1. O Qais, you are the worst of your tribe
Anciently and presently the most ignoble

2. You have sworn allegiance to debauchery, treachery, stinginess
Miserliness, cowardice, and lies altogether

3. O Qais, indeed, noble lineages are attained
By those who raid at dusk the thorny thickets

4. While you, not on your deathbed, stay at home
And jest of our warring as if mere play

5. Had you been among them when war grew fierce
You would have been among the defeated, blamed

6. We ransacked whatever was in your abodes
The day we overran them with spears

7. We are the protectors of sanctuaries throughout
The days of yore, and long ago we led you like lambs