1. Alas! Who suffers a heart tortured by life,
A body struck by the swords of disease,

2. And calamity after calamity, if it had befallen
A worthless person, he would be counted among the dead,

3. So that the one who sold his honour for humiliation would regret,
For life with disgrace is not sweet to me,

4. How long will I strive for glory while my fate
Keeps me in humiliation all my days?

5. When one day I set out majestically adorned,
Horses prance and play,

6. Then my soul longs intensely
For the moon-like beloved hidden in my heart,

7. They blame me with tears flowing down,
And say to him: little of my blood flows,

8. May God give a union never tainted by parting,
Nor made common by jealous slanderers,

9. On the day we paused for farewell,
Dawn was astounded by our glances,

10. We saw cold suspicions quenched our hearts,
And their heat inflamed our insides,

11. On the morrow when we mingled with those who rejoiced at our loss,
Not knowing who of us was closer to love,

12. Was it that or the day when we left it to vent its blame on us,
Scolding and hurting us?

13. Our breaths and tears joined,
Neither knowing who should blame or complain,

14. And I who had lost him rode my suspicions,
Finding vipers and scorpions wherever I turned,

15. I controlled my patience in my ignorance of him
And some harm brought some good

16. My friend who was closer to me than my brothers,
Was a brother, kinder to me than my father a father,

17. I learned until no learner remained,
And tried until nothing untried remained,

18. And time with its changing fortunes admonished me,
The fortune of time is the best teacher,

19. We, children of this world, live intoxicated by it,
While it turns about on our intoxications,

20. It divides among us arrogantly,
While each of us is greedy in his hopes,

21. Our ignorant ride its steeds,
While our wise are dragged and pulled by it,

22. I suffered sorrows until I became familiar with them,
As if sorrow had become a beloved thing,

23. As if the nights had not entrusted their affairs
To anyone but me, shunning me,

24. I fear dying before seeing
The tents of the non-Arabs ransacked,

25. I raid them with an attack that brings destruction
And fulfills God's will against them and triumphs,

26. And my fate guarantees my attainment of my hopes,
When will I ever have, O Fate, a request of you?

27. With what lofty favour will you please me,
Or which abundance of your gifts shall I covet?

28. I am astonished by things in you that disturb me,
And I am most astonished that I am astonished by you!

29. Affiliate me with the family of Muhallab, they are
Nobler than the flowers of stars and weightier!

30. When they take property from those who raid,
The brave launch raids to seize it from them,

31. So properties continue seeking their protection,
Brought near and given beyond what is sought,

32. The reddish and black stabs of death never ceased
On the day of battle, banding against their might,

33. Never did they beg for generosity without overflowing,
Nor seek a blow without leaping forth,

34. To you, God's trustee in the earth, the resolve
Of the dawn wraps itself in the darkness,

35. Seeing its fortune delayed though it is the earliest,
And its hopes defeated though it is the most victorious,

36. You are the youth of one grown old, turning to him,
Seriousness for one who is disappointed, uplifting,

37. You lead the steps of affairs as though they
Were captives in crisis, herded to you,

38. You open the locks of the unseen with a blade
Of reason, making the unknown fear and dread you,

39. You stab into the breasts of battalions, teaching them
As if you wrote in the breasts of records,

40. Enough for the kingdom's ministers to boast among the people
That they are affiliated with you and attributed to you,

41. Just as it was enough for the heroes, in their courage and help,
That it was said about them in the fierce battles,

42. Your day is a day humbled for the weak,
And a day harsh on the enemies, thanks to you,

43. When its eagles hover over the spears,
The blows fly to them without waiting,

44. Your ransom is my family, and the holy war its pulpits,
Its heroes in Mashrafiyya are addressed,

45. War has tucked up the train of its garment,
The protector is ready and the complainers have stopped complaining,

46. I rebuke Ziyad for the vulgarity of his opinion
And his words - who is more refined than you?

47. Can one whose nature is finer than clear water, more delicious,
Improve refinement?

48. Speak! Al-Nu'man is the sun of his heavens,
Each ruler in Al-Nu'man's eyes is a planet,

49. If his eyes saw you once,
They would see their sun set,

50. When your days are mentioned, the caves grow dark,
Tamim, Qays, Rabab and Taghlib,

51. In your presence, 'Adnan sits low on earth,
And 'Arub stands above the heavens,

52. I came to you while glories seek my praise of them,
Yet my praise of you flees from other glories,

53. They have made wealth clear to me while it is far from you,
And offered words to me though they are most welcome to you,

54. I do not think earning money benefits me
If I have no earnings in generosity,

55. I have an ambition that does not seek money for the wealthy,
Rather, it seeks your affection from you,

56. So order me with a command that leaves the air gloomy,
And the highlands bloody with blood,

57. For if Al-Miqdad disobeyed your order he would have
No course among people forevermore,

58. And be for me, in what I hope from you, a tester,
So you may know what I bring and what I avoid,

59. If my words fall short of your worth,
I am not to blame for praising you inadequately,

60. When all things are beneath you,
It is no wonder a stream falls short,