أَلَم تَنهَ خُصيا الطابِخِيِّ وَأَيرُهُ

أَلَم تَنهَ خُصيا الطابِخِيِّ وَأَيرُهُ

بَني شِجَعٍ عَنّا رُؤوسُ الثَعالِبِ

بَني شِجَعٍ عَنّا رُؤوسُ الثَعالِبِ

Did not al-Ṭābikhī’s two testicles and his penis deter

Did not the cook's testes and penis stop

the sons of Shijaʿ from us—those foxes’ heads?

The sons of Shaja' from us, heads of foxes

كَأَنَّ خُصى الجيرانِ في كُلِّ صَيفَةٍ

كَأَنَّ خُصى الجيرانِ في كُلِّ صَيفَةٍ

بِأَيدي عَذاريهِم رُؤوسُ الأَرانِبِ

بِأَيدي عَذاريهِم رُؤوسُ الأَرانِبِ

As though the neighbors’ testicles, every summer,

As if the testes of the neighbors in every summertime

were hares’ heads in the hands of their maidens.

In the hands of their young women, heads of rabbits

وَوَاللَهِ لَولا أَنَّ غَيري وَلِيُّهُ

وَوَاللَهِ لَولا أَنَّ غَيري وَلِيُّهُ

وَأَنَّ اِحتِفالَ القَولِ عِندَ الأَقارِبِ

وَأَنَّ اِحتِفالَ القَولِ عِندَ الأَقارِبِ

And by God, were it not that someone else is his patron,

By Allah, if it were not for others being his guardians

and that the full force of speech belongs among kinsmen,

And that the saying of words is with relatives

لَجَلَّلتُهُم طَوقَ الحَمامَةِ إِذ ثَوى

لَجَلَّلتُهُم طَوقَ الحَمامَةِ إِذ ثَوى

بِزَبّاءَ قَد طَمَّت مِياهَ المَناقِبِ

بِزَبّاءَ قَد طَمَّت مِياهَ المَناقِبِ

I would have draped them in the dove’s collar, fixed in place,

I would have given them the ring of the dove when it took shelter

with a dire calamity that had engulfed the waters of noble deeds.

In Zabba whose waters have ruptured the springs