1. تقولُ وَقَد غالبتُها أُمُّ خالدٍ

    على مالِها أُغرِقت دَيناً فأَقصِرِ

    Umm Khalid says, after I had contended with her

    over her wealth: 'You have sunk into debt; desist!'

  2. أبى القَصرَ من يأوي إذا الليل جنَّني

    إلى ضوءِ ناري من فَقيرٍ وَمُقتِرِ

    Those who seek refuge when night enfolds me will not let me desist,

    at my fire's light—the poor and the destitute.

  3. أيا موقِدَي ناري أرفَعاها لعلَّها

    تَشُبُّ لِمُقوٍ آخِرَ الليلِ مُقفِرِ

    O you two who kindle my fire, raise it high, so that it may

    blaze for a traveler without provisions, in the wilderness at night's end.

  4. آَمِن راكبٍ أمسى بِظَهرِ تَنوفَةٍ

    أُواريكَ أم مِن جارِيَ المُتَنَظَّرِ

    Is it from a rider who has reached evening on the back of a wasteland

    that I should hide you, or from my expectant neighbor?

  5. وَلا قِدرَ دونَ الجارِ إلّا ذَميمةٌ

    وَهذا المُقاسي لَيلَةً ذاتَ مُنكَرِ

    And no pot kept from a neighbor is anything but blameworthy,

    or from this man enduring a night of horrors.

  6. تكادُ الصَبا تبتزُّهُ مِن ثيابهِ

    على الرَحلِ إلّا من قميصٍ ذاتَ مُنكَرِ

    The east wind nearly strips him of his clothes,

    on the saddle, save for a shirt—fraught with horror.

  7. وماذا علينا أن يُخالِسَ ضوءَها

    كريمٌ نَثاهُ شاحِبُ المُتَحَمَّرِ

    And what harm is it to us if its light is glimpsed furtively

    by a man of noble repute, his ruddy face grown pale?

  8. سلي الطارقَ المُعتَرَّ يا أُمَّ مالكٍ

    إذا ما أتاني بينَ قِدري وَمجزِري

    Ask the needy night-visitor, O Umm Malik,

    when he comes to me, between my cooking pot and my slaughter-place,

  9. أَأَبسُطُ وَجهي إنَّهُ أَوَّلُ القِرى

    وأبذُلُ مَعروفي لَهُ دونَ مُنكَري

    whether I brighten my face—for that is the first act of hospitality—

    and offer him my kindness instead of my unkindness.

  10. فلا قَصرَ حتى يفرجَ الغيثَ من أوى

    إلى جَنبِ رَحلي كلُّ أَشعَثَ أغبَرِ

    So I will not desist until rain relieves those who have sought refuge

    beside my dwelling—every disheveled, dust-covered man.

  11. أَقي العِرضَ بالمالِ التلادِ وما عسى

    أَخوكَ إذا ما ضَيَّعَ العرضَ يَشتَري

    I guard my honor with inherited wealth; and what could

    your brother buy if he squandered his honor?

  12. يؤدي إليَّ النَيلَ قِنيانَ ماجدٍ

    كريمٍ وَمالي سارِحاً مالُ مُقتِرِ

    A noble man's possessions bring me bounty,

    a generous man's—yet my grazing herds are a poor man's herds.

  13. إذا مِتُّ يوماً فاحضِري أمَّ خالدٍ

    تراثَكِ من طِرفٍ وَسَيفٍ وأَقدُرِ

    If I die one day, then come, Umm Khalid,

    for your inheritance: a noble steed, a sword, and cooking pots.