Ode LXI: O Asma! askest thou not after

O Asma! askest thou not after thy father? and the tribe — in sooth grave matters have happened among them.

Verily ' 'Arib, although he vexed me, is the dearest of friends and the nearest of kin ;

I will make of myself a shield for him against evil, — a man bristling with weapons, valiant, skilled.

The colt of thy father has perished for want of the training-food ; no share has he had in the diet,

Save only that they, when they watered their camels, would give him to drink a bowl of thin milk with a bucket of water poured thereon.

Now [ — as thou seest — ] are his eyes sunken in, and there are deep hollows in his crupper and about the bones of his rump.

Then I prepared 'Ajla for excellent training — there was no need for a skilled man to feel about her bowels.

Thy brother and mine in the valley of an-Nusair — there was not beside us any man of Ma'add.

Then he swore by God that he would not fall short, and I swore that, if I reached him, he should not return.

Then he advanced towards me with a show of boldness : but when he drew near, his lying [soul] told him truth for once :

He turned his mare with his left hand to flee — but shall her utmost speed deliver thee, then ?

I followed him up with a spear-thrust that made a wide gash, from which the blood rushed in a stream over his back :

And if it slew him, I did not fall short therein : or if he escapes, it was at least a gaping wound.

And if he meets me thereafter, he will meet me with a garment of shame upon him, ever renewed.