1. أَيُّها الآمِلُ خَيماتِ النَقا

    خَف عَلى قَلبِكَ تِلكَ الحَدَقا

    O you who long for the tents on the dune,

    fear those eyes for your heart's sake.

  2. إِنَّ سِرباً حُشِيَ الخَيمُ بِهِ

    رُبَّما غَرَّكَ حَتّى تَرمُقا

    For a herd with which the tents are filled

    may beguile you until you gaze.

  3. لا تُثِرها فِتنَةً مِن رَبرَبٍ

    تُرعِدُ الأُسدُ لَدَيهِ فَرَقا

    Do not stir up that temptation from a herd of gazelles,

    before which lions tremble in fear.

  4. وَاِنجُ عَنها لَحظَةً سَهمِيَّةً

    طالَ ما بَلَّت رِدائي عَلَقا

    And flee that arrow-like glance,

    which has long drenched my cloak in clotted blood.

  5. وَإِذا قيلَ نَجا الرَكبُ فَقُل

    كَيفَما سالَمَ تِلكَ الطُرُقا

    And if they say, 'The caravan escaped,' then say:

    'How did it make peace with those roads?'

  6. يا رُماةَ الحَيِّ مَوهوبٌ لَكُم

    ما سَفَكتُم مِن دَمي يَومَ النَفا

    O archers of the encampment, yours as a gift is

    what you shed of my blood on the day of al-Nafa.

  7. ما تَعَمَّدتُم وَلكِن سَبَبٌ

    قَرَّبَ الحَينَ وَأَمرٌ سَبَقا

    You did not intend it; rather, a cause

    brought death near, and a decree had gone before.

  8. وَاِلتِفاتاتٌ تَلَقَّت عَرَضاً

    مَقتَلَ الصبِّ فَخلَّتهُ لَقى

    And glances happened to strike

    the lover's fatal spot, leaving him cast aside.

  9. آهِ مِن جَفنٍ قَريحٍ بَعدَكُم

    يَشتَكي خَدّايَ مِنهُ الغَرَقا

    Ah, for an eyelid sore since you left:

    my two cheeks complain of being flooded by it;

  10. وَحَشا غَيرِ قَريرٍ كُلَّما

    رُمتُ أَن يَهدَأَ عَنكُم خَفَقا

    and an unquiet breast: whenever

    I try to calm its yearning for you, it throbs;

  11. وَفُؤادٍ لَم أَضَع قَطُّ يَدي

    فَوقَهُ خِيفَة أَن تَحتَرِقا

    and a heart—I have never laid my hand

    upon it, for fear my hand would burn.

  12. ما لِنَجمٍ عَكَفَت عَيني عَلى

    رَعيِهِ لَيسَ يَرِيمُ الأُفُقا

    What ails a star my eye is intent on

    watching, that it never leaves the horizon?

  13. وَلِعَينٍ خَلَعَت فيكَ الكَرى

    كَيفَ لَم تَخلَع عَلَيكَ الأَرَقا

    And an eye that cast off sleep for you—

    how has it not cast sleeplessness upon you?

  14. أَيُّها اللُوّامُ ما أَهدَأَكُم

    عَن قُلوبٍ أَسهَرَتنا قَلَقا

    O reproachers, how untroubled you are

    by hearts that have kept us sleepless with anxiety!

  15. ما الَّذي تَبغُونَ مِن تَعذِيبِها

    بَعدَما ذابَت عَلَيكُم حُرَقا

    What do you seek by tormenting them,

    after they have melted in burning anguish over you?

  16. قَومَنا فُوزوا بِسُلوانِكُمُ

    وَدَعُوا بِاللَهِ مِن تَشوَّقا

    Our people, enjoy your solace,

    and, by God, leave the one who yearns alone.

  17. وَاِرحَموا في غَسَقِ الظَلماءِ مَن

    باتَ بِالدَمعِ يَبُلُّ الغَسَقا

    And pity, in the gloom of the dark night, the one who

    spends the night drenching the darkness with tears.

  18. عَلِّلُونا بِالمُنى مِنكُم وَلَو

    بِخَيالٍ مِنكُمُ أَن يَطرُقا

    Comfort us with hopes of you, even

    with a phantom of you that visits by night.

  19. وَعِدُونا بِلِقاءٍ مِنكُمُ

    فَكَثيرٌ مِنكُمُ ذِكرُ اللِقا

    And promise us a meeting with you,

    for even your mention of meeting means much.

  20. لَو خَشِينا الجَورَ مِن جيرَتِنا

    لَاِنتَصَفنا قَبلَ أَن نَفتَرِقا

    Had we feared injustice from our neighbors,

    we would have sought redress before we parted,

  21. وَاِصطَبَحنا الآنَ مِن فَضلَةِ ما

    قَد شَرِبنا ذلِكَ المُغتَبَقا

    and would now drink at dawn from the remainder of what

    we had drunk—that evening draught.

  22. فَسَقى اللَهُ عَشِيّاتِ الحِمى

    وَالحِمى أَكرَم هَطّالٍ سَقى

    May God water the evenings of the protected pasture,

    and the pasture, with the most generous downpour ever to fall.

  23. قَد رُزِقناها وَكانَت عيشَةً

    قَلَّما فازَ بِها مَن رُزِقا

    We were granted them; it was a life

    rarely enjoyed by anyone blessed with good fortune.

  24. لا وَسَهمٍ جاءَ مِن نَحوِكُمُ

    إِنَّهُ أَقتَلُ سَهمٍ فُوِّقا

    No, by an arrow that came from your direction—

    it is the deadliest arrow ever nocked—

  25. وَحُلى نَجدٍ سَنُجري ذِكرَها

    أَوسَعَتنا في الهَوى مُرتَفَقا

    and by the jewels of Najd, whose memory we shall recount,

    which gave us ample solace in love—

  26. ما حَلا بَعدَكُم العَيشُ لَنا

    مُذ تَباعَدتُم وَلا طابَ البَقا

    life has not been sweet for us since you left,

    since you grew distant; nor has living been pleasant.

  27. فَمَنِ المُنبي إِلَينا خَبَراً

    وَعَلى مُخبِرِنا أَن يَصدُقا

    Who, then, will bring us news?

    And our informant must tell the truth:

  28. هَل دَرَت بابِلُ أَنّا فِئَةٌ

    تَجعَلُ السِحرَ مِنَ السِحرِ رُقى

    Has Babylon learned that we are a company

    that makes magic into charms against magic?

  29. نَنقُشُ الآيَةَ في أَضلاعِنا

    فَتَقينا كُلَّ شَيءٍ يُتَّقى

    We engrave upon our ribs the verse—

    which shields us from all that must be guarded against—

  30. مِن بَنانِ الوَزَرِ الأَعلى الَّذي

    يُخجِلُ السِحرَ إِذا ما نَطَقا

    from the fingertips of the supreme refuge, who

    puts magic to shame whenever he speaks.