1. إذا ما أَتيتَ الخاضباتِ أكفَّها

    عَلَيهِنَّ مَقصورُ الحِجالِ المُرَوَّقُ

    When you come to the women who dye their palms,

    With bleached canopy cloth draped above them,

  2. فلا تَدعُوَنَّ القيلَ إلّا لِمَشرَبٍ

    رواءٍ ولكنَّ الفَرَزدَقُ

    Do not summon the chief except for a draught

    That quenches thirst; but al-Farazdaq—

  3. هو ابنٌ لبيضاءَ الجَبينِ نجيبةٍ

    تلقَّت بِطهرٍ لم يَجيء وَهوَ أَحمَقُ

    He is the son of a noble woman, fair of brow,

    Who conceived in purity; he did not come forth a fool.

  4. تداعى إليهِ أكرمُ الحيِّ نِسوَةً

    أَطَفنَ بِكِسرَي بيتِها حينَ تَطلَقُ

    The clan’s noblest women called one another to him;

    They circled both sides of her tent as she labored.

  5. فجاءَت بِعُريانِ اليَدَينِ كأنَّهُ

    مِنَ الطيرِ بازٍ يَنقُضُ الطلَّ أزرقُ

    Then she bore a bare-handed child, as though he were

    A blue-eyed hawk among the birds, shaking off the dew.