1. With noble steeds and sharp blades unsheathed,
With slender spears and swords that cleave,

2. With coats of mail like adders twined, woven in Tubba's land,
With straight and sturdy lances raised and poised to strike,

3. When we mount and ride forth at ease, none can match our worth.
Our foes we trample and crush without delay.

4. Great kings we are, who plunge into the fray,
Bestowers of gifts so generous and freely given.

5. Noble are the Banu Hijaz, brightly shine
Their stars on high within the dome of heaven.

6. Valiant horsemen, answering duty's call,
When the sun spews froth they ready for the brawl.

7. Stalwart warriors tried, who dyed their mail blood-red,
And laid low the tyrants' rule on battlefields widespread.

8. To war they march as lions from their den,
Beneath a storm of blows and driving rain.

9. Ours are Saba, and the Gardens two at Marib,
Nazwa too, and all the heights their clansmen scaled.

10. Of us was Sulayman the bold, and Zafar famed,
And Nabhan, guardian of each chieftain and horse groomed.

11. From us came Harithah the Seer, and Aamer storied,
And Amr ibn Ma'adi Karb, refuge for every widow.

12. Of us was Qahtan, crownèd king of high renown,
And Jusham, succor for all mankind when woes abound.

13. Kahlan of us, and al-Anqa noble scion,
And Hud, God's prophet, of all virtues paragon.

14. Woe to you, O Aysa, whose deeds the vilest be,
Who vaunt yourself though lacking all high qualities.

15. Your hatred seethes and sets our minds awry,
While thanks to us the riders sing atop their camels high.

16. I am the king whose verse is pure delight,
The noblest of nobles quake before my might.

17. My rank's above the loftiest summit won,
My deeds, though heavy as the clouds, weigh on no one.

18. No enemies can withstand my blows,
Not if they stood as tall and strong as mountain snows.

19. Ask all the tribes of Mudar and Yarab,
And those who dwell where sweet wine flows in eachBRE

20. Is there a king whose gifts as mine compare,
Who plunges with such skill his lance in war's red glare?

21. Have I e'er flinched at blows in battle's tide?
Have my arm's strokes gone astray or fallen wide?

22. My bounty vies with the stars' glittering train,
And I mete out wrath to wrathful men in kind.