Ode LXIV: Ah, the abodes of the tribe

Ah, the abodes of the tribe in al-Baradan ! eight years have passed over them since I saw them last ;

And there remains of them nought but a broken-down trench, and the places where the horses were stalled, trodden down and buried in sand, like [ruined] wells,

And handfuls of firewood brought in by the handmaids, which the wind and the rain have strewn and scattered all around ;

Deserted, smooth and bare are the places : even the sand-grouse cannot find his way therein ; and all day long two beasts of prey struggle together there :

The two stir up, of the weaving of the dust upon them, two shirts made of a single piece, and clothe themselves therewith.

And in the highest uplands of the place are wildings, looking like thorough-bred she-camels with their younglings following them in the sides of the valley.

Now who will carry from me this message to lyas and Jandal the brother of Tariq ? and words scatter themselves abroad like drops of spray :—

' Threaten me not, ye twain, with arms ! for verily I have gathered together my weapons as a precaution against the spite of Fortune :

' I have gathered a spear of Rudainah's store, with a point bright as a glowing fire that has no part with smoke.

' [I brought them together] in nights when ye were slaves to my kin, in Ramman, when the two Harams were smitten with drought,

' When they had but a handful of lean camels and a few boys, and when ye had not even two flocks of sheep.

' Your two grandfathers were slaves of 'Umair son of 'Amir, and your two mothers slave-girls born of a singing-girl.'