1. وليثٍ مقيم في غياضٍ منيعَةٍ

    أميرٍ على الوَحشِ المقيمةِ في القَفْرِ

    And a lion dwelling in impregnable thickets,

    a prince over the wild beasts dwelling in the wilderness.

  2. يُوَسِّدُ شبليه لحومَ فَوَارسٍ

    ويقطعُ كاللّصّ السبيلَ على السَّفْرِ

    He pillows his two cubs on the flesh of horsemen,

    and, like a thief, bars the road to travelers.

  3. هزبْرٌ له في فيه نارٌ وَشَفْرَةٌ

    فما يَشتَوي لحم القتيلِ على الجمرِ

    A mighty lion, with fire and a blade in his mouth,

    so he does not roast the slain man's flesh over embers.

  4. سراجاه عيناهُ إذا أظلمَ الدّجى

    فإن باتَ يسري باتتِ الوحش لا تسري

    His two lamps are his eyes when night grows dark;

    so if he spends the night roaming, the beasts spend it without roaming.

  5. له جبهةٌ مثل المجنّ ومعطسٌ

    كأنّ على أرجائه صبغةَ الحبرِ

    He has a forehead like a shield, and a nose

    as though its edges were stained with ink.

  6. يصلصلُ رعدٌ من عظيمِ زئيره

    ويلمع برقٌ من حماليقهِ الحمرِ

    Thunder resounds from his mighty roar,

    and lightning flashes from his red inner eyelids.

  7. له ذَنَبٌ مُسْتَنْبَطٌ منه سَوْطُهُ

    ترَى الأرض منه وهي مضروبة الظهرِ

    He has a tail from which his whip is fashioned;

    you see the earth with its back lashed by it.

  8. ويضربُ جنبيه به فَكَأنّما

    له فيهما طَبْلٌ يَحُضّ على الكرِّ

    And he strikes both his flanks with it, as though

    he had within them a drum urging him to charge.

  9. ويُضْحك في التعبيس فكّيه عن مدى

    نيوبٍ صلابٍ ليس تُهتَمُ بالفِهْرِ

    And, while scowling, he makes his jaws grin, baring the blades

    of hard fangs that no stone pestle can chip.

  10. يصولُ بكفّ عرْض شبرين عرْضُها

    خناجرُها أمضى من القُضُبِ البترِ

    He attacks with a paw two handspans wide;

    its daggers are sharper than cleaving swords.

  11. يجرّدُ منها كلّ ظُفْرٍ كأنّهُ

    هلالٌ بدا للعين في أوّلِ الشهرِ

    He unsheathes each claw from it, as though it were

    a crescent appearing to the eye at the month's beginning.