1. بكيت لها شجواً وهنَّ الحمائمُ

    ينحن بلا دمع ودمعكَ ساجمُ

    I wept for them in sorrow—they were the doves;

    they mourn without tears, while your tears stream.

  2. ولما علونا الحزنَ واعتسفت بنا

    رسوم الدِّيار اليعملاتُ الرواسمُ

    And when we climbed the rugged heights and were borne unguided

    through the dwellings’ traces by hardy, swift-striding she-camels,

  3. لوينا باعناق المطيّ إلى اللِّوى

    وقد علّمتنا البثّ تلك المعالمً

    we turned our mounts’ necks toward al-Liwā,

    those landmarks having already taught us grief.

  4. لئن أوحش الربعُ الذي كان آنسا

    وأقوَت من الحَيِّ الرسومُ الطواسمُ

    Though the dwelling that was once welcoming has grown desolate,

    and the faded traces stand empty of their people,

  5. فكم ليلةٍ فيه وصلتُ نعيمَها

    بأخرى وأنفُ الهجرِ بالوصلِ راغمُ

    yet how many a night there I joined its bliss

    to another, with separation’s nose rubbed in the dust by reunion.

  6. سقى منبتَ اللّذات منها ابنُ هاشم

    إذا انهملت من راحتيه الغمائمُ

    May Ibn Hāshim water the birthplace of delights there,

    when clouds pour down from his two palms.

  7. إمام أقام الدين حدُّ حسامه

    طريراً ومنه في يد الله قائمُ

    An imam whose sword’s edge upheld the faith,

    keen, with its hilt in the hand of God.

  8. ويزهرُ في يمناهُ نورٌ من الظبا

    له من رؤوس الدَّارِ عينٌ كمائمُ

    And in his right hand blooms a flower of sword-edges,

    whose flower-sheaths are armored warriors’ heads [reading an apparent split word].

  9. سيوفٌ إذا اعتلت جهات ثغورها

    فمنهن في أعناقهن تمائمُ

    Swords: when the regions of their frontiers fall ill,

    some become amulets about those regions’ necks.

  10. بكلِّ خميسٍ طَبّق الجوّ نقعُهُ

    وضيَّقَ مسراهُ الجلادُ الصالدمُ

    With every army whose dust blankets the sky,

    and sturdy, massive steeds constrict its passage.

  11. كأن مثارَ النقعِ إثمدُ عينهِ

    وأشفارَ جفنيهِ الشفارُ الصوارمُ

    As though the rising dust were kohl for its eye,

    and keen sword-blades were the lashes of its eyelids.

  12. تعد عليه الطيرُ والوحشُ قوتها

    إذا سار والتفت عليه القشاعمُ

    Birds and beasts count on it for their food,

    when it marches and old vultures gather around it.