كَأَنَّ الغُلامَ الحَنظَلِيَّ أَجارَهُ

عُمانِيَّةٌ قَد عَمَّ مَفرِقَها القَملُ

As if the youth of Hanzala sought refuge

With a lice-infested Omani woman whose hair was unkempt

أَباتَ عَلى مِقراكَ ثُمَّ قَتَلتَهُ

عَلى غَيرِ ذَنبٍ ذاكَ جَدَّبكَ الثُكلُ

You spent the night at your watch-post and then killed him

Wrongfully, thus did sorrow afflict you

فَهَل هُوَ إِلّا ثَوبُهُ وَسِلاحُهُ

وَما بِكُم عُريٌ إِلَيهِ وَلا عُزلُ

Is he anything more than his clothes and weapons?

You have no need to strip him naked or dismiss him

دَعا قَومَهُ لَمّا اِستُحِلَّ حَرامُهُ

وَمِن دونِهِم عَرضُ الأَعِقَّةِ فَالرَملُ

He called his people when his sanctity was violated

While in their absence the honor of the weak was as worthless as sand

وَلَو سَمِعوا مِنهُم دُعاءً يَروعُهُم

إِذا لَأَتَتهُ الخَيلُ أَعيُنُها قُبلُ

Had they heard their cry that would have terrified them

When the horses came, their eyes pools

شَواحِيَ يَمرِيهِنَّ بِالقَومِ وَالقَنا

فُروعُ السِياطِ وَالأَعِنَّةُ وَالرَكلُ

Running steeds past the people and the spears

The lashes of the whips, the spearheads and the kicks

إِذاً لَأَتاهُ كُلُّ شاكٍ سِلاحُهُ

يُعانِشُ يَومَ البَأسِ ساعِدُهُ جَدلُ

Then every doubter would have come to him, his weapon unsheathed

To help him on the day of tribulation, his sinewy forearm bared

فَلَو كانَ سَلمى جارَهُ أَو أَجارَهُ

رِياحُ بنُ سَعدٍ رَدَّهُ طائِرٌ كَهلُ

Had he sought protection with his neighbor Salma or asked him for refuge

The winds of Banu Sa'd would have driven back the unlucky bird

تَرى طالِبي الحاجاتِ يَغشَونَ بابَهُ

سِراعاً كَما تَهوى إِلى أُدَمى النَحلُ

You would have seen the seekers of favors crowding his door

Rushing to it as bees fly eagerly to honey