1. بِذَاتِ الدُّخنِ أدوِرَةٌ بَوَالِ

    مَصُونُ الدَّمعِ فِيهَا ذُو إنهمَالِ

    At Dhat al-Dukhn stand worn-away dwellings;

    There, tears once held in check stream freely.

  2. دَيَارٌ بَعدَ سَاكِنِهَا عَفَتهَا

    مُسَاجَلَةُ الجُنُوبُ مَعَ الشَّمَالِ

    Abodes, their dwellers gone, effaced by

    The south wind's contest with the north,

  3. ومَرُّ الرَّامِسَاتِ وكُلٌ جَونٍ

    من الجَوزَاءِ مُنطَلِقَ العَزَالِى

    And the passage of dust-burying winds, and every dark cloud

    From al-Jawza, its rain-spouts unleashed.

  4. بِهَا مَن آيِهَا لَم يَبقَ إِلاَّ

    رَمَادٌ مِثلُ كُحلِ العَينِ بَالِ

    There, nothing of their traces remains but

    Faded ashes, like kohl upon the eye,

  5. وَسفعٌ كَالحَمَائِمِ خَالِدَاتٍ

    مُنَاخَاتٍ ونُؤىٌ كَالهِلاَلِ

    And blackened hearthstones, abiding like doves,

    Crouched low, and a tent-ditch like a crescent.

  6. دَيَارٌ عَافِيَاتٌ عُوِّضَت مِن

    أوَانِسِ عِينِهَا خَيطَ الرِّئَالِ

    Desolate abodes, given in place of

    Their wide-eyed maidens a train of ostrich chicks.

  7. وأذيَالُ الرَّوَامِسِ عُوِّضَتهَا

    مِن أذيَالٍب لِرَبَّاتِ الحِجَالِ

    And the skirts of dust-burying winds were given them

    In place of skirts belonging to ladies of curtained chambers.

  8. دِيَارٌ بُعدَ أسمَاءَ اضمَحَلَّت

    وأمسَ لَهُوُهَا رَنقَ الزُّلاَلِ

    Abodes that faded in Asma's absence;

    And their joy became the murk of once-clear water.

  9. عَرُوبٌ تَستِيكَ بِذِى غَرُوبٍ

    يَحَاكِى لَونُهُ شَوكَ السَّيَالِ

    A loving woman captivates you with sharp-edged teeth,

    Whose color resembles the thorns of the sayal acacia,

  10. وَوَجهٍ يُخجِلُ القَمَرَينِ نُوراً

    وفَرعٍ فَاحِمٍ وَحفٍ جَفَالِ

    And a face whose radiance shames the sun and moon,

    And coal-black hair, thick and luxuriant.

  11. فَمَا يَحكِى الغَزَالُ الجِيدَ مَنهَا

    وعَينَيهَا ولاَ أُمُّ الغَزَالِ

    So no gazelle matches her neck,

    Or her eyes—not even the gazelle's mother.

  12. فَدَع ذِكرَ الدِّيَارِ وذِكرَ أسمَا

    وَيمِّم مَدحَ مَن حَازُوا المَعَالِى

    So leave talk of the abodes and of Asma,

    And turn to praising those who attained the heights.

  13. هُمُ الأسيَادُ أقمَارُ الدَّيَاجِى

    إِضَاضُ النَّاسِ في الأُزُمِ الطِّوَالِ

    They are the lords, the moons of darkest nights,

    The people's refuge through prolonged hardships.

  14. وهُم في المَحلِ لِلأنَامِ غَيثٌ

    وهُم تِرسُ المُلِمَّاتِ الثِّقَألِ

    And in drought they are rain for humankind,

    And they are a shield against heavy calamities.

  15. وهُم مَأوَى الأرَامِلِ واليَتَامَى

    وهُم مُلقَى وَلِيَّاتِ الرِّحَالِ

    And they are a refuge for widows and orphans,

    And the resting place for camel-saddle pads.

