شَهِدتُ عَلى الزَيدِيِّ أَنَّ نِساءَهَ

ضِياعٌ إِلى أَيرِ العُقَيلِيِّ تَزفِرُ

I bear witness that Zayd's wives

Are lost property to Ibn Uqail

بَلَوتُ بَني زَيدٍ فَما في كِبارِهِم

حُلومٌ ولا في الأَصغَرينَ مُطَهَّرُ

I have tested the Zayds, and amongst their elders

There is neither sweetness nor purity among the young

فَأَبلِغ بَني زَيدٍ وَقُل لِسُراتِهِم

وَإِن لَم يَكُن فيهِم سُراةٌ تُوَقَّرُ

So inform the Zayds and say to their elite

Even if there are no respected elite among them

لأُمِّكُمُ الوَيلاتُ إِنَّ قَصائِدي

صَواعِقُ مِنها مُنجِدُ وَمُغَوِّرُ

Woe to their mother! My poems

Are thunderbolts, some supportive, some destructive

أَجَدَّهُمُ لا يَتَّقون دَنِيَّةً

وَلا يُؤثِرونَ الخَيرَ وَالخَيرُ يُؤثَرُ

They are extremely ignoble, fearing no baseness

Preferring neither good nor the preference of good

يَلُفّونَ أَولادَ الزِنى في عِدادِهِم

فَعِدَّتُهُم مِن عِدَّةِ الناسِ أَكثَرُ

They count the children of adultery among their number

So their number among the people is greater

إِذ ما رَأَوا مَن دَأبُهُ مِثلُ دَأبِهِم

أَطافوا بِهِ وَالغَيُّ لِلغَيِّ أَصورُ

When they saw one whose habit was like theirs

They circled around him, and the wicked are kin to the wicked

وَلو فارَقوا ما فيهِمُ مِن دَعارَةٍ

لَما عَرَفَتهُم أُمُّهُم حينَ تَنظُرُ

If they were to abandon the depravity that is in them

Their mother would not recognize them when she looked

لَقَد فَخَروا بِالمُلحَقين عَشِيَّةً

فَقُلتُ اِفخَروا إِن كانَ في اللُؤمِ مَفخَر

They took pride in attaching themselves to me one evening

So I said: take pride if there is pride in villainy

يُريدونَ مَسعاتي وَدونَ لِقائِها

قَناديلُ أَبوابِ السَماواتِ تَزهَرُ

They want my visits, and without meeting me

The lanterns of the gates of heaven bloom

فَقُل في بَني زَيدٍ كَما قالَ مُعرِبٌ

قَواريرُ حَجّامٍ غَداً تَتَكَسَّرُ

So say about the Zayds what Mu'arib said

The bleeding cups of the cupper will be shattered tomorrow