Ode XVIII: Alas ! Janub has cut the

Alas ! Janub has cut the ties that bound her to us ; and we have come away to the uplands, while she has gone down to Qadlb.

And never saw I any like the Daughter of Abu Wafa on that morning of the shingly plain of Thajr — nay, I sin not in what I say !

And never saw I her like in Unaifu-Far'in : [if any man can prove me wrong,] I promise to pay a camel whose blood shall be spilt in sacrifice ;

And never saw I her like in the rugged black hills of Lubn — noble birth and sweetness set off her beauty :

Notwithstanding that she said of me in jest — ' O people, is he mad ? he was born only the other day ! '

Well, and if I am old, there are others about me as old as I ; and Janub's time of life is only beginning, fresh and young.

And if my locks are growing grey, why then, 'tis time ; and the end of all that are young is that they grow grey with eld ;

But Janub — her fresh and sappy branch is fair as the streamers of summer cloud at sunset.

And if I am old, yet I swear a solemn oath that never shall leave my shoulder a blade of polished steel.

And many the man of lofty looks, nourished in plenty and sprung from a great tribe — yea, many were his people and dreaded—

Have I encountered, and taken my vengeance of him and delayed not, what time men's sides were locked together in angry conflict ;

And but for that which I make him gulp down openly [of anger and disgust], there should appear in his face scars due to me.

And many the fleet camel have I urged along a road whereof the white track was like strips of linen ;

When other beasts flag, she presses keenly on, throwing out her fore-legs, increasing in swiftness the more she is tried, ever unwearied.

And many the short-haired steed, like a staff in slenderness, of the strain of Sa'id- — the lean muscles of his back adorn his spine—

Have I launched against the swift shy wild asses, whose meadows are enclosed between low hills of clay and lava crags ;

And I have left my spear[, after having pierced with it the quarry,] red as though its knots had been anointed with 'abir, and were still moist therewith.

And many the kinsman and the cheerful witty companion have I succoured with my bounty, what time his comrades [through stress of dearth] failed him :

Yea, the loss of my herds by murrain or a year of no rain has never weakened the strength of my arm in helping those in distress.