1. Does the death of a great man come every year?
My new and old companions have met their fate.

2. The bright moon of Qays ibn Aylan has just set -
And the place of a leader seems empty as a howling desert dog.

3. So how can I meet misfortunes if they spread?
My sword is blunted, and my resolve weakened against them.

4. And how can I find my way if darkness falls?
When my eyes have lost the light of my guiding stars.

5. The worthy ancestors have passed away, leaving only
A few like the patch on a worn out black shirt.

6. I have cast them away from me into the horizons, strange,
Because of the pounding of my grieving heart.

7. I confess my inner secrets to the people of virtue,
And offer excuses for my outward flaws.

8. I am the sword - no wielder's hand grew tired of me,
I am deadly when I meet the hand of one who is deadly.

9. I sought the free men, but they betrayed me,
Men - I was not helped by the resolve of the great ones.

10. The kings neglected me from the start and return,
So I was disgraced among them and their women.

11. If the nights ride me roughly,
I rode before them the collapse of Tamim.

12. By my father's life, if not for their transgression,
I would have appeared among their leaders with eminence.

13. And I would have opposed those who sought to oppose me,
With dreams of heroism or the madness of the brave.

14. They heaped blame on me, no, their fathers are not to blame,
And by the Lord of Glory, I am not to blame.

15. So do not rebuke me if I have strayed, for it is
The relationship of ink, not the relationship of sand.

16. Abu Abdillah, we have excused you, when we returned
And left you, not slighted.

17. Shall we abandon one whose land we inhabited
And from his vessel drank the water of knowledge?

18. And the blindness is lifted from us by the light of his wisdom
When the gloom of clouds overwhelmed us.

19. It is as if you did not inseminate with a scent of virtue
The wombs of dens with anything but fruitful seed.

20. We did not rely on your abundance morning and night,
But always headed to the abode of the wise judge.