أَتاني وَعونُ الحوشِ بَيني وَبَينُكُم

كَوانِسُ مِن جَنبَي فِتاقٍ فَأَبلَقا

The band of the tribe came to my aid, between me and you,

Like slender spears protruding from polished sheaths.

تَأَنّيكُمُ أَحلامَ مَن لَيسَ عِندَهُ

عَلى الرَهطِ مَغنىً لَو تَنالونَ مَوثِقا

Your dreams are those of one who has nothing,

Even if you had power over the people.

بُنَيَّةُ إِنَّ القَومَ كانَ جَريرُهُم

بِرَأسِيَ لَو لَم يَجعَلوهُ مُعَلَّقا

O Buniyya, they would have had my head,

If they had not kept it hanging.

أَفي فِتيَةٍ بيضِ الوُجوهِ إِذا لَقوا

قَبيلَكَ يَوماً أَبلَغوهُ المُخَنَّقا

Will the fair-faced youths, when they meet

Your tribe one day, convey to them one who is strangled?

إِذا اِعتَفَرَت أَقدامُهُم عِندَ مَعرَكٍ

ثَبَتنَ بِهِ يَوماً فَإِن كانَ مَزلَقا

When their feet slip in battle,

They stand firmly one day, even if the ground be slippery.

جَزى اللَهُ فيما بَينَنا شَيخَ مِسمَعٍ

جَزاءَ المُسيءِ حَيثُ أَمسى وَأَشرَقا

May God reward, between us and the elder of hearing,

The reward of the evildoer, wherever he has set and risen!

جَزى اللَهُ تَيماً مِن أَخٍ كانَ يَتَّقي

مَحارِمَ تَيمٍ ما أَخَفَّ وَأَرهَقا

May God reward Taim, of a brother who used to be pious,

And observe the taboos of Taim - both open and hidden.

أَخونا الَّذي يَعدو عَلَينا وَلَو هَوَت

بِهِ قَدَمٌ كُنّا بِهِ مُتَعَلِّقا

The brother who aggresses against us -

Had his foot slipped, we would have held to him.

أَتَينا لَهُم إِذ لَم نَجِد غَيرَ أَنيهِم

وَكُنّا صَفائِحاً مِنَ المَوتِ أَزرَقا

We came to them, when we found none but their houses,

And we were sheets from death, scattered and torn.

وَجُدنا إِلى أَرماحِنا حينَ عَوَّلَت

عَلَينا بَنو رُهمٍ مِنَ الشَرِّ مَلزَقا

We resorted to our spears when the Banu Ruhem

Depended on us with evil, stuck fast.