بَنَيتَ بِناءً يُجرِضُ الغَيظُ دونَهُ

عَدُوَّكَ وَالأَبصارُ فيهِ تَقَطَّعُ

You built a tower, anger foams beneath it,

Your enemy's eyes burst from gazing upon it.

وَإِنَّكَ في الأُخرى إِذا الحَربُ شَمَّرَت

لَكَالسَيفِ ما يُنخى لَهُ السَيفُ يُقطَعُ

And in battle, when war shakes out its forelock,

You are a sword such as swords themselves are shattered against.

جَدَعتَ عَرانينَ المَزونِ فَلا أَرى

أَذَلُّ وَأَخزى مُنهُمُ يَومَ جُدِّعوا

You cut off the limbs of the heavily armed,

No one was more abject or despised when their arms were lopped.

وَحَمَّلتَ أَعجازَ البِغالِ فَأَصبَحَت

مُحَذَّفَةً في كُلِّ بَيداءَ تَلمَعُ

You loaded the backs of mules till they shone

Like beacons, abandoned in every barren land.

جَماجِمَ أَشياخٍ كَأَنَّ لِحاهُمُ

ثَعالِبُ مَوتى أَو نَعامٍ مُنَزَّعُ

The skulls of elders, their beards like

Thirsty dead, or ostriches plucked bare.

وَنَجّى أَبا المِنهالِ ثانٍ كَأَنَّهُ

يَدا سابِحٍ في غَمرَةٍ يَتَذَرَّعُ

And you saved Abu Minal, as if he were

A swimmer's hand in a deep, stormy sea.