1. I came to Salma and spent the night as a foe,
Urging my steed through dangerous terrain.

2. My kinsmen's dwellings lay in ruins,
While the abodes of Bishah stood joyous and carefree.

3. With my sword I severed her ties to me, though I
Grieve for Khalid who was trapped by the dogs.

4. The Banu Ahwas have taken her side,
And they rage against me but achieve nothing.

5. I clothed them in the ragged cloaks of paupers,
As I clothe their women in tattered gowns.

6. On the day of Ghumarah, though no boast,
I left behind plunder and desirable captives.

7. I will never vilify the Quraysh,
Though I was wronged by their actions.

8. My people are not like Tha'labah ibn Sa'd,
Nor like Fazarah al-Shari, men of severed necks.

9. If the Banu Lu'ay are asked, they will tell people
I taught them to wield blades.

10. We acted foolishly by following the hated sons of Baghyiz
And forsaking our kindred by birth.

11. The folly of one who forsakes what nurtures
And pursues a mirage across the sands!

12. By your life! I love Ka'b and Samah,
My brothers, who share my taste for wine.

13. Ghatafan are no kin by father to me,
Though Lu'ay is my sire, and that is the truth.

14. When I look on the Banu Lu'ay,
I recognize love and close kinship.

15. I brandished my spear when the Quraysh said,
"He resembles us in appearance and ancestral nobility."

16. I kept company with a band of them in Najd
Who torment any who make war on them.

17. I saddled my she-camel, swift as an oryx,
Without thought for any reward.

18. My sword and the quiver slung from her
Are like the fangs of a snarling hyena.

19. By God! I gained no sins,
Nor disgraced one to whom I owe protection.

20. Every day they prepare for the battalions
The swords of Musharifah and al-Harb.

21. If I wished, I could be one of them,
But I will not follow the passing clouds.

22. Nor will I drink their brackish water every day,
More teeming than it with flies.

23. Bitter water from a rainless land
Where they dwell in wretched poverty.

24. It is as if the Pleiades were strung over them,
When their rain clouds pass by, empty of showers.