1. لِمَن الهَوادِجُ وَالقبب

    في الآل تَطفو كَالحَبَب

    Whose are the howdahs and domed canopies,

    floating in the mirage like bubbles?

  2. بَكرت ولي وقت الودا

    عِ بِبابِها قلبُ يُحب

    She set out at dawn; at farewell I had

    a loving heart at her door,

  3. وَمَدامعٌ تَهمي دمو

    عاً لِلفراقِ وَتَنسكِب

    and eyes raining tears

    for parting, streaming down.

  4. شيّعتها وَقضيتُ مِن

    دين الصبابةِ ما وَجب

    I saw her off and paid

    what was due of longing's debt.

  5. وَأبحت ما بي مِن جوىً

    وَأَذَعتُ سرّاً مُحتَجب

    And I laid bare the burning grief within me,

    and revealed a secret kept concealed.

  6. يا أيّها السربُ الّذي

    سَفرت بهِ اللعس العُرب

    O flock in which

    dark-lipped, amorous women unveiled their faces,

  7. وَتَبرّجَت فيهِ الشمو

    س مِنَ البَراقعِ وَالحُجب

    and in which suns revealed their beauty

    from behind face-veils and coverings:

  8. كَم إِربةٍ لي في نِعا

    جِك فاِقضني تلكَ الإِرَب

    how many desires I have for your ewes—

    grant me those desires.

  9. أَكلَ الهَوى لَحمي ومن

    جاري دَمي كَم قد شَرِب

    Love has eaten my flesh, and from

    my flowing blood, how much it has drunk!

  10. مَن لِي بِسُعدى بَعدَما

    جدّت بها اللومُ النُجب

    Who can bring me Su‘da, now that

    the blameworthy, fleet camels have sped her away?

  11. بانَت وَحولَ خِبائِها ال

    أَرماحُ تَخفِقُ بِالعذب

    She departed; around her tent

    spears fluttered with pennons.

  12. عَطشاً عَلى عَطشٍ إلى

    تَقبيلِ مَبسِمها الشنب

    Thirst upon thirst for

    kissing her cool, white-toothed mouth.

  13. نَظَرت وَكانت تَلك نظ

    رتها لِتَعذيبي سَبَب

    She looked, and that look

    of hers caused my torment.

  14. تَنأى وَتَبتعدُ الصدو

    د وفي التذلّل تَقتَرِب

    She withdraws and grows distant in disdain,

    yet draws near in meekness.

  15. تَحكي أُسيريع النقا

    مِنها البنان المُختَضب

    Like the dune's little sandworm

    are her dye-stained fingertips.

  16. حَسناء تَحسبُها قَضي

    باً مِن لُجينٍ أَو ذَهَب

    A beauty—you would think her a slender bough

    of silver or gold.

  17. أَضحَت حياض اللهوِ يب

    ساً ما بِهنّ سِوى القِرَب

    The pools of pleasure have run dry;

    nothing is in them but waterskins.

  18. وَأرى الزمان وَذيله

    جمعت لها صور العَجب

    And I see time and its train,

    with forms of wonder gathered for it.

  19. كَم قَد دنا قسراً لدي

    هِ الرأسُ واِرتفَع الذنَب

    How often, by force, before it,

    the head bowed low while the tail rose high!

  20. وَغَدا على أحكامهِ ال

    بازي فَريساً للحرب

    And under its decrees,

    the falcon became prey to war.

  21. تَتصرّم الدّنيا وتُذ

    هبُ مَن مَشى فيها وَدَب

    This world passes away and carries off

    whoever has walked and crawled within it.

  22. وَلَسوفَ يَلقى المرء ما

    قَدر الإلهُ وَما كَتب

    And a person shall surely meet what

    God has decreed and written.

  23. يا مَعشَراً في العيش خا

    لي الراحتينِ منَ النشَب

    O people, living with empty

    palms, bereft of possessions:

  24. إِن لَم تُصِب بِالحربِ يس

    راً فَاِلتَمسهُ مِن الأَدَب

    if warfare has not won you prosperity,

    then seek it through literature.

  25. وَاِطلب تَنل إِن قدّر الر

    رَحمن سؤلكَ بِالطلب

    And seek: you will attain, if the Most Merciful

    has decreed your wish through seeking.

  26. وَاِنظم قَريظَكَ في المتو

    وجِ مالكِ بنِ أَبي العرب

    And compose your verse for the crowned

    Malik ibn Abi al-Arab:

  27. صَمدٌ يدومُ لمعتفي

    هِ عنِ المواظرِ ما وَهَب

    a lord whose gifts to his petitioner endure,

    beyond those of a rival.

  28. بَحرُ الفراتِ إِذا عطا

    لَيثُ العرينِ إِذا وَثَب

    The Euphrates' sea when he gives,

    the lion of the lair when he springs.

  29. يَعنو لِهَيبتهِ الزما

    نُ إِذا توعّد أَو غَضب

    Time bows before his awesome presence

    when he threatens or grows angry.

  30. ما غالَبَ الأيّام في

    أَحداثِها إلّا غَلَب

    Never has he contended with the days

    in their vicissitudes without prevailing.

  31. فَخرت بهِ رُتَبُ العلا

    لمّا عَلا تلكَ الرتَب

    The ranks of glory took pride in him

    when he ascended those ranks.

  32. وَنَما إِليهِ المجدُ من

    بينِ البريّةِ وَاِنتَسب

    And glory traced its origin to him

    from among humankind, and claimed kinship.

  33. مُتَسربلٌ ثوبَ المفا

    خرِ وَالمَحامدِ وَالحَسَب

    Clad in the robe of glorious deeds,

    praiseworthy virtues, and ancestral honor.

  34. يا مَن مراتِبُه سَمَت

    حتّى سَمَت فوقَ الشهُب

    O you whose ranks have risen

    until they soared above the shooting stars,

  35. اِسمَع مَقالةَ شاعرٍ

    بَينَ الأقاربِ مُغترب

    hear the words of a poet,

    a stranger among his kin.

  36. قَد جاءَ من دلفاء بد

    ر النظمِ لا بِالمختلب

    He has come from Dalfā’ with pearls

    of verse, not with deceptive glitter.

  37. وَرَآكَ قبلَةَ قَصدهِ

    دونَ الأَعاجمِ وَالعَرب

    And he saw you as the qibla of his quest,

    to the exclusion of non-Arabs and Arabs.