يا سَعدُ دَعوَةُ مَن لا يَرتَجيكَ وَلا

يا سَعدُ دَعوَةُ مَن لا يَرتَجيكَ وَلا

يُثني عَلَيكَ إِذا أَثنى عَلى رَجُلِ

يُثني عَلَيكَ إِذا أَثنى عَلى رَجُلِ

O Sa'd, a call from one who expects nothing of you, nor

O Saad, the invocation of one who neither hopes in you, nor

praises you when he praises a man.

Praises you when praising a man,

فَلَو تَفاوَضنا في الظَبيِ تَخرُزُهُ

فَلَو تَفاوَضنا في الظَبيِ تَخرُزُهُ

خَرزَ الحَمائِلِ إِذ بِتنا بِقُطرَبلِ

خَرزَ الحَمائِلِ إِذ بِتنا بِقُطرَبلِ

So, if we spoke of the gazelle you were stitching,

If we had bartered the wild cows, stringing their beads -

as sword-belts are stitched, when we spent the night in Qutrabbul.

The beads of litters - when we spent the night in Qutrabl,

لَكِن ثَنائي أَن أَجزِيَكَ سَيِّئَةً

لَكِن ثَنائي أَن أَجزِيَكَ سَيِّئَةً

حِفظُ النِدامِ وَإِكرامي بَني عَمَلي

حِفظُ النِدامِ وَإِكرامي بَني عَمَلي

But my praise is to repay you with an ill deed—

Rather, my praise is that I reward your wrong with

keeping faith with drinking companions and honoring those of my trade.

Preserving regret and honoring my deeds.