1. If a man's honor is untouched by disgrace,
Then every garment he dons is comely.

2. And if he does not burden his soul with injustice,
Then no path to praiseworthy fame is barred.

3. They taunt us that few in number are we—
But say to them: Not small are we, but valiant!

4. None remain whose deeds match ours
Save vigorous youths aspiring high and wise elders.

5. It matters not that we are few, while our neighbor
Is mighty, when our neighbor is the coward throng.

6. We own a mountain that the protector we choose
Ascends impregnable, unwearied though assailed.

7. A tree whose roots are fed by moisture underground,
And whose branches soar to the stars beyond all reach.

8. The unrivaled, matchless one—famed far and wide—
Frustrating the schemes of those who plot against him.

9. We are a folk who think death no disgrace
When it meets us in the tents of honored women.

10. For us, love of death draws near our lifespans' end,
While their lifespans stretch out, hatred of death prolonging them.

11. No lord of ours has perished defending his women,
Nor have we lost men where our slain were lying.

12. Our souls flow free as the charge of wild mares
And flow nowhere but onto the points of lances.

13. Chaste were the wombs that conceived us, the loins pure
That sired us—no tainted blood runs in our veins.

14. Like water in measures we are, holding no rancor;
None parsimonious are we, none tight-fisted.

15. Our word carries weight if we choose to speak out,
While their words bear no weight when they choose to speak out.

16. When a lord of ours passes on, a lord rises up
To carry on where the noble lords left off.

17. No fire of ours was ever quenched for want of fuel,
Nor were we ever shamed among those who lodged with us as guests.

18. Our days of glory are known to our foes
Fraught with grave perils, fateful encounters.

19. In every land to east and west our swords
Carved remnants and relics from the skins of regiments.

20. Their blades are accustomed to leaving their sheaths
Not to be sheathed again till the tribe is despoiled.

21. Peace, if you are ignorant of us and of them—
For not equal are those who know and those who do not know.