شَتَمتُ مُجاشِعاً بِبَني كُلَيبٍ

شَتَمتُ مُجاشِعاً بِبَني كُلَيبٍ

فَمَن يوفي بِشَتمِ بَني رِياحِ

فَمَن يوفي بِشَتمِ بَني رِياحِ

I reviled Mujashiʿ through Banu Kulayb;

I reviled, yielding, the clan of Kulayb,

who, then, can do full justice to reviling Banu Riyah?

Yet who will requite reviling the clan of Ri’ah?

لَهُم مَجدٌ أَشَمُّ عُدامِلِيٌّ

لَهُم مَجدٌ أَشَمُّ عُدامِلِيٌّ

أَلَفُّ العيصِ لَيسَ مِنَ النَواحي

أَلَفُّ العيصِ لَيسَ مِنَ النَواحي

Theirs is lofty, long-established glory,

They have a glory I perceive when my camel mounts her litter,

thick-grown in the thicket, not on its fringes.

Dearer am I of the lote-tree than the paths between adobe walls.

فَما أُمُّ الفَرَزدَقِ مِن هِلالٍ

فَما أُمُّ الفَرَزدَقِ مِن هِلالٍ

وَما أُمُّ الفَرَزدَقِ مِن صُباحِ

وَما أُمُّ الفَرَزدَقِ مِن صُباحِ

For al-Farazdaq's mother is not of Hilal,

Neither was al-Farazdaq’s mother of Hilal nor

nor is al-Farazdaq's mother of Subah.

Was al-Farazdaq's mother of Subah.

أولاكَ الحَيُّ ثَعلَبَةُ بنُ سَعدٍ

أولاكَ الحَيُّ ثَعلَبَةُ بنُ سَعدٍ

ذَوُو الأَحسابِ وَالأَدَمِ الصِحاحِ

ذَوُو الأَحسابِ وَالأَدَمِ الصِحاحِ

Those are the clan of Thaʿlabah ibn Saʿd,

Those were the living Tha‘labah son of Sa‘d,

possessors of ancestral honors and unblemished skins.

Of noble birth and of sound, flawless reputation.

وَلَكِن رَهطُ أُمِّكَ مِن شِيَيمٍ

وَلَكِن رَهطُ أُمِّكَ مِن شِيَيمٍ

فَأَبصِر وَسمَ قِدحِكَ في القِداحِ

فَأَبصِر وَسمَ قِدحِكَ في القِداحِ

But your mother's kin are of Shiyaym;

But your mother is of Shiyam,

so look at your arrow shaft's mark among the arrow shafts.

So see clearly and mark your drinking bowl among drinking bowls.