مَن عائِدي اللَيلَةَ أَم مَن نَصيح

مَن عائِدي اللَيلَةَ أَم مَن نَصيح

بِتُّ بِنَصبٍ فَفُؤادي قَريح

بِتُّ بِنَصبٍ فَفُؤادي قَريح

Who will visit me tonight, or who will counsel me?

Who returns to me tonight or who gives advice

I spent the night in anguish, and my heart is wounded,

I spend the night in suffering so my heart is devastated

في سَلَفٍ أَرعَنَ مُنفَجِرٍ

في سَلَفٍ أَرعَنَ مُنفَجِرٍ

يُقدِمُ أولى ظُعُنٍ كَالطُلوح

يُقدِمُ أولى ظُعُنٍ كَالطُلوح

Over a vast, spreading vanguard

In past times he let out an explosive neigh

Leading the foremost howdah-borne women, like acacia trees.

Advancing with the first of motions like a young horse

عالَينَ رَقماً فاخِراً لَونُهُ

عالَينَ رَقماً فاخِراً لَونُهُ

مِن عَبقَرِيٍّ كَنَجيعِ الذَبيح

مِن عَبقَرِيٍّ كَنَجيعِ الذَبيح

They draped themselves in patterned cloth, splendid in hue,

Two marks high, his color splendid

Of ʿAbqarī weave, like the blood of a slaughtered beast.

With the scent of musk like the smell of sacrificed meat

وَجامِلٍ خَوَّعَ مِن نيبِهِ

وَجامِلٍ خَوَّعَ مِن نيبِهِ

زَجرُ المُعَلّى أُصُلاً وَالسَفيح

زَجرُ المُعَلّى أُصُلاً وَالسَفيح

And a camel herd whose old she-camels were thinned out

A beautiful one who lowers from his whip

By the late-afternoon casting of al-Muʿallā and al-Safīḥ.

The threat of the driver, whether gentle or rough

مَوضوعُها زَولٌ وَمَرفوعُها

مَوضوعُها زَولٌ وَمَرفوعُها

كَمَرِّ صَوبٍ لَجِبٍ وَسطَ ريح

كَمَرِّ صَوبٍ لَجِبٍ وَسطَ ريح

Their slower gait is a marvel, and their faster gait

Her being set down is departure and her being lifted up

Like the passage of a roaring downpour amid wind.

Is like the flow of a torrent in the middle of the wind