أَفي كُلِّ عامٍ لا يَزالُ لِعامِرٍ

أَفي كُلِّ عامٍ لا يَزالُ لِعامِرٍ

عَلى الفِزرِ نَهبٌ مِن أُروشٍ مُزَنَّمُ

عَلى الفِزرِ نَهبٌ مِن أُروشٍ مُزَنَّمُ

Does ʿĀmir, every year, still have

Does 'Āmir's clan each year still take as spoils

ear-marked plunder from blood-money at al-Fizr’s expense?

From the rich pastures much plunder to haul home?

لَعَمرُكَ ما أَدري وَإِنّي لَسائِلٌ

لَعَمرُكَ ما أَدري وَإِنّي لَسائِلٌ

أَمُرَّةُ أَم أَعمامُ مُرَّةَ أَظلَمُ

أَمُرَّةُ أَم أَعمامُ مُرَّةَ أَظلَمُ

By your life, I do not know, and I am indeed asking:

By your life, I do not know, though I question—

Who is more unjust: Murra or Murra’s paternal uncles?

Are sisters harsher, or uncles darker?

فَما لِلسَمينِ لا يَقومُ خَطيبُها

فَما لِلسَمينِ لا يَقومُ خَطيبُها

وَما لِاِبنِ ذي الجَدَّينِ لا يَتَكَلَّمُ

وَما لِاِبنِ ذي الجَدَّينِ لا يَتَكَلَّمُ

So what ails al-Samīn, that its orator does not rise?

Why does the plump one not make her spokesman rise?

And what ails the son of Dhū al-Jaddayn, that he does not speak

Why is the scion of noble line struck dumb?

بِشَنعاءَ بَينَ الأَصلِ لا يَستَطيعُها

بِشَنعاءَ بَينَ الأَصلِ لا يَستَطيعُها

إِذا القَومُ هابوها السَخيفُ المُزَلَّمُ

إِذا القَومُ هابوها السَخيفُ المُزَلَّمُ

with a hideous utterance amid the ancestral stock, beyond the power

With a homely woman of good birth he cannot cope

of the feeble, stunted man when the people shrink from it,

If the tribe scorn her as a worthless fool.

عَلى حينِ لا يَدري أَما قَد مَضى لَها

عَلى حينِ لا يَدري أَما قَد مَضى لَها

مِنَ اللَيلِ أَم مُستَأخِرُ اللَيلِ أَعظَمُ

مِنَ اللَيلِ أَم مُستَأخِرُ اللَيلِ أَعظَمُ

at a time when he cannot tell whether what has already passed for it

And she knows not if the night that's passed for her

of the night is greater, or the latter part of the night?

Was short, or if the night to come is long.

وَما كانَتِ الجَبّاءُ مِنّا مَرَبَّةً

وَما كانَتِ الجَبّاءُ مِنّا مَرَبَّةً

وَلا ثَمَدُ الغَورَينِ ذاكَ المُقَدَّمُ

وَلا ثَمَدُ الغَورَينِ ذاكَ المُقَدَّمُ

And al-Jabbāʾ was no abiding-place of ours,

We did not foster Jabal's maid as foundling;

nor was that foremost pool of al-Ghawrayn.

Nor was Thamūd's rocky valley ours to guard.