  16. وهَم مَأوَى الجَنَاةِ فَمَا تَرَاهُم

    عَنِ الجَانِينِ مَالُوا مِن مُمَالِ

    And they are a refuge for offenders; you never see them

    Turning away from offenders in the slightest.

  17. وَرَكبٌ فَوقَ أنضَاءٍ عِجَافٍ

    بَرَاهَا النَّىَّ إدمَانُ التَّغَالِي

    And riders upon worn-out, emaciated mounts,

    Their fat stripped away by ceaseless far-ranging,

  18. تَرَاهَا في الحَنَادِسِ سَابِحَاتٍ

    بِهُم لُجَّ الصَّفَا صِفِ والرِّمَالِ

    You see them swimming through the blackest nights,

    Bearing their riders through seas of barren flats and sand.

  19. فَمَا بَرِحَت تَجُوبُ البِيدَ حَتَّى

    أنَا خُوهَأ كأَمثَالِ السَّعَالِى

    So they never ceased crossing the wilderness until

    They made them kneel, like so many female ghouls.

  20. فَزُرهُم خَائِفاً تَأمَن وزُرهُم

    لِفَقرٍ دَاهِمٍ تُسعَف بِمَالِ

    So visit them in fear and be safe; and visit them

    In overwhelming poverty, and be aided with wealth.

  21. فَكَم عَوصَاءَ قَد حَلَّت وأعيَت

    أتَتهُم فَأنثَنَت شَمسَ زَوَالِ

    How many a knotty crisis, besetting and baffling,

    Came to them and receded like the declining sun.

  22. عَلَوا أعصَارَ ذِى الأرضِينَ طُرًّا

    كَمَا عَلَتِ الصُّوَى شُمُّ الجِبَالِ

    They surpassed all generations of these lands,

    As lofty mountains tower above stone waymarks.

  23. فَكَم سَهِرُوا اللَّيَالِى بِالغَواني

    وكَم بِالدَّرسِ قَد سَهِرُوا اللَّيَالِى

    How many nights they stayed awake with lovely women,

    And how many nights they stayed awake in study,

  24. وكَم سَهِرُوا بِإنشَادِ القَوافي

    وكَأسَاتٍ كَلَونِ دَمِ الغَزَالِ

    And how often they kept vigil reciting rhymes,

    And over cups the color of a gazelle's blood.

  25. وكَم بَيدَاءَ في المَشتَاةِ جَابُوا

    لِتَر ئِيبِ الرِّمَامِ مِنَ الجِبَالِ

    And how many a wilderness they crossed in winter,

    To restore the wasted bones of the multitudes.

  26. وكَم جَابُوا التَّنَائِفَ فَوقَ نُوقٍ

    يَحَاكِى عَدوُهَا عَدوَ الرِّئَالِ

    And how often they crossed vast wastes upon she-camels,

    Whose running matches that of ostrich chicks.

  27. وكَم ضَرَبُوا إِذَا الأُرَبَى أَلَمَّت

    لِوَصلِ الرُّودِ أكبَادَ الجِمَالِ

    And how often, when affliction beset them, they struck

    The camels' flanks to reach a tender maiden.

  28. غَدَت أموَالُهُم في النَّاسِ نَهباً

    وَبَاعُوهَا بِأعرَاضٍ صِقَالِ

    Their riches became plunder among the people,

    And they bartered it for shining honor.

  29. وكَم أحيَوا وكَم قَتَلُوا نُفُوساً

    بِأشعَارٍ كَمَنثُورِ اللاَّلِى

    And how many souls they revived, and how many they slew,

    With verses like scattered pearls.

  30. عَلَى الهَادِى صَلاَةٌ مَا تَسَامَوا

    إِلَى دَركِ المُهَمَّاتِ العَوَالِى

    Blessings upon the Guide, as long as they aspire

    To attain lofty, momentous aims.