سائِل فَوارِسَ يَربوعٍ بِشِدَّتِنا

أَهَل رَأَونا بِسَفح القاعِ ذي الأَكَمِ

I asked the horsemen at Rabu'a about our severity

Did they see people at the foot of the barren valley?

أَهَل تَرَكتُ نَهيكاً فيهِ دامِيَةً

قَلّاسُهُ تَنعَتُ الصَلاءَ بِالغَذَمِ

Did they leave crying because of you there a bloodshed

Whose wounds sniff prey with greed?

وَالحارِثَ بنَ شِهابٍ عِندَ مُعتَركٍ

رَهنُ المَقامَةِ لِلعَرجاءِ وَالرُخَمِ

And Al-Harith ibn Shihab in the midst of battle

As ransom, halted for the limping and the lame

إِنّا كَذلِكَ إِذ ما غارَةٌ لَحِقَت

يُفضي بِكُلِّ رَقيقٍ حُرَّةٍ خَدَمِ

That is how when a raid befell

It unleashed every free and enslaved servant

وَكُلَّ مُستَرِقٍ نَهدَ وَسَلهَبَةٍ

يَكتُمنَ عِندَ اِعتراكِ المَوتِ بِاللَمَمِ

And every dishonest pillager, a soft and an easy prey

Who hides when death clashes with destinies