1. News that makes hearts pray and be humble,
And eyes overflow with tears and weep,

2. News that almost makes the earth tremble,
And its mountains nearly split and crack.

3. News that made kings worried,
Restless at night, tossing and turning.

4. The grief of your day has troubled my thoughts,
And grief stings hearts so they ache.

5. Your loss has pained me though before this
No agony could make me ache.

6. I found it hard to lose you, O brother
Of noble traits whose generosity knew no bounds.

7. To God you were the finest ever reared
In past times in the finest, noblest of abodes.

8. Damn the day you left, how many it made weep
And weep their hearts out in anguish.

9. I thought the bier would never pass me by
Until your coffin passed carried on high.

10. Far from auspicious was your day, O son
Of Tubba, dire and full of woe.

11. I yearn for you as a generation that finds
Time’s misfortunes batter them down.

12. I yearn for you as a guest come in dark
To a well-known abode finding all changed.

13. I yearn for you as one hopeful but fate
Has dashed his hopes and left him disappointed.

14. I yearn for you as the living who gained
Nothing from your loss, nor were they harmed.

15. I yearn for you as a doting mother
Who lost her baby and is left inconsolable.

16. I yearn for you as a child severed
From kin who now weeps, forlorn.

17. I yearn for you as horses whose ears
Are slit as a sign of their grieving for you.

18. Your loss has left us broken though we were not
Before your going given to breaking down.

19. Oh my brother, you have drained my tears that now
Flow free down my cheeks as I weep and wail.

20. Alone you left me then left me to weep
For you by every grave dug in the earth.

21. How long I stayed by your tomb weeping
Though that cannot help you, O Tubba’s son.

22. How long I paused, praying and reciting
Though the dead sense naught, nor hear what we say.

23. To save you from death’s grip, my clan
Dear princely son, I would give all I own.

24. Your sword cut down foes, now it lies
Still, harming none, its edge gone.

25. God spared me the blow though death
Loomed, its stroke warded off and held back.

26. May God reward you with gardens and bliss
For His grace and your Lord’s succor suffices.

27. For as long as wild doves mourn, I will weep
For a comrade ne’er to be replaced or matched.

28. Tell the base cowards that I will retaliate
With keenest blades, my resolve is unshakeable.

29. Is there one like my brother among you
Whose might my sword cut down in his prime?

30. So I warn all tribes of what will come
From me, a sharp unsheathed blade that slashes.

31. Leave off your pride, fear my wrath, fear a man
Whose blade all valiant warriors dread and fear.

32. To me you and your women are the same,
Yours may be braver, more gallant and bold.

33. You will be like sheep, dazed, set upon,
With white swords unsheathed, bared and exposed.

34. Like locusts taking off, scattered apart
By searing flames in a raging inferno.

35. Forevermore will the days grind you down
In never ending turmoil and grief.

36. I will raise up clouds of vengeance
Pregnant with torrents of hissing, searing rain,

37. My resolve is to spare none nor any
Fortress stand that I will not raze.

38. How can you sleep secure when here are
White swords athirst, and famished birds of prey,

39. Horsemen like lions, fiercely attacking,
Who never retreat, nor flinch, nor hesitate,

40. And spears whose keen heads thirst
Like the tower’s peak flashing in the sun,

41. And steeds swift to charge like wolves
That mass if their pack scents blood.

42. Kings are above commoners for God
Made them rulers, as He willed, just like Tubba.

43. We are people of heavenly waters and Dhu Tuwa,
Hood the prophet our carpenter and wellspring.

44. And we, when dark clouds deny their rain, have
Gifts galore that heal, benefit and enrich.

45. God elevated us high above the stars
For He raises and lowers whom He will.