لِتُبدِ اليَومَ نُسوَةُ آلِ كَعبٍ

لِتُبدِ اليَومَ نُسوَةُ آلِ كَعبٍ

بِأَجيادٍ مُدَمّاةِ الخُدوشِ

بِأَجيادٍ مُدَمّاةِ الخُدوشِ

Let the women of the house of Kaʿb show themselves today

Today the women of Ka'b's clan mourn

with necks bloodied by scratches,

With horses whose wounds gush blood

عَلى الفُرسانِ مِن سَلَفي تَميمٍ

عَلى الفُرسانِ مِن سَلَفي تَميمٍ

يَثُلُّهُمُ الرَدى ثَلَّ العُروشِ

يَثُلُّهُمُ الرَدى ثَلَّ العُروشِ

mourning the horsemen of my forebears, Tamīm,

For the horsemen of my ancestral Tameem

whom death topples as thrones are toppled.

Whom fate has felled like palm trunks

مَضوا وَبَقيتُ بَعدَهُمُ مَهيضاً

مَضوا وَبَقيتُ بَعدَهُمُ مَهيضاً

كَما نَهَضَ الجَناحُ بِغيرِ ريشِ

كَما نَهَضَ الجَناحُ بِغيرِ ريشِ

They departed, and I remained after them, broken,

They passed away, and I remained after them, forlorn

like a wing rising without feathers.

As a wing stirs without feathers

وَمَن نَهَشَت أَسِنَّةُ آلِ كَعبٍ

وَمَن نَهَشَت أَسِنَّةُ آلِ كَعبٍ

فَلا دِرياقَ لِلرَجُلِ النَهيشِ

فَلا دِرياقَ لِلرَجُلِ النَهيشِ

And whoever the spearheads of the house of Kaʿb have bitten—

And if the teeth of Ka'b's clan gnash

there is no antidote for the bitten man.

No coat of mail protects the hapless man

فَيا نَفسِ اِذهَبي أَسَفاً عَليهِم

فَيا نَفسِ اِذهَبي أَسَفاً عَليهِم

فَبُعدُهُم كَموتِكَ أَن تَعيشي

فَبُعدُهُم كَموتِكَ أَن تَعيشي

So, my soul, perish in grief for them,

Oh soul, go mourn them in sorrow

for without them, living is like death to you.

For their absence is like your death, if you live