1. تُعَلِّلُنا أَمامَةُ بِالعِداتِ

    وَما تَشفي القُلوبَ الصادِياتِ

    Umamah keeps us hoping with promises,

    but they do not quench thirsty hearts.

  2. فَلَولا حُبُّها وَإِلَهِ مَوسى

    لَوَدَّعتُ الصِبا وَالغانِياتِ

    But for my love of her—by the God of Moses—

    I would have forsaken youthful passion and beautiful women.

  3. وَما صَبري عَنِ الذَلفاءِ إِلّا

    كَصَبرِ الحوتِ عَن ماءِ الفُراتِ

    I can no more endure separation from the snub-nosed beauty

    than a fish can endure separation from Euphrates water.

  4. إِذا رَضِيَت رَضيتُ وَتَعتَريني

    إِذا غَضِبَت كَهَيضاتِ السُباتِ

    When she is pleased, I am pleased; and I am overcome,

    when she is angry, as by fits of stupor.

  5. أَنا البازي المُطِلُّ عَلى نُمَيرٍ

    عَلى رَغمِ الأُنوفِ الراغِماتِ

    I am the hawk hovering over Numayr,

    despite those noses rubbed in the dust.

  6. إِذا سَمِعَت نُمَيرٌ مَدَّ صَوتي

    حَسِبتَهُمُ نِساءً مُنصِتاتِ

    When Numayr hears my voice ring out,

    you would take them for women listening silently.

  7. رَجَوتُم يا بَني وَقبانَ مَوتي

    وَأَرجو أَن تَطولَ لَكُم حَياتي

    You hoped for my death, sons of Waqban,

    and I hope my life will last long for you.

  8. إِذا اِجتَمَعوا عَلَيَّ فَخَلِّ عَنهُم

    وَعَن بازٍ يَصُكُّ حُبارَياتِ

    When they gather against me, leave them alone,

    and leave alone a hawk battering houbara bustards.

  9. إِذا طَرِبَ الحَمامُ حَمامُ نَجدٍ

    نَعى جارَ الأَقارِعِ وَالحُتاتِ

    When the doves—the doves of Najd—coo,

    they announce the death of the neighbor of al-Aqari' and al-Hutat.

  10. إِذا ما اللَيلُ هاجَ صَدىً حَزيناً

    بَكى جَزَعاً عَلَيهِ إِلى المَماتِ

    Whenever the night rouses a sorrowful owl,

    it weeps for him in anguish until death.

  11. أَيَفخَرُ بِالمُحَمَّمِ قَينُ لَيلى

    وَبِالكيرِ المُرَقَّعِ وَالعَلاةِ

    Does Layla's smith boast of the soot-blackened one,

    and of the patched bellows and the anvil?

  12. وَأُمُّكُمُ قُفَيرَةُ رَبَّبَتكُم

    بِدارِ اللُؤمِ في دِمَنِ النَباتِ

    And your mother, Qufayrah, reared you

    in the house of baseness, amid dung-heaps overgrown with plants.

  13. غَدَرتُم بِالزُبَيرِ وَخُنتُموهُ

    فَما تَرجو طُهَيَّةُ مِن ثَباتِ

    You dealt treacherously with al-Zubayr and betrayed him;

    so what steadfastness can Tuhayyah hope for?

  14. وَلَم يَكُ ذو الشَذاةِ يَخافُ مِنّي

    فَما تَرجو طُهَيَّةُ مِن شَذاتي

    Nor was the fierce one afraid of me;

    so what can Tuhayyah expect from my fierceness?

  15. كِرامُ الحَيِّ إِن شَهِدوا كَفَوني

    وَإِن وَصَّيتُهُم حَفِظوا وَصاتي

    The noblemen of the clan, if present, suffice me;

    and if I instruct them, they honor my instructions.

  16. وَحانَ بَنو قُفَيرَةَ إِذ أَتوني

    بِقَينٍ مُدمِنٍ قَرعَ العَلاةِ

    And the sons of Qufayrah met their doom when they came to me

    with a smith forever striking the anvil.

  17. تَرَكتُ القَينَ أَطوَعَ مِن خَصِيٍّ

    ذَلولٍ في خِزامَتِهِ مُواتِ

    I left the smith more obedient than a eunuch,

    docile and compliant in his nose-ring.

