1. أَلا هَزِئَت بِنا قُرَشِي

    يَةٌ يَهتَزُّ مَوكِبُها

    Ah, we were mocked by a Qurayshi

    woman, whose procession sways.

  2. رَأَت بي شيبَةً في الرَأ

    سِ مِنّي ما أُغَيِّبُها

    She saw a gray hair on my

    head, one I do not conceal.

  3. فَقالَت أَبنُ قَيسٍ ذا

    وَغَيرُ الشَيبِ يُعجِبُها

    Then she said, “Is this Ibn Qays?”

    Yet what pleases her is not gray hair.

  4. رَأَتني قَد مَضى مِنّي

    وَغَضّاتٌ صَواحِبُها

    She saw that my youth had passed,

    while her companions were tender young women.

  5. وَمِثلِكِ قَد لَهَوتُ بِها

    تَمامُ الحُسنِ أَعيَبُها

    And with one like you I have dallied;

    perfect beauty was her greatest flaw.

  6. لَها بَعلٌ غَيورٌ قا

    عِدٌ بِالبابِ يَحجُبُها

    She has a jealous husband, who

    sits at the door, keeping her secluded.

  7. يَراني هَكَذا أَمشي

    فَيوعِدُها وَيَضرِبُها

    He sees me walking like this,

    then threatens her and beats her.

  8. ظَلِلتُ عَلى نَمارِقِها

    أُفَدّيها وَأَخلُبُها

    I spent the day upon her cushions,

    offering myself as her ransom and beguiling her.

  9. أُحَدِّثُها فَتُؤمِنُ لي

    فَأَصدُقُها وَأَكذِبُها

    I speak to her, and she believes me;

    so I tell her truths and tell her lies.

  10. فَدَع هَذا وَلَكِن حا

    جَةٌ قَد كُنتُ أَطلُبُها

    So leave this aside; but there is a

    wish I had been pursuing

  11. إِلى أُمِّ البَنينَ مَتى

    يُقَرِّبُها مُقَرِّبُها

    with Umm al-Banin—when

    will the one who brings her near do so?

  12. أَتَتني في المَنامِ فَقُل

    تُ هَذا حينَ أُعقَبُها

    She came to me in a dream, and I

    said, “Now I shall be granted her.”

  13. فَلَمّا أَن فَرِحتُ بِها

    وَمالَ عَلَيَّ أَعذَبُها

    Then, when I rejoiced in her,

    and her sweetest part leaned over me,

  14. شَرِبتُ بِريقِها حَتّى

    نَهِلتُ وَبِتُّ أُشرِبُها

    I drank of her saliva until

    I drank my fill, and spent the night giving her drink.

  15. وَبِتُّ ضَجيعَها جَذلا

    نَ تُعجِبُني وَأُعجِبُها

    And I spent the night as her bedfellow, full of

    joy; she pleased me, and I pleased her.

  16. وَأُضحِكُها وَأُبكيها

    وَأَلبِسُها وَأَسلُبُها

    And I made her laugh and made her cry,

    and dressed her and stripped her.

  17. أُعالِجُها فَتَصرَعُني

    فَأُرضيها وَأُغضِبُها

    I wrestled with her, and she threw me down;

    then I pleased her and angered her.

  18. فَكانَت لَيلَةٌ في النَو

    مِ نَسمُرُها وَنَلعَبُها

    So it was a night in

    sleep, which we spent in talk and play.

  19. فَأَيقَظَنا مُنادٍ في

    صَلاةِ الصُبحِ يَرقُبُها

    Then a caller awakened us at

    the dawn prayer, for which he kept watch.

  20. فَكانَ الطَيفُ مِن جِنِّي

    يَةٍ لَم يُدرَ مَذهَبُها

    The apparition, then, came from a jinn

    woman, whose course was unknown.

  21. يُؤَرِّقُنا إِذا نِمنا

    وَيَبعُدُ عَنكَ مَسرَبُها

    It robs us of sleep when we sleep,

    and her path lies far from you.

  22. لَمُصعَبُ عِندَ جِدِّ القَو

    لِ أَكثَرُها وَأَطيَبُها

    Surely Muṣʿab, when speech is earnest,

    is their most bountiful and their finest,

  23. وَأَمضاها بِأَلوِيَةٍ

    يَسُدُّ الفَجَّ مِقنَبُها

    and their most resolute, with banners

    whose cavalry troop blocks the mountain pass.

  24. إِذا خَرَجَت بِرابِيَةٍ

    سَراياها وَمَوكِبُها

    When, upon rising ground, there emerge

    its raiding parties and its procession,

  25. بِنَصرِ اللَهِ يَعلوها

    وَيَمريها وَيَغلِبُها

    with God's aid he rises above it,

    and rouses it and overcomes it,

  26. وَيُذكيها بِكَفَّيهِ

    إِذا ما لاحَ كَوكَبُها

    and kindles it with both his hands

    whenever its star appears.