1. جَزى اللَهُ عَوفاً مِن مَوالي جَنابَةٍ

    وَنَكراءَ خَيراً كُلُّ جَارٍ مُوَدَّعُ

    May God reward ʿAwf, among the allies of Janābah

    and Nakrāʾ, with good; every neighbor is bid farewell.

  2. أَباحوا لَنا قَوّاً فَرَملَةَ عالِجٍ

    وَخَبتاً وَهَل خَبتٌ لَنا مُتَرَبَّعُ

    They opened Qaww to us, then the sands of ʿĀlij,

    and Khabt—is Khabt a spring pasture for us?

  3. نَشُقُّ الِعهادَ الحُوَّ لَم تُرعَ قَبلَنا

    كَما شُقَّ بِالموسى السَنامُ المُقَلَّعُ

    We cleave through dark-green, rain-fed pastures, ungrazed before us,

    as a severed hump is sliced with a razor.

  4. إِذا فَزِعوا طاروا بِجَنبَي لِوائِهِم

    أُلوفٌ وَغاياتٌ مِنَ الخَيلِ تُقدَعُ

    When they take alarm, they fly on either side of their banner,

    in their thousands, with cavalry standards and horses held in check.

  5. وَقَد عَلِموا أَنّا سَنأَتي دِيارَنا

    فَيَرعَونَ أَجوازَ العِراقِ ونَرفَعُ

    And they knew that we would return to our homes,

    so they pasture Iraq's heartlands, while we hasten onward.

  6. وَقَد حاذَروا ما الجارُ وَالضَيفُ مُخبِرٌ

    إِذا فارَقا كُلٌّ بِذَلِكَ مولَعُ

    And they were wary of what the neighbor and guest would report

    when both depart; each is eager to tell of it.

  7. وَما أَنا بِالمُستَنكِرِ البَينَ إِنَّني

    بِذي لَطَفِ الجيرانِ قِدماً مُفَجَّعُ

    Nor do I find parting strange; indeed, I

    was long ago bereft of neighbors at Dhū Laṭaf.

  8. جَديراً بِهِم مِن كُلِّ حَيٍّ أَلِفتُهُم

    إِذا أَنَسٌ عَزُّوا عَلَيَّ تَصَدَّعوا

    As might be expected of them—those I befriended from every tribe—

    whenever companions grew dear to me, they scattered.

  9. وَكُنتُ إِذا جاوَرتُ أَعلَقتُ في الذُرى

    يَدَيَّ فَلَم يوجَد لِجَنبِيَ مَصرَعُ

    And whenever I dwelt as a neighbor, I would fasten to the heights

    my two hands; no place was found for my side to fall.

  10. أَرى إِبِلي لا تُنكَعُ الوِردَ خُضَّعاً

    إِذا شُلَّ قَومٌ في الجِوارِ وَصَعصَعوا

    I see my camels are not driven, cringing, from water,

    when folk under neighborly protection are chased off and scattered.

  11. تُراعي المَها بِالقَفرِ حَتّى كَأَنَّما

    إِذا أَبصَرَت شَخصاً مِنَ الإِنسِ تَفزَعُ

    They watch the oryx in the wilderness, until it seems

    they take fright whenever they glimpse a human figure.

  12. نَظائِرَ أَشباهٍ يَرِعنَ لِمُكدَمٍ

    إِذا صَبَّ في رَقشاءَ هَدراً يُرَجِّعُ

    Matching, alike in form, they turn toward a bite-scarred bull,

    when he pours a repeated bellow into his mottled throat-sac.

  13. كُمَيتٍ كَرُكنِ البابِ أَحيا بَناتِهِ

    مَقاليتُها وَاِستَحمَلَتهُنَّ إِصبَعُ

    Chestnut-colored, like a door-post; his daughters were kept alive

    by their calf-losing dams, and Iṣbaʿ had made them conceive.

  14. تَرَبَّعُ أَذوادي فَما إِن يَروعُها

    إِذا شَلَّتِ الأَحياءُ في الرَملِ مَفزَعُ

    My small camel-herds graze in spring and are not at all frightened

    by any alarm when the tribes scatter across the sands.

  15. حَمَتها بَنو سَعدٍ وَحَدُّ رِماحِهِم

    وَأَخلى لَها بِالجِزعِ قُفٌّ وَأَجرَعُ

    Banu Saʿd and the sharp points of their spears protected them;

    a stony rise and a bare sandy tract at the valley-bend lay vacant for them.

  16. وَقَد سَمِنَت حَتّى كَأَنَّ مَخاضَها

    مَجادِلُ بَنّاءٍ تُطانُ وَتُرفَعُ

    And they have grown so fat that their pregnant she-camels seem

    a builder's towers, plastered with clay and raised high.

  17. تَهابُ الطَريقَ السَهلَ تَحسِبُ أَنَّهُ

    وَعورٌ وِراطٌ وَهيَ بَيداءُ بَلقَعُ

    They dread the easy road, imagining it

    rugged ground and perilous pits, though it is a bare, empty desert plain.

  18. إِذا ساقَها الراعي الدَثورُ حَسِبتَها

    رِكابَ عِراقِيِّ مَواقيرَ تُدفَعُ

    When the sluggish shepherd drives them, you would take them

    for an Iraqi's heavily laden riding-camels being urged onward,

  19. مِنَ النَيِّ حَتّى اِستَحقَبَت كُلَّ مِرفَقٍ

    رَوادِفَ أَمثَالِ الدِلاءِ تَنَعنَعُ

    so fat that behind every elbow they carry

    pendulous folds like water-buckets, swaying to and fro.