1. جَرى لِيَ طَيرٌ في حِمامٍ حَذِرتُهُ

    عَلَيكَ اِبنَ عَمروٍ مِن سَنيحٍ وَبارِحِ

    Birds gave me an omen of a death I feared

    for you, son of Amr—from birds crossing rightward and leftward.

  2. فَلَم يُنجِ صَخراً ما حَذِرتُ وَغالَهُ

    مَواقِعُ غادٍ لِلمَنونِ وَرائِحِ

    Yet my foreboding did not save Sakhr; he was slain

    by the blows of death's morning and evening visitors.

  3. رَهينَةُ رَمسٍ قَد تَجُرُّ ذُيولُها

    عَلَيهِ سَوافي الرامِساتِ البَوارِحِ

    A captive of the grave; they drag their skirts

    over him—the drifting sands of fierce, effacing winds.

  4. فَيا عَينِ بَكّي لِاِمرِئٍ طارَ ذِكرُهُ

    لَهُ تَبكِ عَينُ الراكِضاتِ السَوابِحِ

    So, O eye, weep for a man whose fame took wing;

    let the eyes of galloping steeds, swimming in their stride, weep for him,

  5. وَكُلُّ طَويلِ المَتنِ أَسمَرَ ذابِلٍ

    وَكُلُّ عَتيقٍ في جِيادِ الصَفائِحِ

    and every long-shafted, brown, slender spear,

    and every noble sword among the finest broad blades,

  6. وَكُلُّ دِلاصٍ كَالأَضاةِ مُذالَةً

    وَكُلُّ جَوادٍ بَيِّنِ العِتقِ قارِحِ

    and every long-skirted coat of mail, gleaming like a pool,

    and every fine, full-grown steed of evident noble breeding,

  7. وَكُلُّ ذَمولٍ كَالفَنيقِ شِمِلَّةٍ

    وَكُلُّ سَريعٍ آخِرِ اللَيلِ آزِحِ

    and every nimble, ambling she-camel, like a prized stud camel,

    and every swift mount, lagging at night's end.

  8. وَلِلجارِ يَوماً إِن دَعا لِمَضيفَةٍ

    دَعا مُستَغيثاً أَوَّلاً بِالجَوايِحِ

    And a neighbor, should he one day cry out in distress,

    would call on him first, seeking help amid calamities.

  9. أَخو الحَزمِ في الهَيجاءِ وَالعَزمِ في الَّتي

    لِوَقعَتِها يَسوَدُّ بيضُ المَسايِحِ

    A man of prudence in battle, and of resolve in the strife

    whose impact turns white locks black;

  10. حَسيبٌ لَبيبٌ مُتلِفٌ ما أَفادَهُ

    مُبيحُ تِلادِ المُستَغِشِّ المُكاشِحِ

    noble in lineage, discerning, lavish with whatever he gained,

    laying open to plunder the ancestral wealth of the distrustful, spiteful foe.