يا كَعبُ إِنَّ أَخاكَ مُنحَمِقٌ

فَاِشدُد إِزارَ أَخيكَ يا كَعبُ

O Ka'b, your brother is truly foolish,

So steady the loins of your brother, O Ka'b.

أَتَجودُ بِالدَمِ ذي المَضِنَّةِ في ال

جُلّى وَتلوى النابُ وَالسَقبُ

Will you shed the blood of him who is sorely tried in the heat of mid-day when the serpents twist and turn?

The belts do not proclaim the place of their loins,

تَنبو المَناطِقُ عَن جُنوبِهِم

وَأَسِنَّةُ الخَطِّيِّ لا تَنبو

Yet the tongues of the slanderers do not cease.

I swore an oath, and I am not a liar,

إِنّي حَلَفتُ فَلَستُ كاذِبَهُ

حَلفَ المُلَبِّدِ شَفَّهُ النَحبُ

Swore the wearer of the garment, yet his mouth was parched.

Before me looms a time of such ill traits,

يَنفَكُّ عِندي الدَهرَ ذو خُصِلٍ

نَهدُ الجُزارَةِ مِنهَبٌ غَربُ

Like the teats of a butcher's sheep, dripping blood.

When its rider wants to tighten its girth,

يَشتَدُّ حينَ يُريدُ فارِسُهُ

شَدَّ الجِدايَةِ غَمَّها الكَربُ

Like a shield covered with the hides of camels,

It was pliant when first it was taken,

أَلانَ إِذ أَخَذَت مَآخِذَها

وَتَباعَدَ الأَنسابُ وَالقُربُ

While lineages and kinships were yet undivided.

You set out to give protection to those who deserved none,

أَقبَلتَ تُعطي خُطَّةً غَبَناً

وَتَرَكتَها وَمَسَدُّها رَأبُ

Then you left them, though stopping them was your duty.

He who wrongs you, who could wrong you, when you avoid

جانيكَ مَن يَجني عَلَيكَ وَقَد

تُعدي الصِحاحَ مَبارِكَ الجُربُ

The righteous and consort with the mangy scabbed ones?

War forces even the wrongdoer

وَالحَربُ قَد تضطَرُّ جانِيَها

إِلى المَضيقِ وَدونَهُ الرَحبُ

To the narrow plain, though the open country be vast.

How often is a man seized for the guilt of his clan,

وَلَرُبَّ مَأخوذٍ بِذَنبِ عَشيرَةٍ

وَنَجا المُقارِفُ صاحِبُ الذَنبِ

While the guilty one goes free, the doer of the deed!