1. يا عامِلاً تَحتَ الظَلامِ مَطِيَّهُ

    مُتخايلاً لا بَل وَغَيرَ مُخايِلِ

    O you who drive your mount beneath the darkness,

    swaggering—no, rather, without swagger.

  2. أَنَّى أَتَحتَ لِشابك أَنيابَهُ

    مُستَأنِسٍ بِدُجى الظَلامِ منازِلِ

    How did you come upon one with interlocking fangs,

    a fighter at home in the gloom of darkness?

  3. لا يَستَريعُ عَظيمَةً يُرمى بِها

    حَصّاءَ تحسرُ عَن عِظامِ الكاهِلِ

    He does not flinch at a calamity hurled upon him,

    devastating, laying bare the bones of the shoulders;

  4. حَرباً تَنَصَّبَهُ بِبِنتِ هَواجِرٍ

    عادي الأَشاجِعِ كَالحُسامِ الناصِلِ

    a foe you confront in a waste born of midday heat,

    mighty-knuckled, like a sword drawn from its sheath.

  5. لَم يَدرِ ما غرف القُصورِ وَفَيؤُها

    طاوٍ بِنَخل سَوادها المُتَمايلِ

    He has never known palace chambers and their shade,

    empty-bellied among the palms, their dark mass swaying.

  6. يَقِظ الفُؤاد إِذا القُلوبُ تَآنَسَت

    جَزَعاً وَنُبِّهَ كُلُّ أَروَعَ باسِلِ

    His heart stays wakeful when hearts seek company

    in fear, and every formidable, valiant man is roused;

  7. حَيثُ الدُجى متَطَلِّعاً لِغَفولِهِ

    كَالذِّئبِ في غَلَسِ الظَلامِ الخاتِلِ

    there in the gloom, watching for his moment of heedlessness,

    like a stalking wolf in the dim darkness before dawn.

  8. فَوَجَدتَهُ ثَبتَ الجَنانِ مُشَيّعاً

    رُكّابَ مَنسِجِ كُلِّ أَمرٍ هائِلِ

    So you found him steadfast of heart, undaunted,

    ever riding the withers of every terrifying undertaking.

  9. فَقَراكَ أَبيَضَ كَالعَقيقَةِ صارِماً

    ذا رَونَقٍ يَغشى الضَريبَةَ فاصِلِ

    So he served you a keen white blade, like a streak of lightning,

    gleaming, falling upon its target and cleaving through.

  10. فَرَكِبتَ رَدعَكَ بَينَ ثَنيي فائِرٍ

    يَعلو بِهِ أَثَرُ الدِماءِ وَشائِلِ

    Then you fell headlong into your blood, between two seething folds,

    where the trace of blood rises, mounting high.