1. تَذَكَّرَ أُمَّ عَبْدِ اللهِ لَمَّا

    نَأَتْهُ وَالنَّوَى مِنْها لَجُوجُ

    He remembered Umm Abd Allah when

    she went far from him, and separation from her was relentless.

  2. وَما إِنْ أَحْوَرُ الْعَيْنَيْنِ رَخْصُ الْـ

    ـعِظامِ تَرُودُهُ أُمٌّ هَدُوجُ

    And no dark-eyed fawn, tender in its

    bones, tended by an ambling mother,

  3. بِأَحْسَنَ مُقْلَةً مِنْها وَجِيداً

    غَداةَ الْحِجْرِ مَضْحَكُها بَلِيجُ

    is lovelier in eye and neck than she was

    that morning at al-Hijr, her smile radiant.

  4. وَهادِيَةٍ تَوَجَّسُ كُلَّ غَيْبٍ

    لَها نَفَسٌ إِذا سامَتْ نَشِيجُ

    And many a herd-leading wild she-ass, wary of every hidden thing,

    her breath sobbing whenever she grazes,

  5. تُصِيخُ إِلى دَوِيِّ الْأَرْضِ تَهْوِي

    بِمَسْمَعِها كَما نَطِفَ الشَّجِيجُ

    listening to the earth's rumble, lowering

    her ear like a man bloodied by a head-wound—

  6. عَزَزْناها وَكانَتْ فِي مَصامٍ

    كَأَنَّ سَراتَها سَحْلٌ نَسِيجُ

    we drove her onto hard ground; she had stood at rest,

    her back like a woven white cloth.

  7. وَيُهْلِكُ نَفْسَهُ إِنْ لَمْ يَنَلْها

    وَحُقَّ لَهُ سَحِيرٌ أَوْ بَعِيجُ

    And he wears himself out if he cannot reach her,

    and rightly so—a large-lunged or broad-bellied stallion.

  8. وَأَمْهَلَها فَلَمَّا وَرَّكَتْهُ

    شِمالاً وَهْيَ مُعْرِضَةٌ تَهِيجُ

    He gave her respite; when she put him by her haunch,

    on the left, while she was broadside and restless,

  9. أُتِيحَ لَها أُغَيْبِرُ ذُو حَشِيفٍ

    غَبِيٌّ فِي نَجاشَتِهِ زَلُوجُ

    a dusty little man in a tattered cloak was set against her,

    stealthy in driving game, swift to slip along.

  10. دَلَفْتُ لَها أَوانَئِذٍ بِسَهْمٍ

    نَحِيضٍ لَمْ تَخَوَّنْهُ الشُّرُوجُ

    At that moment I crept toward her with an arrow,

    pared fine, not weakened by cracks,

  11. سَدِيدِ الْعَيْرِ لَمْ يَدْحَضْ عَلَيْهِ الْـ

    ـغِرارُ فَقِدْحُهُ زَعِلٌ دَرُوجُ

    straight-spined, unmarred by any slip of the

    cutting edge; its shaft lively and swift.

  12. عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَباهِرَ لَيِّناتٍ

    يُرِنُّ الْقِدْحَ ظُهْرانٌ دَمُوجُ

    On it are supple wing-feathers,

    closely fitted back-feathers that make the shaft ring.

  13. كَمَتْنِ الذِّئْبِ لا نِكْسٌ قَصِيرٌ

    فَأُغْرِقُهُ وَلا جَلْسٌ عَمُوجُ

    Like a wolf's back—not a short, reworked shaft

    that I might overdraw, nor a thick one that wavers.

  14. يُقَرِّبُها لِمُطْعَمِها هَتُوفٌ

    طِلاعُ الْكَفِّ مَعْقِلُها وَثِيجُ

    A ringing bow brings her near to the man she will feed,

    palm-filling, its grip sturdy.

  15. كَأَنَّ عِدادَها إِرْنانُ ثَكْلَى

    خِلالَ ضُلُوعِها وَجْدٌ وَهِيجُ

    Its twang is like the wailing of a bereaved mother,

    with grief blazing within her ribs.

  16. وَبِيضٍ كَالسَّلاجِمِ مُرْهَفاتٍ

    كَأَنَّ ظُباتِها عُقُرٌ بَعِيجُ

    And gleaming heads like silver ingots, honed thin,

    their sharp edges like a gaping wound.

  17. أَحاطَ النَّاجِشانِ بِها فَجاءَتْ

    مَكاناً لا تَرُوغُ وَلا تَعُوجُ

    The two beaters surrounded her, and she came

    to a place where she could neither dodge nor turn.

  18. فَراغَتْ فَالْتَمَسْتُ بِهِ حَشاها

    وَخَرَّ كَأَنَّهُ خُوطٌ مَرِيجُ

    She swerved; I sought her entrails with it,

    and it fell like a swaying twig.

  19. كَأَنَّ الرِّيشَ وَالْفُوقَيْنِ مِنْهُ

    خِلافَ النَّصْلِ سِيطَ بِهِ مَشِيجُ

    As though its fletching and both lips of its nock,

    behind the point, were smeared with a mingled fluid.

  20. فَظَلْتُ وَظَلَّ أَصْحابِي لَدَيْهِمْ

    غَرِيضُ اللَّحْمِ نَيْءٌ أَوْ نَضِيجُ

    So I spent the day, and my companions too; they had

    fresh meat, raw or cooked.