1. أَجَدَّ بِعَمرَةَ غُنيانُها

    فَتَهجُرَ أَم شَأنُنا شانُها

    Has ‘Amrah truly grown indifferent,

    so you should forsake her—or is her plight like ours?

  2. وَإِن تُمسِ شَطَّت بِها دارُها

    وَباحَ لَكَ اليَومَ هِجرانُها

    And though by evening her home has borne her far away,

    and today her estrangement is plain to you,

  3. فَما رَوضَةٌ مِن رِياضِ القَطا

    كَأَنَّ المَصابيحَ حَوذانُها

    no meadow among the sandgrouse meadows—

    as though lamps were its buttercups—

  4. بِأَحسَنَ مِنها وَلا مُزنَةٌ

    دَلوحٌ تَكَشَّفُ أَدجانُها

    is fairer than she, nor a rain cloud

    heavy with rain, whose darkness clears.

  5. وَعَمرَةُ مِن سَرَواتِ النِسا

    ءِ تَنفَحُ بِالمِسكِ أَردانُها

    And ‘Amrah is among the noblest of women;

    her sleeves waft musk.

  6. وَنَحنُ الفَوارِسُ يَومَ الرَبي

    عِ قَد عَلِموا كَيفَ فُرسانُها

    And we were the horsemen on the day of al-Rabi‘;

    they know well what its horsemen are like.

  7. جَنَبنا الحِرابَ وَراءَ الصَري

    خِ حَتّى تَقَصَّفَ مُرّانُها

    We led the spears behind the caller for aid,

    until their ashwood shafts splintered.

  8. فَلَمّا اِستَقَلَّ كَلَيثِ الغَري

    فِ زانَ الكَتيبَةَ أَعوانُها

    Then, when he rose like a lion of the thicket,

    its supporters lent the battalion splendor.

  9. تَراهُنَّ يُخلَجنَ خَلجَ الدِلا

    ءِ تَختَلِجُ النَزعَ أَشطانُها

    You see them jerked as buckets are jerked,

    their ropes tugging as they are drawn up.

  10. وَلاقى الشَقاءَ لَدى حَربِنا

    دُحَيٌّ وَعَوفٌ وَإِخوانُها

    And in war with us, suffering befell

    Duhayy, ‘Awf, and their kindred.

  11. رَدَدنا الكَتيبَةَ مَفلولَةً

    بِها أَفنُها وَبِها ذانُها

    We drove the battalion back, routed,

    with its weakness and its blemish.

  12. وَقَد عَلِموا أَن مَتى نَنبَعِث

    عَلى مِثلِها تَذكُ نيرانُها

    And they know that whenever we set out

    against one like it, its fires blaze.

  13. وَلَولا كَراهَةُ سَفكِ الدِماءِ

    لَعادَ لِيَثرِبَ أَديانُها

    And but for aversion to shedding blood,

    Yathrib would have regained its old order.

  14. وَيَثرِبُ تَعلَمُ أَنَّ النَبي

    تَ راسٍ بِيَثرِبَ ميزانُها

    And Yathrib knows that al-Nabit's

    balance stands firm in Yathrib.

  15. حِسانُ الوُجوهِ حِدادُ السُيو

    فِ يَبتَدِرُ المَجدَ شُبّانُها

    Fair of face, keen of sword,

    its young men race for glory.

  16. وَبِالشَوطِ مِن يَثرِبٍ أَعبُدٌ

    سَتَهلِكُ في الخَمرِ أَثمانُها

    And at al-Shawt in Yathrib are slaves;

    their prices will be squandered on wine.

  17. يَهونُ عَلى الأَوسِ أَثمانُهُم

    إِذا راحَ يَخطِرُ نَشوانُها

    Their prices mean little to al-Aws

    when its drunkard goes swaggering forth.

  18. أَتَتهُم عَرانينُ مِن مالِكٍ

    سِراعٌ إِلى الرَوعِ فِتيانُها

    Chieftains from Malik came upon them,

    its young men swift toward battle's terror.

  19. وَقَد عَلِموا أَنَّ ما فَلَّهُم

    حَديدُ النَبيتِ وَأَعيانُها

    And they know that what broke them

    was al-Nabit's iron and its foremost men.