1. I was patient, and patience like mine cannot be denied,
Nor can abstaining from rashness be blamed.

2. It is the instinct of a free man, not an artificial affectation,
When the impetuous roar on the day of battle, holding back.

3. And when I saw death waving its banners,
Signs unmistakable,

4. And the Bedouin hordes approached from every side,
A turbulent rabble, black of hue, unkempt,

5. Each bearing a drawn sword, resolute, rolled up in turbans,
In a desolate land where there was no defender,

6. No protector but coats of mail forged with great skill,
The resolve of my heart made their great numbers seem small,

7. In a fateful fray where death held sway
And the flames of battle blazed in the dwelling place.

8. I did not shield my face from the blows of their swords,
Nor shrink from them though spears struck and shattered.

9. I was not timid in the heat of battle
When the meek have no place in war.

10. When the glance and the soul of the young man are bold
Though raven dark or milk pale and docktailed,

11. Though the noble man be merciful by nature
When warriors throng and jostle in the fray,

12. I prevented them from gaining any advantage
And I was their bulwark though tongues dripped venom.

13. Such were my deeds of old and recent
By which the past was known and the late venerated.

14. My loins refused that I should see myself
Cowardly and submissive though fate be harsh

15. They are the Family of God - Fihr son of Malik -
By them the broken bone is mended and the hale broken

16. They are the towering shoulder above every shoulder
Their swords destroy and enrich and impoverish.