أَفي كُلِّ عامٍ مَأَتَمٌ تَجمَعونَهُ

عَلى مِحمَرٍ ثَوَّبتُموهُ وَما رضى

Is there a funeral gathering you hold every year

Over embers you have kindled, yet you are not pleased

تُجِدّونَ خَمشاً بَعدَ مَمشٍ كَأَنَّهُ

عَلى فاجِعِ مِن خَيرِ قَومِكُم نُعى

You find fault after excellence as if

It is a eulogy for the best of your people

تُخَصِّصُ جَبّاراً عَلَيَّ وَرَهطَهُ

وَما صِرمَتي فيهِم لَأَوَّلِ مَن سَعى

You single out an oppressor over me and his gang

Yet my involvement with them was not the first to attempt

تَرعَيِّ بِأَذنابِ الشِعابِ وَدونَها

رِجالٌ يَصُدّونَ الظَلومَ عَنِ الهَوى

You pasture at the tails of valleys and below them

Are men who ward off wrongdoing from desire

وَيَركَبُ يَومَ الرَوعِ فيها فَوارِسٌ

يَرُدّونَ طَعناً في الأَباهِرِ وَالكُلى

And on a day of panic they ride through them knights

Who parry a stab in the intestines and kidneys

فَلَولا زُهَيرٌ أَن أُكِدِّرَ نِعمَةً

لَقاذَعتُ كَعباً ما بَقيتُ وَما بَقى

So if it were not for Zuheir sullying a blessing

I would have contended with Ka’b as long as I and he remained

قَد اِنبعَثَت عِرسي بِلَيلٍ تَلومُني

وَأَقرِب بِأَحلامِ النِساءِ مِنَ الرَدى

My wedding procession came at night blaming me

And is closer in the dreams of women than sanity

تَقولُ أَرى زَيداً وَقَد كانَ مُقتِرا

أَراهُ لِعَمري قَد تَمَوَّلَ وَاِقتَنى

She says, “I see Zaid who once was destitute

I swear by my life he has now become wealthy and acquired goods”

وَذاكَ عَطاءُ اللَهِ في كُلِّ غادَةٍ

مُشَمِّرَةٍ يَوماً إِذا قَلَص الخُصى

That is the grace of God during every absence

Bared one day when livelihoods are straitened