1. حُييّتِ يا دار ذاتِ القرط من دار

    فأنت موضعُ اشجِاني وَأوْطاري

    Hail, O dwelling of the earring-wearer—what a dwelling!

    For you are the place of my sorrows and desires.

  2. ولا عَدَتْك من الوسميِّ غاديةٌ

    أو مبكرٌ غَدِقٌ أو مدلجٌ سَاري

    And may no morning shower of the autumn rains pass you by,

    or an early, copious downpour, or one traveling through the night.

  3. ومَا تناسيت والدنيا مفرقةٌ

    سرٌّ له أوْدَعَتني أمُّ عَمّارِ

    And I have not forgotten—though the world sunders us—

    a secret of his that Umm Ammar entrusted to me.

  4. غَوريةٌ سكنتْ نجداً فقد قسمتْ

    أحشاي مَا بين أنجادٍ وأغوارِ

    A woman of the Ghawr lowlands who settled in Najd has divided

    my vitals between uplands and lowlands.

  5. لا تُوقَدُ النارُ ليلاً حول خيمتها

    إلا وبتّ أفدي موُقدَ النار

    No fire is kindled by night around her tent

    but I spend the night offering myself as ransom for its kindler.

  6. عَجْزاء هيفاء شمسٌ تحتها قمَرٌ

    على كثيب وهذا صُنعة الباري

    Full-hipped, slender-waisted: a sun with a moon beneath it,

    upon a sand-dune—this is the Creator's handiwork.

  7. المسك في شفتيها والأقاح بل الم

    اءُ القَراحُ وَوَمْضُ البارق الساري

    Musk is upon her lips, and daisies—rather,

    pure, clear water, and the gleam of lightning passing by night.

  8. وأهلُها أهل أنْعامٍ ومُقْربَةٍ

    جردٍ وكلُّ أصم الكعب خطار

    Her people own livestock and prized, stabled horses,

    sleek-coated, and every swaying spear with solid joints.

  9. لو تلمس الريح خدراً من خدوُرِهم

    غصَّتْ بكل رُدينيّ وبتار

    Were the wind to touch one of their secluded chambers,

    it would choke on every Rudayni spear and cleaving sword.

  10. مَنْ مُبلغٌ لي عكاً حيثُ مَا نَزَلت

    ويَعْرُبَّا ويُنبّي الكلّ أخباري

    Who will tell Akk for me, wherever it has settled,

    and Ya'rub, and tell everyone my news:

  11. إني حللتُ مَنِ الدحمي في حَرمِ

    يحمي حماه بليثِ الغابة الضاري

    I have lodged in al-Duhmi's sanctuary;

    he guards his domain with the forest's ravening lion.

  12. أني نزلت بمن زُوَّاره زُمَرٌ

    مثل الحجيج فرد الكلّ زَوّاري

    I have settled with one whose visitors come in throngs,

    like pilgrims; he made them all my visitors.

  13. عندَ الذي يهبُ الدنيا ويحتقر الأخ

    رى بل الرجل العَاري من العار

    At the side of one who gives away this world and disdains

    the other—nay, a man stripped of all disgrace.

  14. جالستُ منه ابن سعدى في الخورنق ب

    ل جالست عمرو بن هند ناقم الثاري

    In him, I sat with Ibn Sa'da in al-Khawarnaq—

    nay, I sat with Amr ibn Hind, the exactor of vengeance.

  15. وابين الوجه من سَاج أهل به لا

    م بن حارث خيرٌ وابن أخيار

    And brighter of face than saj [a cloak or teak; wording unclear], hailed by

    Lam ibn Harith, a good man and son of good men.

  16. ما أن دعوت أبا بَكْرٍ لمكْرُمةٍ

    إلاَّ أجاب كسيل الديَّمة الجاري

    Whenever I called Abu Bakr to a generous deed,

    he answered like the flowing torrent of a steady rain.

  17. أهْدىَ الصنَائع حتى لم تسع خيمي

    جَرّ الذبائح حتى مَلّ جزّاري

    He bestowed favors until my tents could hold no more;

    he brought beasts for slaughter until my butcher wearied.

  18. ما أن بدالي إلاَّ قلتُ حين بدَا

    هذا رفيق رسولِ الله في الغارِ

    Whenever he appeared to me, I said as he appeared:

    'This is the companion of God's Messenger in the cave.'

