1. وَكَم مِن ناذِرينَ دَمي رَمَتهُم

    إِلَيكَ عَلى مَخافَتِهِم وَفَقرِ

    And how many men who vowed to shed my blood she braved,

    on her way to you, despite fear of them and poverty,

  2. لِتَلقى اِبنَ الوَليدِ وَلا تُبالي

    إِذا لَقِيَت نَداهُ بَناتِ دَهرِ

    to meet the son of al-Walid, caring nothing,

    once she finds his bounty, for Time's daughters.

  3. أَتَيتُكَ بِالجَريضِ وَقَد تَلاقَت

    عُرى الأَنساعِ مِن حَقَبٍ وَضَفرِ

    I came to you choking; already drawn together were

    the loops of the saddle-straps—girths and braided cords.

  4. وَكَم خَبَطَت بِأَرساغٍ وَجَرَّت

    نِعالَ الجِلدِ وَهيَ إِلَيكَ تَسري

    And how often she struck with her fetlocks and dragged

    her leather sandals, traveling by night toward you.

  5. وَتَلقى اِبنَ الوَليدِ وَإِن أُنيخَت

    إِلى مُغلَولَبٍ بِنَداهُ غَمرِ

    And she meets the son of al-Walid; and if made to kneel

    beside one whose bounty is abundant and overflowing,

  6. تَكُن مِثلَ الَّتي مُطِرَت وَكانَت

    بِأَعوامٍ قَوائِظِهُنَّ غُبرِ

    she will be like land rained upon after enduring

    years whose scorching summers were dust-gray.

  7. وَجَدتُم يا بَني زَيدٍ نُجوماً

    يَنُؤنَ مِنَ السَماءِ بِكُلِّ قَطرِ

    You have found, O sons of Zayd, stars

    that bring every shower down from the sky.

  8. بِهِنَّ المُدلَجونَ بَدَوا وَساروا

    وَإِيّاهُنَّ يَتبَعُ كُلُّ مَجرِ

    By them night travelers took to the desert and journeyed,

    and every rider follows them.

  9. حَلَفتُ بِكَعبَةٍ يَهوي إِلَيها

    مِنَ الآفاقِ مِن يَمَنٍ وَمِصرِ

    I swore by the Kaaba, to which people hasten

    from the horizons, from Yemen and Egypt.

  10. إِلَيها لِلمَساجِدِ كُلُّ وَجهٍ

    وَإِيّاها يُوَجَّهُ كُلُّ قَبرِ

    Toward it every face turns in the places of prayer,

    and toward it every grave is directed.

  11. لِأَقتَلِعَن صَفاةَ الشِعرِ عَنهُ

    فَما أَنا مِن دَوامِغِهِ بِغُمرِ

    I shall surely wrench poetry's rock away from him,

    for I am no novice at its head-crushing blows.

  12. كَأَنَّ مَواقِعَ الآثارِ مِنها

    مَواقِعُ مِن صَوارِمَ ذاتِ أُثرِ

    As though the marks left by them

    were marks left by keen swords with patterned blades.

  13. رَأَيتِكَ يا أَبانُ تَمَمتَ لَمّا

    بَلَغتَ الأَربَعينَ تَمامَ بَدرِ

    I saw you, O Aban, reach fullness when

    you reached forty—the fullness of a full moon,

  14. أَضاءَ الأَرضَ وَالأُخرى عَلَيها

    مِنَ السَبعِ الطِباقِ بِكُلِّ شَهرِ

    which lit the earth and the heaven above it,

    one of the seven heavens, tier upon tier, each month.