1. حَدِّث فقد حَدَّثَتنا دَوحَةُ السَّلَمِ

    عَنُهم فَما أَنتَ في قَولِ بِمُتَّهَمِ

    Tell us, for the spreading acacia tree has told us

    of them; you are not suspected of falsehood in your speech.

  2. أَخيَّموا بالكَثيبِ الفردِ أم نَزلوا

    منابتَ الرَّندِ بالوَعساءِ من إضَمِ

    Did they camp by the solitary dune, or settle

    where laurels grow in Iḍam’s soft sands?

  3. هل حدَّثُوكَ فأَضحى الدُّرُّ من صَدفِ ال

    ثُغورِ ما بين مَنثورٍ وَمُنتَظمِ

    Did they speak to you, so that pearls from the shells of

    their mouths became scattered or strung together?

  4. أضحَى النَّسيمُ عَليلاً ما بِهِ رَمَقٌ

    لَمَّا رَمَوهُ منَ الأَجفانِ بالسَّقَمِ

    The breeze grew ailing, with not a spark of life left,

    when they struck it with sickness from their eyelids.

  5. يا بَرقُ حَيِّ بريقَ الجزعِ عن جَزعِ

    واقرَ السَّلامَ على حَيٍّ بذي سَلمِ

    O lightning, greet Burayq al-Jizʿ on behalf of one in anguish,

    and convey greetings to a clan at Dhū Salam.

  6. أهوى حديثَ قديمِ العهد إن نَطقَت

    بِهِ المعَاهدُ عن أحبابِنا القُدُمِ

    I love tales of times long past, if voiced

    by the old haunts about our beloveds of old.

  7. وَيزدهيني وَميضُ البَرقِ في سَدَفٍ

    منَ الظَّلامِ يُحاكي ثَغرَ مُبتَسمِ

    And the lightning’s flash enchants me in the gloom

    of darkness, resembling the mouth of one who smiles.

  8. يا مَورِدَ الوَصلِ من أَجراعِ كاظِمَةٍ

    نحنُ العِطاشُ إلى سلسالِكَ الشَّبِمِ

    O watering place of reunion among Kāẓima’s sandy flats,

    we are the thirsty, longing for your cold, sweet-flowing water.

  9. أعائدٌ فيكَ ما قَضَّيتُ من وَطَرٍ

    معَ الظِّباءِ وَلَو في طارِقِ الحُلمُ

    Will the pleasures I enjoyed in you return,

    with the gazelles, even in a dream that comes by night?

  10. أَفدي أناساً لووا عَهدَ اللِّوى وَنأوا

    عَني وما حلتُ عن عَهدي ولا ذِمَمي

    I would give my life for people who twisted al-Liwā’s pledge and went far

    from me; yet I have not swerved from my pledge or my obligations.

  11. أَحِبَّةً كُلَّما عَنَّ ادِّكارُهُمُ

    تَبَدَّلَ الدَّمعُ مِن تَذكارِهمِ بدَمِ

    Beloveds—whenever remembrance of them arises,

    tears turn to blood through remembering them.

  12. قَلبي لَهُم حَيثُ ساروا مَنزِلٌ وَهُمُ

    في الطَّرفِ مِنِّي وَذا مِن جُملةِ النِّعمِ

    My heart is their home wherever they travel, and they

    are in my eyes; this is one of my blessings.