وكَمْ قَرَّبَتْ مِنْ دارِ عَبْلَةَ عَبْلَةٌ

وكَمْ قَرَّبَتْ مِنْ دارِ عَبْلَةَ عَبْلَةٌ

كَجَنْدَلَةِ السُّورِ المُقابِلِ تُشْرِفُهْ

كَجَنْدَلَةِ السُّورِ المُقابِلِ تُشْرِفُهْ

And how often a stout she-camel has brought me near to ʿAbla’s dwelling,

How often Abia drew near Abel's house

Like a boulder in the wall opposite, towering above it.

Like the turret facing it, overlooking,

فَيَرعَى الفَلا ما قَدْ رَعَتْهُ مِنَ الفَلا

فَيَرعَى الفَلا ما قَدْ رَعَتْهُ مِنَ الفَلا

ويُنْحِفُها المَرْتُ القِفارُ وتُنْحِفُهْ

ويُنْحِفُها المَرْتُ القِفارُ وتُنْحِفُهْ

So the wilderness grazes on what she has already grazed from the wilderness,

So it browses what it browsed of meadows

And the barren, desolate land makes her lean, and she makes it lean.

While the bare land makes it lean, and it makes the land lean