1. إِذا طَلَعَ النِسرانِ غارَت ظَعائِنٌ

    وَكانَ مِراسُ القُرِّ شَرَّ مِراسِ

    When the Two Eagles rise, women in camel-litters descend to the lowlands,

    and struggling with the cold is the worst of struggles.

  2. وَإِن تَبدُ في الصُبحِ الثَرَيّا فَإِنَّها

    تُيَمِّمُ بِالتِسيارِ آلَ قَراسِ

    And if the Pleiades appear at dawn, they

    head on their journey toward the mirage of Qarās.

  3. لَو أَنَّ بَني الدُنِّيا يَدَ الدَهرِ مَشيُهُم

    عَلى الزَفِّ لَم أَعدُدهُ غَيرَ هَراسِ

    If the children of this world were forever walking

    upon down, I would reckon it nothing but thorns.

  4. وَما ظَفِرَت أَفراسُ قَومٍ يَحُثُّها

    فَوارِسُها في عُنجُدٍ وَقَراسِ

    And no people's horses have prevailed, urged onward

    by their riders in ʿUnjud and Qarās.

  5. جُسومٌ ثُمَّ عادَت فَأَصبَحَت

    ضُروباً كَزَرعٍ نابِتٍ وَغِراسِ

    Bodies, which then returned and became

    different forms, like sprouting crops and plantings.

  6. وَما تَرَكَت بيضُ الزَمانِ وَسَودُه

    كَراسيَّ عِزٍّ كُلُّهُنَّ كَراسِ

    And time's white days and black nights have spared no

    thrones of glory—all of them mere chairs.

  7. وَلَم يَمنَعوا بِالضَربِ وَالطَعنِ حادِثاً

    أَتى دونَ أَدراعٍ لَهُم وَتِراسِ

    Nor did they ward off, with blows and thrusts, a calamity

    that came past their coats of mail and shields.

  8. تَداعَت بِلَفظِ العُجمِ أَعرابُ مَذحِجٍ

    وَأَعرَبَ أَهلا فارِسٍ وَخُراسِ

    The Bedouins of Madhḥij called to one another in non-Arab speech,

    while the peoples of Persia and Khurāsān spoke Arabic.

  9. فَإِنَّ لُيوثَ الحَتفِ نالَ اِفتِراسُها

    ضَراغِمَ مِن لَيثٍ وَحيِّ فِراسِ

    For the lions of death have preyed upon

    mighty lions from Layth and the clan of Firās.

  10. فَيا أُمَّ دَفرٍ لا سَلِمتِ غَويَّةً

    عَلَيكِ قِراعي دائِباً وَضِراسي

    So, Mother of Stench, may you not be safe, wayward one!

    Against you are my ceaseless blows and bites.

  11. أَتَبغَينَ مِنّي في المَقالِ تَعَصُّباً

    وَأَيُّ أَذاةٍ ما عَصَبتِ بِراسي

    Do you seek partisanship from me in what I say?

    And what harm have you not bound around my head?

  12. تَسيرُ بِنا هَذي اللَيالي كَأَنَّها

    سَفائِنُ بَحرٍ ما لَهُنَّ مَراسي

    These nights carry us along, as though they were

    ships at sea with no moorings.