1. وَمَن يَكُ بادِياً وَيَكُن أَخاهُ

    أَبا الضَحّاكِ يَنتَسِجِ الشِمالا

    And whoever is a nomad and is his brother—

    Abu al-Dahhak—will weave the cloaks.

  2. سَيَكفيكِ المُرَحَّلُ ذو ثَمانٍ

    سَحيلٌ تَغزِلينَ لَهُ الجُفالا

    The saddle-patterned cloak, eight cubits long, will suffice you—

    a single-ply cloth, for which you spin the shorn fleece.

  3. سَيَكفيكِ الإِلَهُ وَمُسنَماتٌ

    كَجَندَلِ لُبنَ تَطَّرِدُ الصِلالا

    God and high-humped she-camels will suffice you,

    like Lubn’s boulders, driving off serpents.

  4. بَناتُ لَبونِهِ عَثَجٌ إِلَيهِ

    يَسُفنَ اللَيتَ مِنهُ وَالقَذالا

    His milk-camels’ daughters crowd toward him,

    sniffing his neck and the back of his head.

  5. لَها سَلَفٌ يَعوذُ بِكُلِّ ريعٍ

    حَمى الحَوزاتِ وَاِشتَهَرَ الإِفالا

    They have a leader who takes refuge on every ridge,

    who guarded their domains and singled out the calves.

  6. خَراخِرُ تَحسِبُ الصَقَعِيَّ حَتّى

    يَظَلَّ يَقُرُّهُ الراعي سِجالا

    Gurgling milkers sustain the firstborn calf until

    the herdsman keeps pouring bucketfuls into him.

  7. إِذا غُزُرُ المَحالِبِ أَتأَقَتهُ

    يَمُجُّ عَلى مَناكِبِهِ الثُمالا

    When rich-uddered milkers have filled him to bursting,

    he spews milk-froth over his shoulders.

  8. فَلَمّا جاوَزَ الرَبَلاتِ مِنها

    إِلى الكاذاتِ باتَ بِها وَقالا

    And when he grew beyond the height of their fleshy thighs,

    up to their haunches, he spent the night and rested at noon among them.

  9. تَرَعّى مِن جُنوبِ ثُعالِباتٍ

    أَسِرَّةَ عازِبٍ نَحَرَ الهِلالا

    He grazed south of Thuʿalibat,

    the fertile hollows of ʿAzib, facing the crescent.

  10. إِلَيكُم لا نَكونُ لَكُم خَلاةً

    وَلا نَكَعَ النَقاوى إِذ أَحالا

    Away with you! We will not be your bait of grass,

    nor the weakling among choice camels at the charge.