1. هَفا بِهوادي الخَيلِ والليْلُ أسْحَمُ

    نَبيلُ حَواشي لَبَّةِ الزَّوْرِ ضَيْغَمُ

    He sped at the forefront of the horses while the night was pitch-black—

    a lion, broad across the upper breast.

  2. وأدْنى رَفيقَيْهِ من الصَّحْبِ مَارِنٌ

    يُباريهِ فَيْنانُ السَّبيبَةِ أدْهَمُ

    And the nearer of his two companions among his comrades was a supple spear;

    a black steed with luxuriant, flowing hair kept pace with him.

  3. إذا ما الدُّجى ألْقَتْ علَيهِ رِداءَها

    بَدا الفَجْرُ مِنْ أطْرافِه يتَبَسَّمُ

    Whenever darkness cast its cloak over him,

    dawn appeared, smiling, at his extremities.

  4. رَمَيْتُ بهِ الدّارَ التي في عِراصِها

    عِتاقُ المَذاكي والخَميسُ العَرَمْرَمُ

    With him I made for the dwelling, in whose courtyards

    stood noble, mature steeds and a vast army.

  5. فزُرْتُ وحاشا المَجْدِ جُؤْذَرَ رَمْلَةٍ

    حَبا دونَهُ رَطْبُ الغِرارَيْنِ مِخْذَمُ

    So I visited—no affront to honor—a wild-ox calf of a sand dune,

    before which crept a keen sword, moist along both its edges.

  6. وما نِلْتُ إلا نَظْرَةً منْ ورائِها

    عَفافي وذَيَّاكَ الحَديثُ المُكَتَّمُ

    And I gained only a glance, behind which stood

    my chastity and that closely guarded conversation.

  7. ولو شِئْتُ إِرهاقَ الحُلِيِّ أجَارَني

    مُسَوَّرُهُ منْ جَرْسِها والمُخَدَّمُ

    Had I wished to press against the jewels, I would have been spared

    their jingling by the bracelet-clad wrist and ankleted leg.

  8. ولكنَّنِي أصْدَى وفي الوِرْدِ نُغْبَةٌ

    وأكْرِمُ عِرْضي والظُّنونُ تُرَجَّمُ

    But I remain thirsty, though a sip lies at the watering place,

    and safeguard my honor while suspicions are flung about.

  9. وبِيدٍ على بِيدٍ طَوَيْتُ ولَيلةٍ

    سَرَيْتُ وتَحْتَ الرَّحْل وجْناءُ عَيْهَمُ

    And desert after desert I traversed, and through many a night

    I traveled, with a thick-cheeked, powerful she-camel beneath the saddle.

  10. فقَدَّتْ أَدِيمَ الأرضِ تَخْتَلِسُ الخُطا

    مُحاذَرَةً أنْ يَلْثُمَ التُّربَ مَنْسِمُ

    So she cleft the earth's skin, snatching her strides,

    for fear that a toe-pad might kiss the dust.

  11. وتَكْرَعُ في مثْلِ السّماءِ تألّقَتْ

    منَ الحَبَبِ الطّافي بحِضْنَيْهِ أنْجُمُ

    And she drinks from water like the sky, where gleam

    stars of floating bubbles along its two banks.

  12. وتَسْبِقُ خُوصاً لَو مَرَرْنَ على القَطا

    لمَا رِيعَ بالتَّسْهيد وهْوَ مُهَوِّمُ

    And she outstrips hollow-eyed camels: were they to pass a sandgrouse,

    it would not be startled awake while dozing.

  13. وتَلْمَعُ منْ أخفافِهنَّ على الثَّرى

    نَظائِرُ مِرآةٍ يُضَرِّجُها الدَّمُ

    And from their foot-pads flash upon the soil

    likenesses of a mirror stained red by blood.

  14. إذا غَرَّدَ الحادي تَخايَلْنَ في البُرى

    ونَحْنُ على أكْوارِها نَتَرنَّمُ

    When the camel-driver trills, they strut in their nose-rings,

    while we chant upon their saddle-frames.

  15. ولَمَّا بَدا التَّاجُ المُطِلُّ تَشاوَسَتْ

    إلَيْهِ القَوافي والمَطِيُّ المُخَرَّمُ

    And when the towering Taj appeared, they gazed with narrowed eyes

    toward it—the rhymes and the nose-pierced riding camels.

  16. وقلْتُ أريحُوها فبَعْدَ لِقائِهِ

    حَرَامٌ عليْهِنَّ القَطيعُ المُحَرَّمُ

    And I said, 'Let them rest, for after meeting him,

    the new, unsoftened whip is forbidden to touch them.'

  17. ومُقْتَدِريّ منْ ذُؤابَةِ هاشِمٍ

    بهِ يَصْغُرُ الخَطْبُ المُلِمُّ ويَعْظُمُ

    And a Muqtadiri, from the foremost lineage of Hashim,

    through whom the calamity that befalls grows small—and great.

  18. إذا حدَّثَتْ عنهُ الأباطِحُ منْ مِنًى

    أصاخَ إليْهنَّ الحَطيمُ وزَمزَمُ

    When Mina's gravelly valleys speak of him,

    al-Hatim and Zamzam listen intently to them.

  19. تَزَعْزَعُ أعوادُ المَنابِرِ باسْمِهِ

    فتَحْسَبُها منْ هِزَّةٍ تتكلَّمُ

    The timbers of the pulpits quiver at his name,

    so that from their trembling you fancy they are speaking.

  20. أطلَّ على أعدائِهِ بكَتائِبٍ

    أظلَّ حِفافَيْها الوَشيجُ المُقَوَّمُ

    He loomed over his enemies with battalions

    whose two flanks were shaded by straightened spear-shafts,

  21. ومَوضونَةٍ قدْ لاحَكَ السَّردُ نَسْجَهَا

    حَكَتْ سَلَخاً ألقاهُ بالقاعِ أرقَمُ

    and close-woven mail whose linked rings tightly bound its weave,

    resembling a skin a speckled serpent shed upon the plain,

  22. وخَيْلٍ سَليماتِ الرَّوادِفِ والقَنا

    تُقَصَّدُ في لَبّاتِها وتُحَطّمُ

    and horses unscathed in their hindquarters, while lances

    are snapped and shattered in their breasts.

  23. يَسيرُ على آثارِها الذِّئْبُ عافِياً

    وأفْتَخُ يَجْتابُ الأهابيَّ قَشْعَمُ

    A wolf follows their tracks, seeking food,

    and a huge, aged, broad-winged vulture rends the hides.

  24. إليْكَ أميرَ المؤمِنينَ زَجَرْتُها

    طلائِحَ يَنْميهَا الجَديلُ وشَدْقَمُ

    Toward you, Commander of the Faithful, I urged them onward—

    exhausted camels descended from al-Jadil and Shadqam.

  25. وإنِّي لنَظَّارٌ إِلى جانِبِ العُلا

    ولا يَطَّبيني الجانِبُ المُتَجهِّمُ

    And I am ever gazing toward the side of eminence;

    and the scowling side does not entice me.

  26. ولَولاكَ لمْ أُكْرِهْ على الشِّعْرِ خاطِراً

    بِذِكرِكَ يُغْرَى بَل بمَجدِكَ يُغْرَمُ

    And were it not for you, I would not compel my mind to poetry,

    drawn to your mention—nay, enamored of your glory.

  27. فلا حُمِلَتْ إلا إليْكَ مَدائِحٌ

    ولا استُمْطِرَتْ إلاّ بِواديكَ أنْعُمُ

    So may panegyrics be borne only to you,

    and may bounties be sought as rain only in your valley.