1. يا عَبلَ قَرّي بوادِي الرَّمل آمِنة ً

    من العداة ِ وإن خوفتِ لا تخفي

    O ʿAbl, dwell in the valley of sand, secure

    From foes; even if threatened, do not fear.

  2. فدونَ بيتك أسدٌ في أناملها

    بيْضٌ تقُدُّ أَعالي البيض والحَجَفِ

    For before your house stand lions, in whose fingers lie

    Gleaming swords that cleave the tops of helmets and leather shields.

  3. لله دَرُّ عَبْسٍ لقدْ بلَغوا

    كلَّ الفخارِِ ونالوا غاية َ الشِّرفِ

    God bless ʿAbs! Truly, they have attained

    All glory and reached the utmost height of honor.

  4. خافُوا من الحرْبِ لمّا أبصروا فرَسي

    تحتَ العجَاجة ِ يهْوي بي إلى التلفِ

    They feared battle when they saw my horse

    Beneath the dust cloud, hurtling with me toward death.

  5. ثمَّ اقْتفوا أثري منْ بعدِ ما علموا

    أنَّ المنية َ سهمٌ غير منصرفِ

    Then they followed my trail after they had learned

    That death is an arrow that never turns aside.

  6. خضتُ الغبار ومهري أدهمٌ حلك

    فَعادَ مخْتضِباً بالدَّمّ والجِيَفِ

    I plunged through the dust, my colt pitch-black;

    So it returned stained with blood and carrion.

  7. ما زِلْتُ أُنْصِفُ خصْمي وهوَ يظْلمني

    حتى غدا منْ حسامي غيرَ منتصف

    I kept treating my foe fairly while he wronged me,

    Until my sword left him without redress.

  8. وإنْ يعيبوا سواداً قد كُسيتُ بهِ

    فالدرُّ يسترهُ ثوبٌ من الصّدف

    And if they fault the blackness in which I have been clothed,

    A pearl, too, is hidden by a robe of shell.