  19. أحيا ابن دحم زمانَ البرمكين وقد

    غابوا فصرت كأن القومَ حُضّاري

    Ibn Duhm revived the age of the two Barmakids, though

    they were gone; I felt as though those men were present with me.

  20. أهُدي إليه من الأشعار جوهرَها

    وجوهرُ الشيخ عَالٍ فوق أشعاري

    I offer him the gems of poetry,

    yet the sheikh's own jewel stands high above my poems.

  21. تدعوه سعدُ ابن نبت شيخ جُمْلتها

    إذ كان أيَّ حمىّ الأنف مغواري

    Sa'd ibn Nabt's clan calls him chief of all its people,

    for he was fiercely proud of honor, a daring raider.

  22. لم يعتكفْ حولَ صَهْباءٍ ولا وترٍ

    بل ليث عادية طَلاّبُ أوتار

    He did not sit absorbed in tawny wine or a lute-string,

    but was a lion of the raiding host, an ardent seeker of vengeance.

  23. لما شددتُ إليه العيس من بلدي

    حَلتْ على الخصب أجمالي وأكواري

    When I saddled the pale camels to go to him from my homeland,

    my camels and saddle-frames alighted on fertile ground.

  24. مَا بين ذي رمع بيتي إلى نبع

    الشعب شعبي والأشجارُ أشجاري

    My home stretches from Dhu Rima' to Nab';

    the ravine is my ravine, and the trees are my trees.

  25. قال السَّمَؤْال جاري جارُ منزلتي

    وقال أخر جاري من رأى ناري

    Al-Samaw'al said, 'My neighbor is my dwelling's neighbor.'

    And another said, 'My neighbor is whoever sees my fire.'

  26. وزاد عنه ابن دُحمٍ في حميّته

    فقال جاري مَنْ جاءَته أخباري

    And Ibn Duhm surpassed him in protective zeal,

    so he said, 'My neighbor is whoever receives news of me.'

  27. فقلْتُ ذكرك في الدنيا باجمعِها

    فقال نابي يَحْمِيَها وأظفاري

    So I said, 'You are spoken of throughout the whole world.'

    He said, 'My fang and claws protect it.'

  28. مَا حيلتي فيه أنهاه ويغلِبُني

    وهل يُرَدّ بكفٍ مَوْجَ تيارِ

    What can I do with him? I try to restrain him, but he overcomes me.

    And can a torrent's surge be checked with a palm?

  29. لا يذكرُ اسمُكَ في بادٍ ولا حضرٍ

    إلا كأن منك فيه ألف عطار

    Your name is never mentioned in desert or town

    but it seems as though a thousand perfumers of yours were there.

  30. وما سبقت إلى بأس ولا كرم

    بل أنت أسبقهمُ في كل مضمارِ

    And you have never been outstripped in valor or generosity;

    rather, you outpace them all on every racecourse.

  31. من ساد وهو بلا نفعٍ ولا ضررٍ

    فلم يزل أيّ نفاع وضرّار

    Who has ever ruled without benefiting or harming?

    For he has always been a great benefactor and dealer of harm.

  32. الكسْرُ تجبره والجبْرُ تكسره

    ولم تزل أي كسّارٍ وجَبَّارِ

    You mend what is broken and break what is mended,

    and you have always been a consummate breaker and restorer.

  33. شيّدت لامَ بن حار حين أنت لها

    حامٍ بقدرك يعلو كل مقدار

    You exalted Lam ibn Har, for you are its

    protector, rising in stature above every measure.

  34. أبا محمد بل عثمان لا برحت

    تسقي ربوعك أمطاراً بامطارِ

    Abu Muhammad—nay, Uthman—may you never cease

    watering your dwellings with rain upon rain.

  35. إني لمنك كسلمان لأحمده

    صاف مودته من غير أكدار

    I am indeed one of yours, as Salman was to his Ahmad,

    his affection pure, free of all murk.

  36. ولو مَدحتُك بالقرءأن فهو أتي

    إلى ابن عمّك طوراً بعد أطوارِ

    And even were I to praise you with the Qur'an, it came

    to your cousin, stage after stage.

  37. وكان جبريل يأتي ببيت مكتكمُ

    محبّةً لنبيٍّ فيه مُختارِ

    And Gabriel used to come to the house in your Mecca,

    out of love for a prophet chosen there.

  38. فزادك الله عمراً ما سرى قمرٌ

    ومَا تمايلن أغصانٌ باطيار

    So may God lengthen your life as long as the moon journeys by night,

    and branches sway with birds.