فَأَغلَقَ مِن وَراءِ بَني كُلَيبٍ

عَطِيَّةُ مِن مَخازي اللُؤمِ بابا

Behind the sons of Kulayb, 'Aṭiyya

Closed the doors of infamy's dwellings.

بِثَديِ اللُؤمِ أُرضِعَ لِلمَخازي

وَأَورَثَكَ المَلائِمَ حينَ شابا

By the breast of infamy he was suckled

And it made you conform when growing up.

وَهَل شَيءٌ يَكونُ أَذَلَّ بَيتاً

مِنَ اليَربوعِ يَحتَفِرُ التُرابا

What thing could there be more abject

Than the jerboa burrowing in the soil?

لَقَد تَرَكَ الهُذَيلُ لَكُم قَديماً

مَخازِيَ لا يَبِتنَ عَلى إِرابا

Verily, Hudhayl left for you long ago

Dwellings of infamy that night cannot mend.

سَما بِرِجالِ تَغلِبَ مِن بَعيدٍ

يَقودونَ المُسَوَّمَةَ العِرابا

I swear by men of Tughlib from afar

Driving the branded she-camels.

نَزائِعَ بَينَ حُلّابٍ وَقَيدٍ

تُجاذِبُهُم أَعِنَّتَها جِذابا

Pulling between straps and fetters

Their stubbornness pulls them violently.

وَكانَ إِذا أَناخَ بِدارِ قَومٍ

أَبو حَسّانَ أَورَثَها خَرابا

Whenever Abu Hassān pitched camp

At a people's abode, he left it in ruins.

فَلَم يَبرَح بِها حَتّى اِحتَواهُم

وَحَلَّ لَهُ التُرابُ بِها وَطابا

He did not budge from it until he had destroyed them

And the soil became lawful to him and wholesome.

عَوانِيَ في بَني جُشَمَ بنِ بَكرٍ

فَقَسَّمَهُنَّ إِذ بَلَغَ الإِيابا

Captives among the Banū Jusham ibn Bakr -

He distributed them when returning from the raid.

نِساءٌ كُنَّ يَومَ إِرابَ خَلَّت

بُعولَتَهُنَّ تَبتَدِرُ الشِعابا

Women who, the day of Irib, their husbands

Had rushed to the mountain paths.

خُواقُ حِياضِهِنَّ يَسيلُ سَيلاً

عَلى الأَعقابِ تَحسِبُهُ خِضابا

The trains of their skirts flowing copiously

Down the heels - you would think it dye.

مَدَدنَ إِلَيهِمُ بِثُدِيِّ آمٍ

وَأَيدٍ قَد وَرِثنَ بِها حِلابا

They extended to them with an unblemished breast

And hands they had inherited whiteness.

يُناطِحنَ الأَواخِرَ مُردَفاتٍ

وَتَسمَعُ مِن أَسافِلِها ضِغابا

Jostling the hindmost, crowded,

You could hear from their saddle-girths a jingling.

لَبِئسَ اللاحِقونَ غَداةَ تُدعى

نِساءُ الحَيِّ تَرتَدِفُ الرِكابا

Miserable are the late pursuers when

The women of the tribe follow behind the riders.

وَأَنتُم تَنظُرونَ إِلى المَطايا

تَشِلُّ بِهِنَّ أَعراءً سِغابا

While you watch the riding beasts

Bearing them - naked and with prominent collar bones.

فَلَو كانَت رِماحُكُمُ طِوالاً

لَغِرتُمُ حينَ أَلقَينَ الثِيابا

Had your lances been long

You would have taken them when they cast off their clothes!