راحت له من جنوح الليل نافجة

راحت له من جنوح الليل نافجة

لا الضبَ ممتنع منها ولا الوَرَلُ

لا الضبَ ممتنع منها ولا الوَرَلُ

At nightfall, a rain-bearing cloud came to it;

From the darkness of night came a raging storm

Neither the spiny-tailed lizard nor the monitor lizard is safe from it.

Neither hyena nor jackal could resist it

يستخرج الحشرات الخُشنَ ريِّقُها

يستخرج الحشرات الخُشنَ ريِّقُها

كأن أرؤسَه في موجه الخَشَلُ

كأن أرؤسَه في موجه الخَشَلُ

Its first downpour flushes out the rough-skinned creeping creatures,

Its harshness extracts insects

As though their heads amid its waves were ornamental beads,

As if its heads were in waves of gravel

في ليلة مطلع الجوزاء أولها

في ليلة مطلع الجوزاء أولها

دهماً لا قُرَح فيه ولا رَجَلُ

دهماً لا قُرَح فيه ولا رَجَلُ

On a night whose beginning was the rising of al-Jawza,

On the first night when Gemini rose

Pitch-black, with neither forehead blazes nor white hind-leg markings.

It attacked suddenly, with no wounds or feet