وَعَونٍ يُباكِرنَ النَظيمَةَ مَربَعاً

وَعَونٍ يُباكِرنَ النَظيمَةَ مَربَعاً

جَزَأَنَ فَلا يَشرَبنَ إِلّا النَقائِعا

جَزَأَنَ فَلا يَشرَبنَ إِلّا النَقائِعا

And mature females visit al-Nazimah at dawn for spring grazing.

With help they hasten to Najima in the morn

Sustained by fresh forage, they drink only from rainwater pools.

They divide it yet they drink not but from the springs

تَضَيَّفَنَهُ حَتّى جَهدنَ يَبيسَهُ

تَضَيَّفَنَهُ حَتّى جَهدنَ يَبيسَهُ

وَآضَ الفُراتُ قائِظاً لَيسَ جامِعا

وَآضَ الفُراتُ قائِظاً لَيسَ جامِعا

They lodged there until they exhausted its dry herbage.

They drain it till they exhaust its flowing

And the Euphrates entered summer, no longer a gathering place.

And the Euphrates remains, not joining fully