1. يا ذا المُخَوِّفَنا بِقَت

    لِ أَبيهِ إِذلالاً وَحَينا

    O man who threatens us over the killing

    of his father, with humiliation and death!

  2. أَزَعَمتَ أَنَّكَ قَد قَتَل

    تَ سَراتَنا كَذِباً وَمَينا

    Have you claimed that you have killed

    our chiefs? Lies and falsehood!

  3. هَلّا عَلى حُجرِ بنِ أُ

    مِّ قَطامٍ تَبكي لا عَلَينا

    Why not for Hujr, son of Umm

    Qatam, shed tears, not for us?

  4. إِنّا إِذا عَضَّ الثِقا

    فُ بِرَأسِ صَعدَتِنا لَوَينا

    Indeed, when the straightening clamp bites

    the head of our lance, we twist away.

  5. نَحمي حَقيقَتَنا وَبَع

    ضُ القَومِ يَسقُطُ بَينَ بَينا

    We guard our honor, while some

    men fall, caught in between.

  6. هَلّا سَأَلتَ جُموعَ كِن

    دَةَ يَومَ وَلَّوا أَينَ أَينا

    Why not ask the hosts of Kinda

    where—oh where—they fled that day,

  7. أَيّامَ نَضرِبُ هامَهُم

    بِبَواتِرٍ حَتّى اِنحَنَينا

    when we were striking their heads

    with cleaving swords, until we bent low?

  8. وَجُموعَ غَسّانَ المُلو

    كَ أَتَينَهُم وَقَدِ اِنطَوَينا

    And the hosts of Ghassan, the kings—

    our mares reached them while we had grown lean,

  9. لُحُقاً أَياطِلُهُنَّ قَد

    عالَجنَ أَسفاراً وَأَينا

    their flanks gaunt; they had

    endured journeys and exhaustion.

  10. وَلَقَد صَلَقنا هَوازِناً

    بِنَواهِلٍ حَتّى اِرتَوَينا

    Indeed, we smote Hawazin

    with thirsty weapons, until we drank our fill.

  11. نُعليهِمُ تَحتَ الضَبابِ

    المَشرَفِيَّ إِذا اِعتَزَينا

    We raise over them, beneath the haze,

    the Mashrafi sword, when we proclaim our lineage.

  12. نَحنُ الأولى جَمِّع جُمو

    عاً ثُمَّ وَجِّهُّهُم إِلَينا

    We are the ones: muster your hosts,

    then send them against us.

  13. وَاِعلَم بِأَنَّ جِيادَنا

    آلَينَ لا يَقضينَ دَينا

    And know that our steeds

    have sworn to repay no debt.

  14. وَلَقَد أَبَحنا ما حَمَي

    تَ وَلا مُبيحَ لِما حَمَينا

    Indeed, we laid open to plunder what you guarded,

    and none can lay open what we guard.

  15. هَذا وَلَو قَدَرَت عَلَيكَ

    رِماحُ قَومي ما اِنتَهَينا

    This—and had you been within reach

    of my people's spears, we would not have stopped

  16. حَتّى تَنوشَكَ نَوشَةً

    عاداتِهِنَّ إِذا اِنتَوَينا

    until they reached you with a thrust,

    as is their wont whenever we resolve.

  17. نُغلي السِباءَ بِكُلِّ عا

    تِقَةٍ شَمولٍ ما صَحَونا

    We pay dearly for every aged

    wine, so long as we are sober.

  18. وَنُهينُ في لَذّاتِها

    عُظمَ التِلادِ إِذا اِنتَشَينا

    And in its pleasures we squander

    the bulk of our ancestral wealth when we grow drunk.

  19. لا يَبلُغُ الباني وَلَو

    رَفَعَ الدَعائِمَ ما بَنَينا

    No builder can attain—even if

    he raises the pillars—what we have built.

  20. كَم مِن رَئيسٍ قَد قَتَل

    ناهُ وَضَيمٍ قَد أَبَينا

    How many a chief have we slain,

    and how many a wrong have we refused!

  21. وَلَرُبَّ سَيِّدِ مَعشَرٍ

    ضَخمِ الدَسيعَةِ قَد رَمَينا

    And many a lord of a clan,

    great in bounty, we have struck,

  22. عِقبانُهُ بِظِلالِ عِق

    بانٍ تَيَمَّمُ ما نَوَينا

    his eagles beneath the shadows of eagles

    heading for what we intended,

  23. حَتّى تَرَكنا شِلوَهُ

    جَزَرَ السِباعِ وَقَد مَضَينا

    until we left his torn body

    as meat for wild beasts, and went on our way.

  24. وَأَوانِسٍ مِثلِ الدُمى

    حورِ العُيونِ قَدِ اِستَبَينا

    And maidens, like statues,

    with eyes of vivid black and white, we have taken captive.

  25. إِنّا لَعَمرُكَ لا يُضا

    مُ حَليفُنا أَبَداً لَدَينا

    Indeed, by your life, no wrong is done

    to our ally, ever, in our midst.