أَتاني ما يَقولُ لي اِبنُ بُظرى

أَقَيسٌ يا اِبنَ ثَعلَبَةِ الصَباحِ

The son of Buthra has said to me,

"Are you wise, O son of Tha'labah's dawn?"

لَعَبدانَ اِبنِ عاهِرَةٍ وَخِلطٍ

رَجوفِ الأَصلِ مَدخولِ النَواحي

To a slave son of a whore and a scoundrel,

Of unknown origin and diverse haunts.

لَقَد سَفَرَت بَنو عَبدانَ بَيناً

فَما شَكَروا بِلَأمي وَالقِداحِ

Indeed the sons of 'Abdan have traveled far and wide

Yet they did not thank my mother or my drinking cups.

إِلَيكُم قَبلَ تَجهيزِ القَوافي

تَزورُ المُنجِدينَ مَعَ الرِياحِ

Before you finish composing verses,

Seek help from grammarians along with the winds.

فَما شَتمي بِسَنّوتٍ بِزُبدٍ

وَلا عَسَلٍ تُصَفِّقُهُ بِراحِ

You have not insulted me for many years,

Nor with honey that claps with wind.

وَلَكِن ماءُ عَلقَمَةٍ وَسَلعٍ

يُخاضُ عَلَيهِ مِن عَلَقِ الذُباحِ

But only the water of 'Alqamah and Sal'

Churned from the coagulated blood of slaughter.

لَأُمُّكَ بِالهِجاءِ أَحَقُّ مِنّا

لِما أَبَلَتكَ مِن شَوطِ الفِضاحِ

In satire, your mother is more deserving than us

For what she bore of excessive immorality.

أَلَسنا المانِعينَ إِذا فَزَعنا

وَزافَت فَيلَقٌ قَبلَ الصَباحِ

Are we not the defenders when we are alarmed

And regiments charge before dawn?

سَوامَ الحَيِّ حَتّى نَكتَفيهِ

وَجودُ الخَيلِ تَعثُرُ في الرِماحِ

We exhaust the living fire

While the generosity of horses stumbles into spears.

أَلَسنا المُقتَفينَ بِمَن أَتانا

إِذا ما حارَدَت خورُ اللِقاحِ

Are we not the pursuers of those who came to us

When the fertile valleys were violated?

أَلَسنا الفارِجينَ لِكُلِّ كَربٍ

إِذا ما غُصَّ بِالماءِ القَراحِ

Are we not the relief for every affliction

When water is scarce in the pond?

أَلَسنا نَحنُ أَكرَمَ إِن نُسِبنا

وَأَضرَبَ بِالمُهَنَّدَةِ الصَفاحِ

Are we not the most honorable when tracing ancestry

And the purest that strikes with Indian swords?