1. There is no good in hastily made friendships,
Nor in a friend whose loyalty does not last,

2. Nor in wealth over which one broods greedily,
Nor in a hand that does not wield a firm sword.

3. I abandoned youth for fear its telltale features
Would stir up longing for the ruined abode of the past.

4. My friends asked me, “Why do you avoid it?” I said, “I need
To spare my heart the tumult youth's ardors cast.”

5. Salma said when she saw those fine noble faces,
"We spent the night, O mother of Ghalyan, on the march

6. And slept. The knight's night holds no sleep."
And I lift my skirt, now soiled by the dust of veils,

7. When the march inclines toward the filth of robes.
With a dusty stirrup whose darkness

8. Seems like the smoke of battle rising over skulls.
When the ewes crowd together at Minas

9. The eyes of the white sheep are hurt by the dust.
Yet the black night does not provoke me

10. Nor the women who put ivory amulets on their wrists.
We took shelter in the shade of the brittle thorn trees

11. As though by a horse facing the wind while fasting.
More crude than the untamed colt that shakes off

12. The irritation of ticks unless they cling to his legs.
The little birds of the desert nested

13. In their nests upturned by the empty saddlebags.
The kindler bellowed to frighten away some beasts,

14. And the sun's spittle boiled above the skulls.
She rides a studded and engraved work of art,

15. An excellent camel above the scrawny camels.
Yarbu built me above the lofty roof

16. A structure whose beams rose above the beams.
Whoever seeks our protection will not fear after our pact.

17. Whoever does not make peace with us will not sleep.
O tribe of Qays, our enemy will not elude us

18. With a tent rope or saddle strap left behind.
I belong to the tribe Tamim counts as defenders

19. At the crowded waters from which they do not flee.
Around me are the prey of slaves and Ja'far's clan,

20. Who build the lofty encampment for an enemy.
Yarbu takes the sun behind me at Qana,

21. And my mountains lie exposed to the deep blows.
When winds blow around me, presaging

22. Victory, eminence, and growing might,
And if poverty visits my house, you will find me

23. Striving to fend off the ardors of honored glory.
I saw my clansmen of Qureyba tread upon

24. Your sanctuary while my horses claim the summits.
Yarbu has abundant, far-reaching glory,

25. A gaunt-faced one with hollow temples.
We seized Yazid and Ibn Kabsa by force

26. And they gained nothing against us, their great deeds failing.
We wrested Hadhramaut's coast from Amir's clan,

27. And Marwan was part of our divided spoils.
We saved Buhayra and his band

28. And we prevented the taking of captives on the day of Ariqim.
We split Hamat Ibn Khuweilid's skull

29. Where his mother draws her water from the deep well.
And we saved Mujabba after the rushed advance

30. Of the compact, solid ranks of horse had strained.
And we struck Hamat Ibn Muharriq—

31. That's how we defy with our sharp swords.
And we struck Jaribay's ally so he ended up

32. In inescapable loss that subjected him to wrong.
So now you lack even a belt, while your ally's house

33. Is divided among the wandering dromedaries.
Ablu's horsemen wept at Ju'ada sincerely

34. And their eyes poured ceaseless tears.
I tower over you with my branches and my rivers

35. Draw their flooding waters from the depths of seas.
We extended a lead rope that does not stretch for doubt

36. Or betrayal in days now passed.
Come, let us judge you, for justice satisfies

37. The noble households of Batah the flawless.
The Quraysh will not follow passion in justice

38. Or heed the blame of any critic in God.
I consent to be judged by Abd Shams' progeny.

39. However the prey was divided by Hashim's clan,
I accept the judgement of Murra's sons, the Taym,

40. For they are a people lofty in all noble deeds.
I am satisfied with Mughira's clan in judgment, for they

41. Are oceans, the oceans' maternal uncles.
I accept the judgement of Bakr of Wail

42. Whether it be against me or against Dhul Qarnayn.
If you wish, the Banu Yashkur may be arbiters between us,

43. With the judgment of a generous one learned in religious law.
We remind them of the God who makes the waters flow easily

44. And relieves the stress of crowded, pressing times,
Who strikes the tyrant while the horses rear up,

45. Their forelegs pawing aggressively in the bright dust,
Who overtakes the quickly fleeing women at night

46. When the veils of the sheltered wives have slipped.
We wanted the morrow after Ghib not to blame us.

47. We feared Tamim's talk in the seasons of gathering.
You were followers for us in every glorious place,

48. And the ostrich feathers follow the arrivals.
Are the sons of abject Qays equal

49. To the sons of Sirius, bright and striking?
Increasing distances do not void my pledge

50. Or make my bones thinner from the blows of foreigners.
When people count their ancient deeds, you will find me

51. With a surplus of great deeds, not failing to strive,
But if the days are counted, you will shame Darim

52. While Darim's days shame you, O son of Qays.
So I boast of the days of knights—let them boast

53. Of your days, O Qays, of Jubayr and Dasim!
Of the days of a people who have no equal,

54. By whom they made grievous crimes easy for me.
O Qays, son of Qays, our women are not pleased

55. By one who claims nobility while we claim Darim.
We have ransomed just as Rabia ransomed Khalid

56. To his people though he did not make peace.
He is Qays! And the son of Qays has no peer

57. For slaying leopards or piercing the dark-coated goats.
Malik ransomed his ally when the threats

58. Of Wail and its battalions bore down on him.
Indeed, Farazdaq was only a crafty fox

59. Gnawing while caught in the jaws of a fierce, tearing lion.
Farazdaq's mother bore a debauched wretch

60. And delivered a spindly, short-legged whelp.
You are descended from an ignoble stock

61. Mixed with the blood of Mean slaves and servants.
Qufayra from Qinn gave birth to your father,

62. The son of a slave girl, born of lowly maidservants.
Qays bequeathed to you pots and a shoemaker's tools

63. For fixing camel saddles and sandal straps.
While our fathers bequeathed to us glory

64. That kills their fledglings with our hands.
Malik's decayed encampment inclined to peace,

65. And you know, O son of Qays, I did not make peace.
Farazdaq was merely a cunning fox

66. Caught in the jaws of a fierce tearing lion!
Truly, Farazdaq's mother bore a wicked man