إِذا الناسُ هابوا خَزيَةً ذَهَبَت بِها

أَحَبُّ المَخازي كَهلُها وَوَليدُها

When people recoil from a disgrace, I carry it off;

dearest among disgraces are the mature and the newborn.

لَعَمرُ عَجوزٍ طَرَّقَت بِكَ إِنَّني

عُمَيرَ بنَ رَملٍ لِاِبنُ حَربٍ أَقودُها

By the life of an old woman who came to you by night, indeed I—

O ʿUmayr ibn Raml—am leading her to Ibn Harb

بِنَفسي فَلا تَقطَع فُؤادَكَ ضِلَّةً

كَذَلِكَ حَزني وَعثُها وَصُعودُها

in person; so do not rend your heart in deluded distress.

Such is my rugged ground—its arduous going and its ascent.