نَحنُ مِن عامِرٍ بن ذُبيانَ وَالنا

سُ كَهامٍ مَحارُهُم لِلقُبورِ

We are from 'Amir ibn Dhubyan, and people

Whose zeal for graves is like the zeal of camels.

إِنَّما العَجزُ أَن تُهُمَّ وَلا تَفعَلَ

وَالهَمُّ ناشِبٌ في الضَميرِ

Weakness is only to intend and not perform,

While intent resides and festers in the conscience.

أَرِقاً بِتُّ ما أَلَذُّ رُقاداً

تَعتَريني مُبَرِّحاتُ الأُمورِ

I spend sleepless nights, though nothing is sweeter than sleep,

As distracting thoughts of fate come over me.

وارِداتٍ وَضاجِراتٍ إِلى أَن

حَسَرَ المُدلَهِمُّ ضَوءَ البَشيرِ

Visitors come and go, angrily, until

The shining light of dawn dispels the darkness.

قَذَفَتكَ الأَيّامُ بِالحَدَثِ الأَك

بَرِ مِنها وَشابَ رَأسُ الصَغيرِ

The days have burdened you with the greatest of burdens,

And the hair of the youth has turned white.

وَتَفانى بَنو أَبيكَ فَأَصبَحتَ

عَقيراً لِلدَّهرِ أَو كَالعَقيرِ

Your father's clan has dwindled, and so you have become

Barren in life, like a barren woman.

لَيسَ مِن حادِثِ الزَمانِ إِذا

حَلَّ عَلى أَهلِ غِبطَةٍ مِن مُجيرِ

When the calamities of fate befall the fortunate,

It is nothing unusual in the course of time.