1. وَشِعبٍ نَزَلناهُ وَفي العَيشِ غِرَّةٌ

    بِمُرتَبَعٍ رَحبِ المَحَلِّ خَصيبِهِ

    And many a ravine we camped in, while life was still carefree,

    at a spring encampment, spacious and fertile.

  2. وَلَم يَكُ فينا ماجِدٌ أَغمَدَ النُّهَى

    غرارَ الشَّبابِ المُنتَضَى في مَشيبِهِ

    Nor was there among us a noble man whose reason had sheathed

    youth's blade, still drawn in his gray-haired age.

  3. وَنَحنُ بِوادٍ خَيَّمَتْ أُمُّ سالِمٍ

    بِهِ ذي ثَرىً غَضِّ النَّباتِ رَطيبِهِ

    And we were in a valley; Umm Salim had pitched her tent

    there, where the soil was moist and the vegetation tender and fresh.

  4. تَضَوَّعَ مِسكاً حينَ ناجاهُ ذَيلُها

    كَأَنَّ مَحانيهِ مَذاكٍ لِطيبِهِ

    It breathed musk when her hem whispered to it,

    as though its bends were censers for its fragrance.

  5. وَكَم مِن نَهارٍ ضَمَّ قُطرَيهِ سَيرُنا

    يَذوبُ الحَصى مِن جَزعِهِ في لَهيبِهِ

    And many a day our journey spanned from end to end,

    the pebbles melting from anguish in its blaze.

  6. وَلَيلٌ طَوَيناهُ وَللرَكبِ طَربَةٌ

    إِذا عَبَّ نَجمٌ جانِحٌ في مَغيبِهِ

    And a night we folded away, while the riders felt a thrill,

    whenever a star drank deep as it inclined to set.

  7. فَيا نازِلي رَملَ الحِمَى هَل لَدَيكُمُ

    شِفاءٌ لِصَبٍّ داؤُهُ مِن طَبيبِهِ

    So, O dwellers in the sands of al-Hima, have you

    a cure for a lovesick man whose illness comes from his physician?

  8. وَفيكُم قِرىً لِلطارِقينَ فَزارَكُم

    مُحِبٌّ لِيُقْرَى نَظرَةً مِن حَبيبِهِ

    And you offer hospitality to night callers, so there came to you

    a lover, to be treated to a glance from his beloved.