1. إِنِّي عَلَى جَنابَةِ التَنَحِّي

    وَعَضِّ ذاكَ المَغْرَمِ المُلِحِّ

    I, despite the remoteness of my withdrawal,

    and the bite of that unrelenting debt,

  2. لا أَبْتَغِي سَيْب اللَّئِيم القُحِّ

    قَدْ كادَ مِنْ نَحْنَحَةٍ وَأَحِّ

    do not seek the bounty of a thoroughgoing scoundrel.

    With throat-clearing and an 'ahem,' he nearly

  3. يَحْكِي سُعالَ الشَرِق الأَبَحِّ

    عَبدِ الْمِقَدَّيْن أَنْوح الأَفْحِ

    imitates the cough of a choking, hoarse man—

    slave of al-Miqaddayn, Anūḥ the hoarse.

  4. بادِي الكُدَى يُعْيِي انْتِحاتَ النَقْحِ

    تَراهُ يَرْبُو بِطْنَةَ المُجِحِّ

    His rocky hardness shows; he defies all chiseling and scraping.

    You see him swell like a heavily pregnant creature's belly,

  5. لُؤْماً وَإِنْ خَادَعْتَهُ بِالمَسْحِ

    صَارَ إِلَى تَعَلُّلٍ وَأَزْحِ

    with baseness; and even if you coax him with flattery,

    he turns to excuses and holding back.

  6. وَعَجَباً لِلآمِنِ المُضَحِّي

    وَقَدْ أُصادِي بِالمُقَامِ الصِرْحِ

    And how strange the man secure in open daylight,

    while I confront, in an open encounter,

  7. أَوْقاً وَأَعْداءً ثِقَالَ الرَزْح

    يا خَيَّ لا أَفْرَق أَنْ تَفِحِّي

    a burden and enemies of crushing weight.

    O brother, I do not fear your hissing,

  8. أَو أَنْ تَحِفِّي كرَحَى المُرَحِّي

    إِنِّي أَنَا الدامِغُ وَالمُصَحِّي

    or your whirring like a miller's grindstone.

    I am the skull-crusher and the one who clears away,

  9. بِالنارِ عَنْ أُمِّ الفِراخِ الوُكْحِ

    يَخْشَعُ لِي شَيْطانُ كُلِّ طَمْحِ

    with fire, from the mother of the hardy chicks.

    The demon of every headstrong one cowers before me.

  10. وَيْلٌ لِمَنْ حارَبَنِي وَصُلْحِي

    صُلْحٌ لِمَنْ باشَرَنِي بِنُصْحِ

    Woe to whoever wars with me; and my peace

    is peace for whoever deals with me sincerely.

  11. إِنِّي لأَسْقِي الشانِئِينَ جَدْحِي

    قَواتِلاً مِنْ غَلَثِيِّ الذَرْحِ

    I surely give my haters my mixed brew,

    deadly draughts from a mixture of blister-beetles.

  12. قَدْ ذاقَ هاماتُ العِدَى مِنْ نَطْحِي

    صُلْبَ الحِجاجَيْنِ رَحِيبَ الجُرْحِ

    The heads of foes have tasted my butting,

    hard at both eye-sockets, wide in its wound,

  13. مِنْ صَقْعِ قَرْنَيْهِ دَوَامِي القَرْحِ

    بِحَيْثُ شَجَّا مِنْ كِفاحِ الكَفْحِ

    from its two horns' blows, with bleeding sores,

    where the two gashed in head-on combat,

  14. آثارَ ثُعْل كَالرِحالِ الرُكْحِ

    وَأَنَا في تَحَلُّمِي وَفَشْحِي

    marks of Thuʿl, like broad saddles.

    And while I show forbearance and lift

  15. عَنْ نَفَسِ المُكْرُوبِ حَرَّ اللَفْحِ

    في كُلِّ يَوْمٍ مُسْمَهِرِّ الصَمْحِ

    the scorching blast's heat from the anguished soul,

    on every day of fierce harshness,

  16. يُرْهِبُ زَأرِي كَلَبَاتِ النَبْحِ

    وَالمُخدِراتِ في الإِجامِ المُلْحِ

    my roar terrifies barking fits of fury

    and the lair-dwellers in the gray thickets.

  17. وَالبُزْلَ قَدْ دَوَّخْتُها بِالْكَبْحِ

    خَواضِعاً مِنْ صادِماتِ الرَنْحِ

    And mature camels I have subdued with the rein,

    bowed beneath blows that make them stagger.

  18. ذاكَ وَأُنحي العَضَّ حينَ أُنْحِي

    وَسَمُّ أَنْيابِي جُراز الذَبْحِ

    That is so; I aim my bite when I bear down,

    and my fangs' venom is a ruthless blade of slaughter.

  19. وَناضِبِ الماءِ قَلِيلِ الشَبْحِ

    أَزْوَرَ بِالرَكْبِ رَكُوضِ الرُمْحِ

    And a waterless tract, with few forms in sight,

    turning the riders aside, setting their spears bounding,

  20. صِيرَانُهُ فَوْضَى بِكُلِّ نَدْحِ

    يَحْجُجْنَ بِالقَيْظِ حِفافَ الرَدْحِ

    its wild-cattle herds roam free in every open expanse,

    making for the edges of broad shelter in summer heat,

  21. حَجَّ النَصَارى العِيدَ يَوْمَ الفِصْحِ

    كَأَنَّ أَصْوات الصَدَى ذِي الضَبْحِ

    like Christians' pilgrimage to the feast on Easter day.

    As though the calls of the gasping owl

  22. بِاللَيْل أَصْوات النِياح الصُدْحِ

    يَسْقِي بِهِ الجُونُ فِراخَ الضِحِّ

    at night were the voices of loud-crying mourners.

    There the dark bird gives drink to the chicks in the sun,

  23. زُغْباً بِمُلْقىً عِنْدَ قَيْضِ المُحِّ

    قَطَعْتُهُ وَالآلُ جارِي السَبْحِ

    downy where they lie, beside the yolk's shell.

    I crossed it while the mirage flowed as though swimming,

  24. وَالسَيْف أَدْنَى صاحِبٍ مِنْ كَشْحِي

    بِشَمَّرِيَّاتِ القِلاصِ المُرْحِ

    and the sword was the closest companion to my flank,

    on swift, lively young she-camels,

  25. قَدْ عَضَّ أَنْساعٌ بِهِا كَالوُشْحِ

    صُهْبِ الذَفارَى طَيِّباتِ النَتْحِ

    with girth-straps biting into them like sashes,

    tawny behind the ears, sweet-smelling in their sweat,

  26. إِذا جَرَى مِنْها انْفِصَادُ الرَشْحِ

    وَقَدْ جَرَى فَوْقَ المِتانِ الفُضْحِ

    when perspiration burst forth and ran from them;

    and over their pale-reddish backs there flowed

  27. أَبْيَضُ مِنْ رَقْراقِهِنَّ الوُضْحِ

    وَالرِيحُ تُذْرِي الخَرْقَ بَعْدَ الكَسْحِ

    white froth from their clear, shimmering sweat,

    while the wind winnowed the waste after sweeping it,

  28. في عَمِق الأَجْوافِ نائِي النَدْحِ

    خاو مَسَاقِيهِ شَطُونِ اللُجْحِ

    in a land of deep hollows and far-reaching expanses,

    its watering places empty, its recesses far away.