  18. أَبِالقَينَينِ وَالنَخَباتِ تَرجو

    لِيَربوعٍ شَقاشِقَ باذِخاتِ

    Do you hope, with the two smiths and the cowards,

    for lofty, camel-like bellowings against Yarbu'?

  19. هُمُ حَبَسوا بِذي نَجَبٍ حِفاظاً

    وَهُم ذادوا الخَميسَ بِوارِداتِ

    They held their ground at Dhu Najab to defend their honor,

    and they drove back the army at Waridat.

  20. وَتَرفَعُنا عَلَيكَ إِذا اِفتَخَرنا

    لِيَربوعٍ بَواذِخُ شامِخاتِ

    And when we boast, we are lifted above you

    by the lofty, towering heights of Yarbu'.

  21. هُمُ سَلَبوا الجَبابِرَ تاجَ مُلكٍ

    بِطِخفَةَ عِندَ مُعتَرَكِ الكُماةِ

    They stripped the tyrants of a royal crown,

    at Tikhfah, amid the clash of armored warriors.

  22. فَقَد غَرِقَ الفَرَزدَقُ إِذ عَلَتهُ

    غَوارِبُ يَلتَطِمنَ مِنَ الفُراتِ

    For al-Farazdaq has indeed drowned, as over him rose

    wave-crests from the Euphrates, crashing together.

  23. رَأَيتُكَ يا فَرَزدَقُ وَسطَ سَعدٍ

    إِذا بُيِّتَ بِئسَ أَخو البَياتِ

    I saw you, Farazdaq, among Sa'd,

    when they were attacked by night—what a wretched comrade in the raid!

  24. وَما لاقَيتَ وَيلَكَ مِن كَريمٍ

    يَنامُ كَما تَنامُ عَنِ التِراتِ

    Woe to you! You have never met a noble man

    who sleeps, as you do, heedless of unavenged wrongs.

  25. نَسيتُم عُقرَ جِعثِنَ وَاِحتَبَيتُم

    أَلا تَبّاً لِفَخرِكَ بِالحُباتِ

    You forgot Ji'thin's defloration and sat with your knees wrapped;

    ah, damn your boasting of those knee-wraps!

  26. وَقَد دَمِيَت مَواقِعُ رُكبَتَيها

    مِنَ التِبراكِ لَيسَ مِنَ الصَلاةِ

    The places where her knees rest have bled,

    from repeated kneeling, not from prayer.

  27. تُنادي غالِباً وَبَني عِقالٍ

    لَقَد أَخزَيتَ قَومَكَ في النُداةِ

    She calls to Ghalib and the sons of 'Iqal;

    you have indeed disgraced your people before the assembled company.

  28. وَجَدنا نِسوَةً لِبَني عِقالٍ

    بِدارِ الذُلِّ أَغراضَ الرُماةِ

    We found women of the sons of 'Iqal

    in a house of humiliation, targets for the archers:

  29. غَوانٍ هُنَّ أَخبَثُ مِن حَميرٍ

    وَأَمجَنُ مِن نِساءٍ مُشرِكاتِ

    beauties, fouler than donkeys,

    and more wanton than polytheist women.

  30. وَأَنتُم تَنفُرونَ بِظُفرِ سَوءٍ

    وَتَأبى أَن تَلينَ لَكُم صَفاتي

    And you contend with a wretched talon,

    yet my rock refuses to soften for you.

  31. أَلَيسَ الزُبرِقانُ أَحَقَّ عَيرٍ

    بِرَميٍ إِذ تَعَرَّضَ لِلرُماةِ

    Is al-Zibriqan not the ass most deserving

    of being shot, since he exposed himself to the archers?

  32. تَضَمَّنَ ما أَضَعتَ بَنو قُرَيعٍ

    لِجارِكَ أَن يَموتَ مِنَ الخُفاتِ

    The sons of Quray' undertook what you neglected:

    that your neighbor should meet a sudden death.

  33. تَدَلّى بِاِبنِ مُرَّةَ قَد عَلِمتُم

    تَدَلّى ثُمَّ تَنهَزُ بِالدَلاةِ

    He dangled from Ibn Murrah, as you well know;

    he dangled down, then you jolt the bucket.