1. O Amro, I have fallen in love with your tribe,
And for all who fall in love, parting is inevitable.

2. Yet how often have I seen time change a man
Whose morals time does not change!

3. The abodes delighted him; he built for them
Houses, dwelling-places, passages underground;

4. He carried for them provisions without stint
From the family of Dawma, a tribe quick to protect its guest;

5. Until he divided them with his white, glittering,
Keen sword that flashes like a flame.

6. And Abu Hudhayfa, the day his army was hemmed in
By the defile of al-Ghabiit, how he charged and burst out!

7. And his troops were Ma'add, and the 'Ibad, and Tai,
And companies of footmen were with him, and horsemen.

8. He hurtled squadrons and detached troops around him
With naked swords, as though their sheaths were loosed.

9. Then there came a time when neither what he had gained
Nor what he had stored away availed to ransom him.

10. It was as though that were the day ordained for him
To drain the final draft from his overturned cup!