قُل لِاِسماعيلَ ذي الخا

لِ عَلى الخَدِّ السِباعي

Tell the bare-armed, whose cheek sports a beauty-mark,

Say to Ismail, he of the mole,

And tell the turbaned man who wears a cloak like a Kurd's,

That sits upon a beastly jowl,

وَلِذي الهامَةِ قَد نُص

صَت عَلى مِثلِ الكُراعِ

And tell the full-lipped one, whose mouth is ever laughing,

And he whose head is hoisted high,

And tell the slender-armed, embraced in an embrace -

Atop a neck like a trotter dry,

وَلِذي الثَغرِ الَّذي يُط

بِقُ بِالشَدقِ التَساعي

Your chants were a feast for the voracious hyenas.

And he of the mouth that snaps so tight,

The cup was passed amongst you, with songs and music,

With jaws of a vast and gaping bite,

وَلِذي الوَجعاءِ مُفضا

ها ذِراعٌ في ذِراعِ

And you shared the darkness when you were prey for the beasts.

And he of the rear, that wide abyss,

A night when good old Abel was absent from your gathering,

A cubit square of openness,

كانَ إِعراسُكَ طُعماً

لِشَواهينِ الجِياعِ

Riding his camel till dawn's caller called.

Your celebration was a bait,

For starving hawks to congregate,

دارَتِ الكَأسُ عَلَيكُم

في غِناءٍ وَسَماعِ

The wine cup circled round the ring,

Amidst the music and the sing,

فَاِقتَسَمتُم في الدُجى إِذ

كُنتُمُ شاءَ السِباعِ

You took your shares in darkness deep,

When you became the lions' sheep,

لَيلَةً سُرَّ بِها إِب

ليسُ مِنكُم بِاِجتِماعِ

A night that brought the Devil cheer,

To see you all assembled here,

إِبِلٌ تُركَبُ حَتّى

قامَ لِلإِصباحِ داعِ

Like camels ridden through the night,

Until the herald called the light.