1. أَبى اللَيلُ بالمَرّانِ أَن يَتَصَرَّما

    كَأَنّي أَسومُ العَينَ نَوما مُحَرَّما

    The night at al-Marrān refused to come to an end,

    as though I were demanding forbidden sleep of my eye.

  2. وَرُدَّ بثَنيَيهِ كَأَنَّ نُجومَهُ

    صُوارٌ تَناهى مِن ارانٍ فَقَوَّما

    And it was drawn back by its two ends, as though its stars

    were a herd of wild cattle that came out of a lair and stood still.

  3. إِلى اللَهِ أَشكو لا إِلى الناسِ أَنَّني

    أَمُصُّ بَناتِ الدرِّ ثَدياً مُصَرَّما

    To God, not to people, I complain that I

    suck a dried-up teat among the milk-givers,

  4. وَسوقَ نِساءٍ يَسلِبونَ ثِيابَها

    يُهادونَها هَمدانَ رِقّاً وَخَثعَما

    and of the herding away of women whose clothes they strip off,

    whom they give as slave-gifts to Hamdān and Khathʿam.

  5. عَلى أَيِّ شيءٍ يا لُؤَيَّ بنَ غالِبٍ

    تُجيبونَ من أَجرى عَليَّ وَأَلجَما

    On what grounds, O Luʾayy son of Ghālib,

    do you heed him who drove horses against me and bridled them?

  6. وَهاتوا فَقُصُّوا آيَةً تَقرؤونَها

    أَحلَّت بِلادي أَن تُباحَ وَتُظلَما

    And bring forth, then recite, a verse you read

    that made it lawful for my land to be ravaged and wronged.

  7. والّا فأقصى اللَهُ بَيني وَبينَكُم

    وَوَلّى كَثيرَ اللؤمِ مَن كانَ ألأما

    And if not, may God set a vast distance between me and you,

    and allot abundant dishonor to whoever is more ignoble.

  8. وَقَد شَهِدتَنا مِن ثَقيفٍ رِضاعَةٌ

    وَغيَّبَ عَنها الحومَ قُوّامُ زَمزَما

    And a band of sucklings from Thaqīf has witnessed us,

    and Zamzam’s keepers kept the circling throng away from them.

  9. بَنو هاشِمٍ لَو صادَفوكَ تُجِدُّها

    مججتَ وَلضم تملك حيازيمكَ الدَما

    The sons of Hāshim—had they met you pursuing it in earnest,

    you would have spat blood, and your chest could not have held it in [uncertain reading].

  10. سَتَعلَمُ ان زَلَّت بِكَ النَعلُ زَلَّةً

    وَكُلُّ امرىءٍ لاقي الَّذي كانَ قَدَّما

    You will learn, if your sandal slips once beneath you—

    and every man meets what he has sent ahead—

  11. بِأَنَّكَ قَد ماطَلتَ أَنيابَ حَيَّةٍ

    تَزجّي بِعَينيها شُجاعاً وَأَرقَما

    that you have dallied with a serpent’s fangs,

    that drives on, with its two eyes, a great serpent and a speckled snake.

  12. وَكَم مِن عَدوٍّ قَد أَرادَ مَساءَتي

    بِغَيبٍ وَلَو لاقيتُه لتندَّما

    And how many an enemy has wished me harm

    in my absence—yet had I met him, he would have regretted it.

  13. كَثيرُ أُلىّ حَتّى إِذا ما لَقيتُهُ

    أَصَرَّ عَلى اثمٍ وان كانَ أَقسَما

    Lavish with oaths, until, when I met him,

    he persisted in sin, though he had sworn an oath.

  14. وَأَنتُم بَني حامٍ بنِ نوحٍ أَرى لَكُم

    شِفاهاً كأَذنابِ المَشاجرِ ورَّما

    And you, sons of Hām son of Noah, I see you have

    swollen lips like the projecting ends of camel-litters.

  15. فان قُلتَ خالي مِن قُرَيشٍ فَلَم أَجِد

    مِنَ الناسِ شَرّاً مِن أَبيكَ وألأما

    So if you say, ‘My maternal uncle is of Quraysh,’ I have not found

    among people anyone worse or baser than your father.

  16. صَغيراً ضَغا في خِرقةٍ فأمضَّهُ

    مربّيهِ حَتّى إِذ أهمَّ وأَفطَما

    As a little child he squealed in a rag; then he was tormented by

    his rearer, until, when he began to mature and reached weaning age,

  17. رأى جلدَةً مِن آلِ حامٍ مَتينَة

    وَرأساً كأَمثالِ الجَريبِ مُؤَوَّما

    he saw a sturdy hide from the stock of Hām,

    and a huge, rounded head the size of a jarīb grain-measure.

  18. وَكُنتُم سَقيطا في ثَقيفٍ مَكانَكُم

    بَني العَبد لا توفي دِماؤُكمُ دَما

    And you were castoffs among Thaqīf—keep to your place,

    sons of the slave: your blood does not equal a single man’s blood.