خُفافُ أَلَم تَرَ ما بَينَنا

يَزيدُ اِستِعاراً إِذا يُسعَرُ

Khofaf, have you not seen what lies between us

Increases in metaphor when ignited

أَلَم تَرَ أَنّا وَهَبنا التِلا

دَ لِلسَائِلينَ وَما نَغدِرُ

Have you not seen that we gave freely

To the beggars though we bore no obligation

لِأَنّا نُكَلَّفُ فَوقَ الَّتي

يُكَلَّفُها الناسُ لَو تَخبُرُ

For we are tasked beyond what

People would be tasked, were you to ask

لَنا شِيَمٌ غَيرُ مَجهولَةٍ

تَوارَثَها الأَكبَرُ الأَكبَرُ

We have an honor not unknown

Inherited by elder from elder

وَخَيلٌ تَكَدَّسُ بِالدارِعي

نَ تُنحَرُ في الرَوعِ أَو تُعقَرُ

And steeds piled high in the tribe

That gore in fright or hobble when lamed

عَلَيها فَوارِسُ مَخبورَةٌ

كَجِنٍّ مَساكِنُها عَبقَرُ

On them seasoned horsemen

Like Jinn whose abode Beqar

وَرَجراجَةٌ مِثلُ لَونِ النُجو

مِ لا العُزلُ فيها وَلا الحُسَّرُ

And steeds dapple-grey like the color of stars

With no isolation or loss of vigor

وَبيضٌ سَوابِغُ مَسرودَةٌ

مَواريثُ ما أَورَثَت حِميَرُ

And purebreds fully white

Inheriting what the gray ones bequeathed

فَقَد يَعلَمُ الحَيُّ عِندَ الصِياحِ

بِأَنَّ العَقيلَةَ بي تُستَرُ

Thus the living may know amid the war cries

That my clan’s women are veiled

وَقَد يَعلَمُ الحَيُّ عِندَ الرِها

نِ أَنّي أَنا الشامِخُ المُخطِرُ

And the living may know amid the tremors

That I am the towering, the formidable

وَقَد يَعلَمُ الحَيُّ عِندَ السُؤا

لِ أَنّي أَجودُ وَأُستَمطَرُ

And the living may know when asked

That I am the most generous and sought after

فَأَنّى تُعَيِّرُني بِالفَخارِ

وَها أَنا هَذا هُوَ المُنكَرُ

Why then do you taunt me with conceit

When I am this, the disavower