1. Leave me be and say what you will after,
For soon my bier will pass one day, and I shall be hidden away.

2. We set out but did not keep our word, and our covenants were few,
Just eight, no more, now forfeit.

3. Young men with faces like lamps or water colored gold.
We rode by night along the shore, though our provisions were uncertain.

4. For three days on foot until we reached
A hostile tribe’s settlement, looming on the horizon.

5. They came at us in the darkness, clamoring,
And at dawn their shouting was renewed.

6. Thābit assaulted them with the Sword’s destruction
And attacked them with the unsheathed blade.

7. I remained with some young men, guarding against them,
Though they were few, for a time, then they were routed.

8. Two footmen and a horseman fell from among them—
A marsh dweller whom we killed and a captive left naked.

9. Each hill and fortress set against him
Just eight while the tribe was crippled and docktailed.

10. When our people saw us they cried “They are saved!”
But we said “Ask the speaker, he does not lie.”