لِمَنْ دِمْنَةٌ أَقْفَرَتْ بِالْجَنابِ

إِلَى السَّفْحِ بَيْنَ الْمَلا فَالْهِضابِ

For whom is a desolate abode in the desert,

Down the slopes between dunes and plateaus,

بَكَيْتَ لِعِرْفانِ آياتِها

وَهاجَ لَكَ الشَّوْقَ نَعْبُ الْغُرابِ

You wept recognizing its traces,

And yearning stirred in you like the crying of a raven,

فَأَبْلِغْ لَدَيْكَ بَنِي مالِكٍ

مُغَلْغَلَةً وَسَراةَ الرِّبابِ

Send word when you are among the tribe of Malik,

Fettered and with flasks of wine,

فَإِنَّ امْرَأً أَنْتُمُ حَوْلَهُ

تَحُفُّونَ قُبَّتَهُ بِالْقِبابِ

That you are a people rallied around a man

Sheltering his tent with canopies,

يُهِينُ سَراتَكُمُ عامِداً

وَيَقْتُلُكُمْ مِثْلَ قَتْلِ الْكِلابِ

Who scorns your horsemen resolutely

And kills you like the killing of dogs,

فَلَوْ كُنُتْمُ إِبِلاً أَمْلَحَتْ

لَقَدْ نَزَعَتْ لِلْمِياهِ الْعِذابِ

If you were camels gone astray,

You would hasten to the water springs,

وَلَكِنَّكُمْ غَنَمٌ تُصْطَفَى

وَيُتْرَكُ سائِرُها لِلذِّئابِ

But you are sheep to be herded

While the rest are left to the wolves,

لَعَمْرُ أَبِيكَ أَبِي الْخَيْرِ ما

أَرَدْتُ بِقَتْلِهِمُ مِنْ صَوابِ

By the life of your father, my father of goodness!

In killing them I intended no right,

ولا نِعْمَةٍ إِنَّ خَيْرَ الْمُلُو

كِ أَفْضَلُهُمْ نِعْمَةً فِي الرِّقابِ

Nor any favor - the best of kings

Is he of greatest favor upon his subjects.