ألا عَللاني كُلُّ حَيٍّ مُعَلَّلُ

ولا تَعِداني الشَّرَّ والخَيرُ مُقبِلُ

Alas! Every living being is afflicted

And neither good nor evil promise me they'll come

فانكما لا تَدريان أما مضَى

مِن الدَّهرِ أو ما قَد تأخَّرَ أَطوَلُ

You know not what of time has passed

Or what prolonged remains to come

وما لِلفتى مَالٌ إذا مَرَّ نَعشُهُ

على عَمَدٍ فَوقَ المناكِبِ يُحمَلُ

A youth owns no wealth when his bier

Is carried on poles across shoulders borne

أحاديثُ عَن عادٍ وجُرهُمَ جمَّّةٌ

يُثوِّرُها العِضّان زَيدٌ ودَغفَلُ

Tales of ‘Aad and their throng in multitude

Stirred up by Zayd and Daghfal so headstrong

لنا لَيلَةٌ منها بعَيساءَ اسهُمٍ

وليلتُنا بالجدّ أصبى وأجهَلُ

We have a night with them at Bu‘aytha’s valley

And our night in battle is more bleak and long

ولما عَرَفنَ الجدَّ جدَّ ابنِ ملقَطٍ

عَدَلنَ له وانصاعَ مِنهُنَّ أَوَّلُ

When they knew battle was in earnest

Ibn Mulaqit's kin acquiesced and were among the first

وَقَعنَ وقوعَ الموحشِ المبتغي القِرى

به لعدادٍ حُسَّرَاً مايُظل

To fall like the lonesome seeking pasture

With charges against the houses they besiege

فَظَلَّ يَرُدُّ الحائماتِ ابنُ ملقَطِ

وناداهم غُضفَ الجمامِ تَرَحَّلوا

Ibn Mulqat kept repealing the protectors

And the war cries of their army told them: “Move on!”

وقالوا صَرانا اليومَ عَينٌ بَكيَّةٌ

وكذّانة صاقورُها يَتَفَلَّلُ

They said: “Today a weeping eye has afflicted us

And Kuthayyir's hawk with twisted anklets.”

يَلُذنَ باعقارِ الحياضِ كأنها

نساءُ النَّصارى أَصبَحَت وَهيَ كُفَّلُ

Taking delight in meadow’s nectar as though

Christian women ‘neath their mantillas at dawn