مَنْ مبلغٌ عنّي بنى مالكٍ
أنّ الّذي داويتُمُ أقْرَفا
Who will carry word from me to Banū Mālik:
The wound you tended has broken open again.
دُمنا على العهد لمن لم يدمْ
وَقَد وفينا للّذي ما وفى
We stayed true to the covenant with those who did not,
And kept faith with those who kept none.
وَلَيسَ في العدل ولا غيره
أنْ يظلم الظّالمُ مَن أنصفا
Neither in justice nor outside its bounds
Should a wrongdoer wrong one who has dealt justly.
لا تسمعوا القولَ بلا حجّةٍ
فطالما بُدِّلَ أو حُرِّفا
Do not heed a claim unsupported by proof;
Many a time it has been altered or distorted.
ولا تزيدونا أباطيلكمْ
فإنّما أمرضتُمُ مُدْنَفا
Do not ply us further with your falsehoods;
You have only made one already gravely ill still sicker.
كم فيكمُ مِن ماطلٍ وعدَه
فإنْ يَجُدْ يوماً به أخلفا
How many among you delay fulfilling their promise,
And if one day they grant it, they break their word.
ومِن مُصِرٍّ زاد إصرارَه
إِنْ لِيمَ في السِّيّءِ أو عُنِّفا
And how many an obstinate man grows more stubborn
When blamed for a misdeed or harshly rebuked.
وكم عطفنا منكمُ مُعرِضاً
فلم نجدْ من معرضٍ مَعْطَفا
How often we tried to win back one of you who turned away,
Yet among those who turned away found none inclined toward us.
وما رأينا منكُمُ في الهوى
إلّا بخيل الكفّ أو مُسرفا
In matters of affection, we have seen among you
Only the tight-fisted or the wildly prodigal.
عودوا إلى السِّلمِ كما كنتُمُ
فقد مضى من حربكمْ ما كفى
Return to peace, as once you were;
Enough of your warfare has already passed.
Sol 5.6