1. وفي الهوادج من تلك الحدوج مها

    هيفاء ضمَّ عليها درعها الهيفا

    In the howdahs among those camel-litters are oryxes,

    A slim-waisted beauty, her shift clasping her slender form.

  2. جاءت وملء فضول الريط دعص نقاً

    يكاد ينهال في ابرادها لطفا

    She came, a dune's rounded mound filling her wraps' loose folds,

    Almost cascading within her cloaks from sheer softness.

  3. خطَّ المصور كالتمثال صورتها

    حتى تمثَّل لي ممشوقها الفا

    The artist traced her figure like a statue,

    So that her slender form appeared to me as the letter alif.

  4. يرتدُّ طرفيَ صفراً من محاسنها

    او ان يرود رياض الحسن مقتطفا

    My gaze returns empty-handed from her charms,

    Or else roams the gardens of beauty, plucking blossoms.

  5. كأنما الطرف منها حين تخفضه

    مستبدل عوضاً عن اثمدٍ دنفا

    As though her gaze, when she lowers it,

    Had taken lovesick languor in place of kohl.

  6. غرثانة وسطاً ريانة كفلا

    ممشوقة هيفاً مجدولة قصفا

    Famished at the waist, well-watered at the hips,

    Tall and slender-waisted, well-knit yet delicate.

  7. اتبعتها نظر البازي اذا اخذت

    براس علياء من رمل الحمى الحقفا

    I followed her with a falcon's gaze as she reached

    The curved dune atop a height in the sanctuary's sands.

  8. فلا تشم زهو روضٍ للمنى أنفٍ

    او أن تشمَّ فتجني الروضة الأنفا

    So do not breathe the bloom of an untouched garden of hopes,

    Or, if you do, then reap that untouched garden.

  9. ونازعين من الاوطان قد قطعوا

    متن المهامه حتى استوطنوا النجفا

    And those who departed from their homelands have crossed

    The backs of desert wastes, until they made Najaf their home.

  10. وصارعوا الحب لا شاكين فانكشفوا

    عزل التجلد لا عزل الهوى كشفا

    And wrestled with love unarmed, only to stand exposed:

    Bereft of fortitude, not of passion—unshielded.

  11. كم فيهم ليَ من خلٍّ علقت به

    حتى اذا علقت نفسي هواه جفا

    How many a dear friend among them have I clung to,

    Only for him to turn away when my soul clung to his love.

  12. سأبعثنَّ بنات البيد تخبط بي

    طوراً واخبط فيها الليل معتسفا

    I shall surely rouse the desert's daughters to plod along with me,

    At times, while I tread blindly through the night there, without a path.

  13. توءمُّ ابيض مجبولاً على كرم

    صدفت عنه بآمالي وما صدفا

    They head toward a fair man, molded by nature for generosity,

    I turned away from him with my hopes, but he did not turn away.

  14. غمر النوال لوفر المال محتقراً

    يرى النضار بعيني ناقداً خزفا

    Lavish in bounty, disdainful of abundant wealth,

    His appraising eyes regard gold as mere earthenware.

  15. رحب الفناء اذا ما جئته تره

    بالعز محتبئاً بالمجد ملتحفا

    Broad of courtyard—whenever you come to him, you see him

    Girded in honor, cloaked in glory.

  16. مكلف شيم الأيام ملزمها

    بعكس ما سلكته مسلكاً كلفا

    He commands the ways of the days, compelling them

    To reverse the burdensome course they have followed.

  17. خرق تلاعب بالدهر المجدِّ على

    تعاقب الدهر ثبت الجاش ما اختلفا

    A gallant who toyed with earnest Time; through

    Time's successive turns, steadfast of heart, he never changed.

  18. ملازم شرعة المعروف يكلؤها

    ما زاغ عن سنن عنها ولا انحرفا

    Constant in the law of kindness, he watches over it;

    He never strayed from its straight course, nor turned aside.

  19. سمحٌ تبرَّع بالاحسان مبتدأً

    ثم استقلَّ فاثنى مكثرا سرفا

    Generous, he freely offered kindness from the outset,

    Then deemed it little and doubled it, giving lavishly beyond measure.

  20. مغوار يوم طراد شامس قضبا

    خواض يوم عجاج غائم سدفا

    A bold raider on a day of combat, sun-bright with swords;

    He plunges into a day of battle-dust, clouded with darkness.