1. These people have shunned me out of piety,
Yet why does this ascetic assail me thus,

2. Arguing with me as though he were no monk.
My father and Hammam ibn Murrah's son were uncles of mine.

3. My brother and cousin have qualities,
That raise them high, or I have qualities that raise me high.

4. The warlike sons of Al-Harith throng to give victorious aid,
With every warrior crying aloud and the long spear uplifted.

5. They are a people whose peers you would be honored to have as friends,
And their nobility in pasture and plain is unquestioned.

6. Their abode is in Al-Ghawta and yours in ‘Usfan,
Watered from Hai with ceaseless flow.

7. For them are olive-sprays still moist, while yours are
Acacias dropping tassels fray’d and sere.

8. You may see me fasting in the morning, and that
Is the whole of my poetry and all my money.