1. I swear I will not forget, though our life be long,
The wrong done by Lukayz and Al-Ahlas son of Qunsal.

2. One day we lodged with them, and our morning turned foul,
For you may yet see, my life, to what refuge we crawl.

3. He wept when he saw us come to his door,
Yet how tears of one with so little and ragged a cloak?

4. No, by you and your father, we did not lodge with 'Amir,
Nor 'Amir, nor Rais Ibn Qawqal's abode;

5. Not with Shuliyl, Lord Marwan's estate,
Sitting in comfort and plenty untold,

6. Not Ibn Wahib, who gathers glory and heights,
Not Ibn Duba'i amidst that proud household,

7. Not with Ibn Halis in his pastures abiding,
Not with Jarir's sons on their fortune enrolled,

8. Not Ibn Riyah, though bliss to him comes unconfined,
Riyah was Sa'd's - Ma'qil's son Riyah I'd never behold.

9. Those men offered hospitality, a guest to provide,
And called to the delicacy they drippingly sliced;

10. But I found Ibn Kurz, from whom freedom shone bright,
Releasing the fettered captive, removing his plight.

11. I'm no shepherd of flocks with his staff and his pipe,
Bleating his shrill tune through the desolate night,

12. No carrier of winds of plague or malaise,
No healer of ills from which good men take flight,

13. No fool blundering on with his follies unfurled,
No weakling who cringes when fate shows its might.

14. I'm no opulent man who will coast through and feast,
While others sink hungry and gaining no height.

15. No herder of goats, though around me there bleats
A throng should a wedding ask too many invite.

16. Now raiding the cattle, now creaking in load
A mildewy saddle of palm fronds outright

17. Scattering women in tumult, whose rags
Are shabby and worn with no sash gird in sight -

18. Now charging with rabble, now looting in stealth,
Now smiting with cronies till dawn's early light.

19. As long as I live, while submission's my creed,
I'll be found with the rogue, the wretch of no height,

20. I'm no shirker of fate, but I temper its blow
With wine, and I roam where the youthful ignite,

21. I embrace the tavern where faces shine bright,
I befriend the dissolutes' giddy delight.

22. Oh tell ye Sa'd ibn Layth, and Jundu' be told:
Enjoy honest gain, ill-got profit is blight!

23. When war turns its blade, then turn thy face too
For in war'sSurely judgment shall come to the light

24. Climb down Marqabah, mother of 'Umar, degraded!
Perched there as a crone, bent and withered in sight!

25. I rose there myself, from a slumber like death,
With slippers I'd tossed to be shod as my rite.

26. Through a valley I passed, like the thirsting camel's grasp,
The wolf howled within it, that craven of night.

27. On they came, with the wind that shook them in fright -
Who dares the dark's secrets shall tremble outright!

28. I said, as their wailing to me came in waves,
"Thabit, if ever you wish to be kept from the blight

29. Of want, grasp not at all things in sight.
Who ploughs my field and yours will reap sorrow's requite.

30. People shun honest men and grab at delight,
After we entered where their dogs stay in fright.

31. I tossed them a worn-out old shoe in the gloom,
In exchange for some fresh ones, to save from the bight."

32. So he bolted away, his neck shaking loose,
Like a shepherd who's thriving, elated with height.