1. يا هندُ يا ذَاتَ البُرى والخَلخَالْ

    باللهِ هل سركِ أَنّى ذو مَالْ

    O Hind, O wearer of rings and anklets!

    By God, did it please you that I am wealthy,

  2. وانَّهُ من أُعطياتِ البُخَّالْ

    وانَّ لي كلَّ عَلاّةٍ شِمْلالْ

    And that my wealth comes from the gifts of misers,

    And that I own every sturdy, swift she-camel,

  3. تَقْطَعُ غِيطانَ الفَلا وتَخْتَالْ

    مُرتدياتٍ بالسَّرابِ والآلْ

    Crossing the desert's hollows with a proud sway,

    Clad in mirage and heat-haze,

  4. وما رعى بَقلَ الحِمى من هُمَّالْ

    وكلَ رَحبِ المِنخَرين ذيَّالْ

    And the untended camels that grazed the reserve's herbage,

    And every wide-nostriled, long-tailed steed,

  5. لاحِقَ كَشْحي سُرَّةٍ بأطَالْ

    يكفيكَ حَلي بالمَلا وتَرحَالْ

    With flanks drawn tight, its navel tucked against its sides?

    My halts on the open plain and my journeys suffice you—

  6. وحِيلتي والمرءُ غيرُ مُحْتَالْ

    موجَ الخُطُوبِ واصطِفاقَ الزُّلالْ

    And my resourcefulness, when man has no recourse—

    Against adversity's waves and the clash of clear waters.

  7. لا حلَّ حيّ أَبداً بمحلالْ

    والدَّارُ قد غيرها بِذي الضَالْ

    May no tribe ever settle at a camping-ground!

    And the dwelling at Dhu al-Dal has been changed

  8. كرُّ الشهورِ واختلافُ الأَحْوَالْ

    جَادَلَ كلَّ مكفهِرٍ هَطَّالْ

    By the recurring months and changing circumstances.

    It contended with every gloomy, rain-pouring cloud,

  9. وَشَعْشَعَانيُّ الوميضِ جَلْجَالْ

    ذَكَرتَنا عهدَ الشَّبابِ والحَالْ

    And one with long-streaked lightning and pealing thunder.

    You reminded us of youth's days and how things stood,

  10. وعُنجهياتِ لَداتٍ اغفَالْ

    بانُوا ولم أُخبرُهم بالأفعَالْ

    And the swagger of heedless companions of our age.

    They departed, and I had not spoken to them through deeds;

  11. ونَصرُهمُ بالسَّيفِ غيرِ الأَقْوَالْ

    وآسفٍ يقطَعُ عمرَ الآجَالْ

    And their aid was by the sword, not words.

    And a wrathful one that cuts short the lives of wild herds,

  12. وفتيةٍ من السِّلاحِ أعْطَالْ

    نَبهتُهم قبلَ العُطاسِ والفَالْ

    And young men devoid of weapons—

    I roused them before the sneeze and the omen.

  13. فقامَ كلُّ وَشْوشِيٍ مُحْتَالْ

    كأَنَّهُ صدرُ الحُسامِ القَصَّالْ

    Then each nimble, resourceful fellow rose,

    As though he were the tip of a keen, cleaving sword.

  14. لم يخطرِ الغُمض لهُ على بَالْ

    يَمْسَحُ عطْفي سَوذَنِيقٍ هَطَّالْ

    Sleep had never crossed his mind.

    He strokes the sides of a falcon that rains down

  15. على الرؤوسِ مرةً والأكفَالْ

    فارغُ كفٍّ طَرفُهُ في أشغَالْ

    Now upon heads, now upon rumps.

    His hand empty, his eye busy at work,

  16. انْ عَدِمَ الطيرُ سَطَا بالأوعَالْ

    يطلُبها من أَسفلٍ ومن عَالْ

    If birds are lacking, it assails the ibex,

    Seeking them from below and from on high.

  17. فعل الغبيِّ وهو زَوْلُ الأَزوالْ

    وكل كاسي السَّاقِ حالي السِّرْبَالْ

    It acts the fool, yet is a marvel among marvels.

    And every one with clad shanks and an adorned mantle,

  18. شَبا المنون وسِلاحُ الآجالْ

    طغرنُها التركي هولُ الأَهوَالْ

    Doom's sharp points and the weapon of death,

    Their Turkish Tughrun, terror of terrors—

  19. اذا رآه ذو الشباكِ المُغْتَالْ

    بَشَّرَ بؤسَ جَدِّهِ بالاقبَالْ

    When the stealthy net-owner sees it,

    He brings his wretched fortune glad tidings of prosperity.

  20. وراعها من غَلَلٍ وأَغيَالْ

    فُطسُ الأُنوفُ رَهَجَاتُ الأَوصَالْ

    And it startled them out of streams and thickets,

    Flat-nosed and dusty-limbed.

  21. عاينَ سرباً قد دنتْ لأَسْمَالْ

    فصَّلَ مِنها مائةً في مِنْوَالْ

    It sighted a flock that had approached the scant pools,

    It separated a hundred of them along a single course,

  22. لم يَحْظَ الاَّ بالأَخيرِ الجَوَّالْ

    وعادَ محمودَ الضحى والأَوصَالْ

    Yet caught only the last, roving one,

    And returned, praised for its morning and its limbs.

  23. يُصلحُ راء الصدرِ منه والدَّالْ

    به غَنَينَا عن طِرادِ الآجَالْ

    It sets right the rāʾ and dāl upon its breast.

    Through it, we had no need to pursue wild herds,

  24. وعن بناتِ أَعوجٍ والعُقَّالْ

    يُثِرْنَ في آثارِهنَّ القَسْطَالْ

    Nor the daughters of Aʿwaj and al-ʿUqqāl,

    Raising thick dust in their tracks,

  25. وعن مَعوناتِ السلوقي البتَّالْ

    يتبعُها ما السَّمهري العَسَّالْ

    Nor the aid of the deadly Saluki,

    Which follows them—not the quivering Samharī spear—

  26. هَبْطَ السُّيُولِ وثَنايا الأَجبَالْ

    Down torrent-courses and through mountain passes.