قولي لَهُم يا عَبلَ قَد خابَ قَينُكُم

قولي لَهُم يا عَبلَ قَد خابَ قَينُكُم

وَغَيَّرَ وَجهَ القَينِ ذَروُ السَنابِكِ

وَغَيَّرَ وَجهَ القَينِ ذَروُ السَنابِكِ

Tell them, O ʿAbl: your smith has indeed failed,

Tell them, O Abla, their jealousy has failed,

and dust flung up by hooves has changed the smith’s face.

And the face of jealousy has been changed by the blowing winds.

فَما ضَرَّ ما قُلتُم مَهاةً تَصَرَّفَت

فَما ضَرَّ ما قُلتُم مَهاةً تَصَرَّفَت

بِعَطفِ النَقا تَرعى هُجولَ الدَكادِكِ

بِعَطفِ النَقا تَرعى هُجولَ الدَكادِكِ

So what you said did not harm a she-oryx roaming

No harm in what you said, it was but a jest,

along the sand dune’s curve, grazing in the hollows of low sandy hills.

That grazed with the bending of a slender branch.

لِعَبلَةَ فَرعُ الحَيِّ قَد تَعلَمونَهُ

لِعَبلَةَ فَرعُ الحَيِّ قَد تَعلَمونَهُ

وَأَطيَبُ عِرقٍ في الثَرى المُتَدارِكِ

وَأَطيَبُ عِرقٍ في الثَرى المُتَدارِكِ

ʿAbla has the tribe’s highest branch, as you well know,

Abla is a fresh branch, as you know,

and the finest root in the closely layered earth.

The sweetest sap in the fertile soil.

لَها خُنزُوانٌ في خُزَيمَةَ لَم تَزَل

لَها خُنزُوانٌ في خُزَيمَةَ لَم تَزَل

تَنَقَّلُ مِنهُ في سَنامِ وَحارِكِ

تَنَقَّلُ مِنهُ في سَنامِ وَحارِكِ

Hers is lofty eminence in Khuzayma; she has always

She has a treasure in Khuzaima never depleted,

moved from it through hump and withers.

Moving through it with bells and anklets.

تَنافَسُ فيها عَبدُ شَمسٍ وَهاشِمٌ

تَنافَسُ فيها عَبدُ شَمسٍ وَهاشِمٌ

إِذا قيلَ مَن صِهرُ الكَريمِ المُشارِكِ

إِذا قيلَ مَن صِهرُ الكَريمِ المُشارِكِ

ʿAbd Shams and Hashim vie for her

There Abda of Shams and Hashim compete,

when it is asked, ‘Who is kin by marriage to the noble man who shares?’

When asked who is the son-in-law of the generous partner.