يا كَعبُ لا تَهجُوَنّا العامَ مُعتَرِضاً

فَإِنَّ شِعرَكَ إِن لاقَيتَني غَرَرُ

O Ka'b do not satirize us this year, intruding,

For if you meet me, your poetry is but deceit,

إِنّي أَنا اللَيثُ في عَريسَةٍ أَشِبٍ

فَوَرِّعِ السَرحَ حَتّى يَفسَحَ البَصَرُ

I am the lion in the thicket of a night,

So curb your mount until the vision clears.

قَد جِئتَ تَحمِلُ رَأساً غَيرَ مُلتَئِمٍ

كَما تَحامَلَ فَوقَ القُنَّةِ الأَمَرُ

You've come bearing a head not yet attached,

As a commander bears above the howdah his order.

إِنَّ اللَهازِمَ لَن تَنفَكَّ تابِعَةً

هُمُ الذُنابى وَشُربُ التابِعِ الكَدَرُ

For the defeated ones will not cease to follow,

The wolf packs whose water the stirred up is bitter.

قَبيلَةٌ كَشِراكِ النَعلِ دارِجَةٌ

إِن يَهبِطوا العَفوَ لا يوجَد لَهُم أَثَرُ

A tribe worn like the straps of sandals,

If they come down to pardon, no trace of them can be found.

مَحَلُّهُم مِن بَني تَيمٍ وَإِخوَتِهِم

حَيثُ يَكونُ مِنَ الحِمارَةِ الثَفَرُ

Their abode is among the Taym and their brothers,

Where the braying of donkeys can be heard.