Lukayz among them, and the Hanaʾif, have sufficed us.

  23. وعِيلان منا يَومَ كُلَّ كريهَة

    وتحلب غُزراً يَومَ تُدعى الخَنادِفُ

    And ʿAylan is of us on every day of dread,

    and yields abundant milk when the Khanadif are summoned.

  24. ومن خَندِفَ الداعي الرسولُ الى الهدى

    ومِنّا الامامُ والنجومُ العواكِفُ

    From Khindif is the Messenger who calls to guidance,

    and from us are the imam and the abiding stars.

  25. أخوكَ الذي لا تملك الحِسَّ نفسُه

    وترفضُّ عند المحفظاتِ الكتائِفُ

    Your brother is he whose soul cannot suppress compassion,

    and grudges scatter in the face of provocation.

  26. فَنَحنُ الزِّمامُ القائدُ المُهتدي بهم

    ومِن غيرنا المولى التبيعُ المحالِفُ

    So we are the guiding rein, those through whom men find their way,

    while from others come the client, the follower, the sworn ally.

  27. إذا اصطَك رأسانا حلَلَنا بباذخٍ

    برُكنيهِ تعتاذُ التوالي الزعانيفُ

    When our two heads clash, we settle on a towering peak,

    at whose two flanks the lowly followers seek refuge.

  28. ونحن تَروحُ الخيلُ وَسطَ بيوتنا

    ويَغبُقنَ مَحضا وهي مَحلٌ مَسانِف

    And horses come home at dusk amid our dwellings,

    and are given pure milk at night, though the milk-camels are dry and gaunt.