1. Does Qais get angry when I satirize the son of Misma'
When they have never attained glory in the valley's depths?

2. Whenever the lances gleamed red in the fray
We saw the earth sweeter than the steeds' backs.

3. As the lofty branches crowded together at the watering-place
Stubbornly refusing to make way for the thirsty.

4. And the shaikh's pupils appealed to him after
An age had passed that would not bend to poetry.

5. They saw flashes from the palms as though they were
Lamps lit with ink in the darkness.

6. And they appealed to him weeping, beating their breasts,
Thinking that death rejects all means.

7. Not all who are wronged, even if his bargain was a loss,
Can make up for what he has missed in barter.

8. So beware lest I slander you. By your life I
Pelt rocks at the heads of the obstinate!

9. Do not threaten us with meeting but show us
An army we will meet with an army.

10. Our gray-haired ones have been mixed with calamity
And the kinsfolk of Lat have worn out the clan of Ziyad.

11. If it were not for making peace with them, Hani'
Would have rubbed Hani''s cheeks in the dust.

12. And the burner kept on burning his vat
Because of what he saw of strength and materiel.

13. The buzzing of the meaning fertilized the desolate pasture
And it continued to twist its head in agony.

14. Whenever the Bakr b. Wa'il were stirred up
They would set up for the people of Syria a market of horror

15. With men who on the day of trial destroyed
The head-bands of the clan of al-Harith b. 'Ubad.

16. Peace overtook them all, every warrior,
And we left them, cutting them all off.