أَعَبّاسُ بنُ مِرداسٍ أَلَمّا

أَعَبّاسُ بنُ مِرداسٍ أَلَمّا

تُخَبِّرُكَ المَجامِعُ عَن خُفافِ

تُخَبِّرُكَ المَجامِعُ عَن خُفافِ

O Abbas ibn Mirdas, have you not yet

Abbas, son of Mirdas, did you not know

been told by the gatherings about Khufaf,

That gatherings inform you of light poetry

فَتَعلَمَ أَنَّ عودي قَد يُعَيّا

فَتَعلَمَ أَنَّ عودي قَد يُعَيّا

عَلى غَمزِ المُقَوِّمِ وَالثِقافِ

عَلى غَمزِ المُقَوِّمِ وَالثِقافِ

so you may know that my shaft can prove unyielding

So you learn that my lute can be tamed

to the straightener's pressure and the straightening clamp?

By the touch of the tuner and the skillful hands

سَتَأتيكَ القَوافي مِن قَريضي

سَتَأتيكَ القَوافي مِن قَريضي

مُلَملِمَةً كَجَلمودِ القِذافِ

مُلَملِمَةً كَجَلمودِ القِذافِ

Rhymes from my verse will come to you,

You will get rhymes from my poetry

solid and rounded, like a boulder of al-Qidhaf;

Polished like the round hailstone

وَتَشرَبَ مِن لَظى حَربي كُؤوساً

وَتَشرَبَ مِن لَظى حَربي كُؤوساً

أَمَرَّ بِفَيِّكَ مِن سُمٍّ ذُعافِ

أَمَرَّ بِفَيِّكَ مِن سُمٍّ ذُعافِ

and you will drink cups from the blaze of my war,

And you will drink from the heat of my war, cups

more bitter in your mouth than deadly poison.

More bitter than lethal poison in your mouth