غَنِمنا فُقَيماً إِذ فُقَيمٌ غَنيمَةٌ

أَلا كُلُّ مَن عادى الفُقَيمِيَّ غانِمُه

We gained booty when the booty of Fuqaim was plentiful,

Indeed, every one who opposed Fuqaim, gained spoils from him,

فَجِئنا بِهِ مِن أَرضِ بَكرِ اِبنِ وائِلٍ

نَسوقُ قَصيرَ الأَنفِ حُرداً قَوادِمُه

So we came to him from the land of Bakr ibn Wa’il,

Driving the short-nosed camels with slender legs,

أَنا الشاعِرُ الحامي حَقيقَةَ قَومِهِ

وَمِثلي كَفى الشَرَّ الَّذي هُوَ جارِمُه

I am the poet who defends the rights of his people,

And the likes of me suffice to avert the wrongs that oppress them,

وَكُنتُ إِذا عادَيتُ قَوماً حَمَلتُهُم

عَلى الجَمرِ حَتّى يَحسِمَ الداءَ حاسِمُه

Whenever I opposed a people, I carried them,

Upon the embers until the disease was decisively cured by the decisive one.

وَجَيشٌ رَبَعناهُ كَأَنَّ زُهاءَهُ

شَماريخُ طَودٍ مُشمَخِرٌّ مَخارِمُه

With an army that we assembled, looking like erect sand dunes,

Whose weapons deafen the hearing and whose zeal bewilders the minds,

كَثيرِ الحَصى جَمِّ الوَغى بالِغِ العِدى

يُصَمُّ السَميعَ رَزُّهُ وَهَماهِمُه

Of abundant stones and intense, far-reaching clamor,

With tall, lofty standards under which birds take shade,

لُهامٍ تَظَلُّ الطَيرُ تَأخُذُ وَسطَهُ

تُقادُ إِلى أَرضِ العَدُوِّ سَواهِمُه

Led towards the land of the enemy with their arrows,

Filled with them as if their horses were created knotted with plaits by foreigners,

مَطَونا بِهِ حَتّى كَأَنَّ جِيادَهُ

نَوىً خَلَّقَتهُ بِالضُروسِ عَواجِمُه

Its diverse tribes which he unites between them

With whatever command is assigned to us, its dividends,

قَبائِلُهُ شَتّى وَيَجمَعُ بَينَها

مِنَ الأَمرِ ما تُلقى إِلَينا خَزائِمُه

When it marches from an abode, its drinking-places are eased for it,

The summits of which are deaf heights and scattered watering-places,

إِذا ما غَدا مِن مَنزِلٍ سَهَّلَت لَهُ

سَنابِكُهُ صُمَّ الصُوى وَمَناسِمُه

When it reaches abundant, fresh water, its vanguards drink their fill,

Until its camels are surfeited,

إِذا وَرَدَ الماءَ الرَواءَ تَظامَأَت

أَوائِلُهُ حَتّى يُماحَ عَيالِمُه

We attacked Bakr thereby at dawn, so their captives at morning,

Were distributed with shares among us as spoils,

دَهَمنا بِهِم بَكراً فَأَصبَحَ سَبيُهُم

تُقَسَّمُ بِالأَنهابِ فينا مَغانِمُه

With it we raided the land of the enemy, and our gallant horsemen,

Got its booty and shared it out,

غَزَونا بِهِ أَرضَ العَدُوِّ وَمَوَّلَت

صَعاليكَنا أَنفالُهُ وَمَقاسِمُه

And in the presence of Allah’s Messenger, when he clenched his fist,

And filled it with the elite captives of Tamim,

وَعِندَ رَسولِ اللَهِ إِذ شَدَّ قَبضَهُ

وَمُلِّئَ مِن أَسرى تَميمٍ أَداهِمُه

We then released the elite Tamimi captives after,

They tossed and turned and their complaints against them intensified,

فَرَجنا عَنِ الأَسرى الأَداهِمَ بَعدَما

تَخَمَّطَ وَاِشتَدَّت عَلَيهِم شَكايِمُه

Those were our efforts long ago and our striving,

Was generous, and the best striving ever is that of the generous,

فَتِلكَ مَساعينا قَديماً وَسَعيُنا

كَريمٌ وَخَيرُ السَعيِ قِدماً أَكارِمُه

Efforts that no Fuqaimite comprehended their virtue,

Nor did Nahshal, whose rocks and sleeping-places,

مَساعِيَ لَم يُدرِك فُقَيمٌ خِيارَها

وَلا نَهشَلٌ أَحجارُهُ وَنَوايِمُه