1. أنا من رايةَ في وَجْدٍ وهَمْ

    وغرامٍ وسقامٍ وألمْ

    Because of Raya, I am in longing and sorrow,

    and passion, sickness, and pain.

  2. أتراها وجدت في حِبنَا

    ما وجدنا في هواها من سقمْ

    Do you think she has felt in loving us

    the sickness we have felt in loving her?

  3. أسهرُ الليلَ وتغَفو ليلَها

    أيُساوي نائماً مَن لم ينمْ

    I stay awake all night, while she dozes through hers.

    Can one who has not slept equal a sleeper?

  4. لا تشوبي الوعدَ بالمَطل لنا

    إن مَطْلَ الوعدِ يا رايةُ ذَمْ

    Do not taint your promise to us with delay;

    for delaying a promise, O Raya, is blameworthy.

  5. زوديني منكِ يوماً قُبلةً

    علهَّا تُوجدني بعدَ عَدمْ

    Grant me, one day, a kiss from you;

    perhaps it will bring me into being after nothingness.

  6. قد بَراني الشوقُ سُقماً مثلما

    قد بَرى الكاتبُ للخطّ قلمْ

    Longing has worn me thin with sickness, just as

    the scribe has pared a pen for writing.

  7. أنسيتِ العهدَ يا رايَ لدى

    سَمُراتِ الحيّ عن يُمن الأُكمْ

    Have you forgotten the pledge, O Raya, by

    the camp's acacia trees, to the right of the hillocks,

  8. وكلاماً ليتني أسمُعهُ

    تارةَ منكِ كما قِدْماً نَجَمْ

    and words I wish I could hear

    once more from you, as they came forth long ago:

  9. ليتني أفديك يا مولى الورى

    من أذى الدَّهرِ وتغييرِ النعمْ

    “Would that I could ransom you, O master of humankind,

    from time's harm and the overturning of blessings”?

  10. فتصاممتُ كأني لم أنَلْ

    سَمْعَ ما قلتِ وما بي من صَممْ

    So I feigned deafness, as though I had not

    heard what you said, though no deafness afflicts me.

  11. فأعدِيِه وأقسمت على

    صدق دعواك بذي العرشِ قسمْ

    “So repeat it!” And you swore to

    the truth of your claim—an oath by the Lord of the Throne.

  12. ثمَّ فِئنا لفراشٍ ناعمٍ

    واعتناقٍ والتزامٍ ونعِمْ

    Then we returned to a soft bed,

    and embracing, clinging, and bliss.

  13. لا يَروعنَّك ذلي في الهوى

    فلكم حطَّ الهوى من ذي هَممْ

    Let not my abasement in love alarm you;

    for how often love has brought low a man of high resolve!

  14. لا تشُكيّ أنني ليثُ شرىَ

    أذْهلَ الليث إذا الليثُ هُجمْ

    Do not doubt that I am a lion of Shara,

    who stunned the lion when the lion was assailed.

  15. تُبَّعيٌّ يَعربيٌّ ماجدٌ

    محصدُ النجدةِ فيَّاضْ الكرمْ

    A Tubba'ite, a Ya'rubite, noble,

    firm in valor, overflowing with generosity,

  16. أروعٌ شهمٌ جريٌّ باسلٌ

    طاهرُ الأثواب راعٍ للِذممْ

    imposing, gallant, daring, valiant,

    pure of garments, a guardian of covenants.

  17. لو تصفّحت ملوكَ الأرضِ لم

    تبصري غيري عَفافا وكرمْ

    If you surveyed the kings of the earth, you would not

    see any but me possessed of chastity and generosity.

  18. أخمدُ الهولَ إذا الهولُ عَلا

    وأميتُ الجوع جَوداً والعَدَمْ

    I quench terror when terror rises,

    and through generosity I slay hunger and want.

  19. أنا مَولى كل ملكٍ قاهرٍ

    وملوكُ الأرض جُندٌ وخدمْ

    I am master of every conquering king,

    and the kings of the earth are troops and servants.

  20. كلّ يومٍ تمطرُ الأرضَ يدي

    دَيماً مُسجمةً بعد دَيمْ

    Every day my hand rains upon the earth

    steady, streaming rains, rain after rain.

  21. لي طَعْمانِ فطَعمٌ سائغٌ

    عَذبُ الذَّوْقِ وطعمٌ فيه سُمْ

    I have two flavors: one is palatable,

    sweet to the taste; the other holds poison.

  22. ولقد أبذُلُ ما حُزتُ لكي

    أكسب الحمدَ وأغني ذا العَدَمْ

    And indeed I give freely what I have gained, so that I may

    earn praise and enrich the destitute.

  23. ولقد أطوي الدَّياميمَ إذا

    رَوَّقَ الليلُ هُدوّاً وادْلَهمْ

    And indeed I traverse the trackless wastes when

    night spreads its canopy in stillness and grows pitch-dark,

  24. بَوآةٍ عَنتريسٍ جَسرةٍ

    تقطعُ البيدَ بملكٍ ذي كرمْ

    on a stout she-camel, powerful and robust,

    that crosses the deserts bearing a generous king.

  25. لو رآهُ قَيصرٌ أو حِمْيرٌ

    قبَّلَ الأرضَ لديه ولثمْ

    If Caesar or Himyar saw him,

    he would kiss the earth before him and press his lips to it.

  26. نحنُ أعيانُ ملوكٍ عُوِّدوا

    أخذ ذي البغي وإِسداءَ النعمْ

    We are the foremost among kings, accustomed to

    seizing the oppressor and bestowing blessings.

  27. ولنا عيصٌ كريمٌ فاخرٌ

    يخبرُ الناسَ بعادٍ وإرَمْ

    And ours is a noble, glorious stock

    that tells people of 'Ad and Iram.

  28. سلْ بنا الحيّين من فِهرِ ومن

    يعربٍ والعربَ طُرّاً والعجمْ

    Ask about us the two tribes of Fihr and of

    Ya'rub, and all the Arabs and non-Arabs,

  29. عنْ معالينا وعنْ احسابنا

    ووفانا وسخانا والهِممْ

    about our lofty deeds and our ancestral honors,

    and our fidelity, our generosity, and our high resolve.