بِفي الشامِتينَ الصَخرُ إِن كانَ مَسَّني

رَزِيَّةُ شِبلي مُخدِرٍ في الضَراغِمِ

In the slanderers' glee should the boulder strike me,

Though Shibl's whelp drugged me with languor in the burrows,

هِزَبرٍ إِذا أَشبالَهُ سِرنَ حَولَهُ

تَشَظَّت سِباعُ الأَرضِ مِن ذي النَحائِمِ

A lion, when his cubs prowl around him,

The beasts of earth are terrified by the formidable one.

أَرى كُلَّ حَيٍّ لا يَزالُ طَليعَةً

عَلَيهِ المَنايا مِن فُروجِ المَخارِمِ

I see that every living being always remains

With death overtaking it from the wombs of battles.

وَما أَحَدٌ كانَ المَنايا وَراءَهُ

وَلَو عاشَ أَيّاماً طِوالاً بِسالِمِ

And no one had death behind him,

Even if he lived for very long days in peace.

فَلَستُ وَلَو شَقَّت حَيازيمَ نَفسِها

مِنَ الوَجدِ بَعدَ اِبنَي نَوارَ بِلائِمِ

So I am not, even if my soul rent itself

With ardour after my two sons, Nawar the blameless,

عَلى حَزَنٍ بَعدَ اللَذَينِ تَتابَعا

لَها وَالمَنايا قاطِعاتُ التَمائِمِ

Grieving after the two who followed each other,

While death severed the talismans.

يُذَكِّرُني اِبنَيَّ السِماكانِ مَوهِناً

إِذا اِرتَفَعا بَينَ النُجومِ التَوائِمِ

My two sons remind me, weakening,

When they rose between the twin stars.

فَقَد رُزِئَ الأَقوامُ قَبلِيَ بِاِبنِهِم

وَإِخوانِهِم فَاِقني حَياءَ الكَرائِمِ

So the tribes laughed at me before, with their son

And brothers, so spare me, nobility's shame.

وَمِن قَبلُ ماتَ الأَقرَعانِ وَحاجِبٌ

وَعَمرٌ وَماتَ المَرءُ قَيسُ اِبنُ عاصِمِ

Before, the two Bald Ones died, and Hajib,

And Omar died, and the man Qais ibn Asim died.

وَماتَ أَبي وَالمُنذِرانُ كِلاهُما

وَعَمروُ اِبنُ كُلتومٍ شِهابُ الأَراقِمِ

And my father died, and the two Munazirs, both of them,

And Amr ibn Kolthum, the shooting star of meteors.

وَقَد ماتَ خَيراهُم فَلَم يُهلِكاهُمُ

عَشِيَّةَ بانا رَهطَ كَعبٍ وَحاتِمِ

And their best died, yet they were not destroyed

One evening, the company of Ka'b and Hatim.

وَقَد ماتَ بِسطامُ اِبنُ قَيسٍ وَعامِرٌ

وَماتَ أَبو غَسّانَ شَيخُ اللَهازِمِ

And Bistam ibn Qais died, and Aamir,

And Abu Ghassan died, the elder of onsets.

فَما اِبناكِ إِلّا اِبنٌ مِنَ الناسِ فَاِصبِري

فَلَن يَرجِعَ المَوتى حَنينُ المَآتِمِ

So your two sons are but two of mankind, so be patient,

For the dead will not return, however the bereaved weep.