1. أَلَحْظٌ في جُفونِكِ أم صَوارمْ

    وحَرْبٌ لي فؤادُكِ أم مُسالِمْ

    Is that a glance within your eyelids, or keen-edged swords?

    And is your heart at war with me, or at peace?

  2. ولم أَر قبلَ يومِ البَيْنِ غِيداً

    قَواتلَ بالجُفونِ ولا كَوالم

    And before the day of parting, I had never seen supple-necked women

    who killed with their eyelids or inflicted wounds,

  3. ولا بَطلاً صوارمُه لِحاظٌ

    يُجَرِّدُها وجُنَّتُه مَعاصِم

    nor a warrior whose swords were glances,

    which he unsheathed, with wrists for his shield.

  4. كأنَّ الخالدِيّةَ يومَ راحَتْ

    تَهادَى بينَ أترابٍ نَواعم

    It was as though, the day al-Khalidiyya departed,

    swaying gently among tender companions of her age,

  5. أَتاكَ مِنَ الفلاةِ بمُقْلَتيْها

    كحيلُ الطَّرفِ من بقَرِ الصّرائم

    there came to you from the wilderness, bearing her eyes,

    a kohl-eyed oryx of the sandy tracts.

  6. مُهَفْهَفةٌ يَنوطُ العِقْدُ منها

    بسالفتَيْ طَلاً من وَحْشِ جاسِم

    Slender, her necklace hangs

    on both sides of the neck of a wild fawn from Jasim,

  7. يُلاعِبُ ظِلَّهُ مرَحاً ويَحْنو

    عليه من ظباءِ القاعِ رائم

    that plays merrily with its shadow, while there bends

    over it a tender doe from the gazelles of the plain.

  8. ليَهْنِكِ يا ابنةَ الأقوامِ أَنّي

    بحُبّكِ لو جَزيْتِ الصَّبَّ هائم

    May it delight you, daughter of the clans, that I

    am lost in love for you—if only you would reward the lovesick lover.

  9. وكم من حاسدٍ يَثْني عِناني

    يُعالِجُ فيكِ وَجْداً وهْو لائم

    How many an envier turns back my reins,

    struggling with longing for you, even while he reproaches me.

  10. لقد فَتنَتْ لحاظُكِ كُلَّ قلبٍ

    فما في النّاسِ من عَينَيْكِ سالم

    Your glances have indeed bewitched every heart;

    none among mankind is unscathed by your eyes.

  11. أقولُ وقد تَلوَّيتُ ادِّكاراً

    ولم أملِكْ من الطَّرَبِ الحيازم

    I say, as I writhe in remembrance,

    unable, in my agitation, to hold my breast still:

  12. سقَى دَمْعي وإنْ لم يَصْفُ وجْداً

    مَنازلَ بينَ وَجْرةَ فالأَناعِم

    May my tears, though clouded by longing, water

    the dwellings between Wajra and al-Ana'im.

  13. وما ملَّ البكاءَ عليكِ طَرْفي

    فتَحتاجَ الطُّلولُ إلى الغَمائم

    And my eye has not tired of weeping over you,

    so the ruined camps need no rainclouds.

  14. وجائلةُ النُّسوعِ تَخالُ منها

    رواسيَ في الفلا وَهِيَ الرَّواسم

    And camels with shifting girths—you would take them for

    immovable mountains in the wilderness, though they stride swiftly.

  15. كَمرِّ البَرقِ يَطْلَعْنَ الثّنايا

    مُشمِّرةً ويَهْوِينَ المَخارم

    Like lightning's passage, they climb the mountain passes,

    hastening onward, and plunge down the mountain gaps.

  16. تَهُزُّ معاشراً كالبِيضِ بيضاً

    قَوائمُها العِجالُ لها القَوائم

    Companies of men, white as polished swords, are rocked

    by the camels' swift legs, which serve those swords as hilts.

  17. نَشاوَى من كؤوسِ كرىً وسَيْرٍ

    فهمْ غِيدُ الطُّلَى مِيلُ العَمائم

    Drunk from cups of slumber and travel,

    their necks sway and their turbans tilt.

  18. يقولُ دَليلُهمْ وقدِ اسْتمَرَّتْ

    إلى قَصْدِ العُلا بهمُ العزائم

    Their guide says, as onward press

    the resolves bearing them toward the quest for eminence:

  19. إذا بَلغَتْ بأرحُلِنا المَهارى

    وألقَتْها إلى بابِ ابنِ غانم

    When the Mahri camels arrive bearing our saddles

    and set them down at Ibn Ghanim's gate,

  20. لثَمْنا ثَمَّ أيدي العيسِ شُكْراً

    وألْصَقْنا المباسِمَ بالمناسم

    there we shall kiss the pale camels' forelegs in gratitude,

    and press our smiling mouths to their padded feet.

  21. وكيف جُحودُ ما صنَع المطايا

    وقد حَجّتْ بنا حَرَمَ المكارم

    How could we deny what the mounts have done,

    when they have borne us in pilgrimage to the sanctuary of noble virtues?

  22. جَنابُ فتىً تُرَى للفضلِ فيه

    وللإفضالِ والعُلْيا مَواسم

    A young man's domain, where one sees, for excellence

    and for bounty and eminence, festive gatherings.

  23. إمامٌ كلّما فَكّرتَ فيه

    بدا لك عالَمٌ في ثَوبِ عالِم

    A master: whenever you think of him,

    a world appears to you in a scholar's robe.

  24. أعاد النّحْوَ مَعْمورَ النّواحي

    ورَدَّ العلْمَ مَشْهورَ المَعالم

    He restored grammar, flourishing in all its regions,

    and brought learning back, its landmarks renowned.

  25. أخو ثقةٍ يَهُزُّ المرءُ منه

    حُساماً في المُلِمّاتِ العَظائم

    A trusted ally, whom a man may brandish as

    a keen sword amid mighty calamities.

  26. له يدُ واهبٍ ومقالُ وافٍ

    وَقلْبُ مُشيَّعٍ وفَعالُ حازم

    He has a giver's hand and a faithful man's word,

    and a dauntless man's heart and a resolute man's deeds,

  27. ومنطقُ خالدٍ ودهاءُ عَمْروٍ

    ونجدةُ عامرٍ وسَخاءُ حاتِم

    and Khalid's eloquence and Amr's shrewdness,

    and Amir's valor and Hatim's generosity.

  28. فإنْ جُبِلَتْ على كَرَمٍ يَداهُ

    فمِن أخلاقِ آباءٍ أَكارم

    For if his hands were fashioned for generosity,

    that springs from the traits of noble forefathers.

  29. إذا ما جئْتَهُ لاقاكَ خِرْقٌ

    من الفِتْيانِ طَلْقُ الوجهِ باسم

    Whenever you come to him, a generous man greets you,

    one of the young men, open-faced and smiling.

  30. وإنْ جَرَّدْتَه في وجهِ خطْبٍ

    تَجرَّدَ باترُ الحَدَّيْنِ صارم

    And if you unsheathe him in the face of a calamity,

    a keen sword is bared, cutting with both edges.

  31. فلا عَدِمَتْ شَمائلَه المَعالي

    ولا زال الحسودُ بهِنَّ راغم

    So may lofty honors never lack his virtues,

    and may the envier always be humbled by them.