1. Near Abu Ishaq's abode you hope
To move my encampment, O Buhl son of Buhlan!

2. An untamed she-camel, though she be docile to me
For a day, I'd restrain for Lakhmu and Ghassan.

3. From your far reach you prepared
Helpers for the Manager's offspring as comrades,

4. Whom people accept as lords for their munificence -
How could I resent them, O Buhl, as brethren?

5. My independence has made me self-sufficient, unneedful
Of their bounty - so what can I do with the bond we once shared?

6. A pact of friendship - though we drank to its freshness,
In those times we blundered blindly ahead.

7. We now shun in old age what we relished in heedless youth -
Days we traversed in blinkered abandon back then.

8. True friends - I never lied in professing affection,
Never called on them for honor or pelf.

9. Nor was I ever a slave they could purchase with favors,
While you, O Buhl, court them so cravenly!

10. Go your own way - no reward for befriending the noble,
No gain for pursuing what never could be.