رأيتُ لقوسِ زنبورٍ سهاماً

رأيتُ لقوسِ زنبورٍ سهاماً

مثقّفةٍ الأغِرّةِ ما تطيشُ

مثقّفةٍ الأغِرّةِ ما تطيشُ

I saw arrows for Zanbūr’s bow,

I saw the arrows of a wasp's bow,

I beheld arrows belonging to the bow of Zanbur,

with well-fashioned points that never miss.

Sharp-tipped though unfeathered they never go astray,

Sharpened at the tips, that never miss their mark;

سهامٌ لا يُمدّ لها عُراءٌ

سهامٌ لا يُمدّ لها عُراءٌ

ولم يُشدَد لها عَقَبٌ وريشُ

ولم يُشدَد لها عَقَبٌ وريشُ

Arrows for which no bowstring is drawn,

Arrows with neither notch nor feathers tied,

Arrows for which no bowstring cord is ever stretched,

and no sinew or feathers are fastened to them.

Yet from his quiver he strikes and bears away.

And to which neither sinew nor feather is bound.

يباكرُ جَيبهُ فيصيدُ منهُ

يباكرُ جَيبهُ فيصيدُ منهُ

ولا يبغي عليه مَن يحوشُ

ولا يبغي عليه مَن يحوشُ

Early he visits his collar, then hunts from it,

He seeks no aid against those he would slay,

He rises early to his shirt-collar to hunt,

and seeks no one to drive the game for him.

No allies to share out the prey,

Seeking no beaters to drive the game his way.

ولا ينحي الصَوايةَ أن يراها

ولا ينحي الصَوايةَ أن يراها

تُضاءُ لها ولا دررٌ جحيشُ

تُضاءُ لها ولا دررٌ جحيشُ

Nor does he aim at the ṣawāya [unclear term], to see it

He shows no mercy for creatures in his sight,

He turns not aside from the quarry once espied,

lit up for them, nor at a swift, solitary runner.

No quarter though they be meek and slight,

Illuminated clearly, like solitary pearls revealed.

يزرُّ رعالها بالسنّ زرّاً

يزرُّ رعالها بالسنّ زرّاً

ولا تشقى بغدوتهِ الوحوشُ

ولا تشقى بغدوتهِ الوحوشُ

He bites their clusters with his tooth, biting hard,

His stings strike deep in both soft and tough,

He cracks their columns with the snapping of a tooth,

and wild beasts suffer nothing from his morning outing.

Yet his onslaught brings no grief to the wild beasts rough.

While the beasts of the wild are safe from his morning raid.