عَفا قَوٍّ وَكانَ لَنا مَحَلّاً

إِلى جَوَّي صَلاصِلَ مِن لُبَينى

Kindness passed us by though it once was our abode

To lovely doves with necklaces of shining pearls

أَلا نادِ الظَعائِنَ لَو لَوَينا

وَلَولا مَن يُراقِبنَ اِرعَوَينا

Oh, call the gazelles if only we might sport

And were it not for those who watch we would have sported

يَقُلنَ وَقَد تَلاحَقَتِ المَطايا

كَذاكَ القَولُ إِنَّ عَلَيكَ عَينا

They say, as misfortunes come one after another

Such are the words, as if eyes were upon you

أَلَم تَرَني بَذَلتُ لَهُنَّ وُدّي

وَكَذَّبتُ الوُشاةَ فَما جَزَينا

Did you not see me showing affection to them

And calling those who slander liars, yet we were not rewarded

إِذا ما قُلتَ حانَ لَنا التَقاضي

بَخِلنَ بِعاجِلٍ وَوَعَدنَ دَينا

Whenever you say it is time for us to settle accounts

They are miserly with the present yet promise a debt

تُضيءُ لَنا الحِجالُ سَنا غِمامٍ

إِذا لَمَحَت غَوارِبُهُ اِنجَلَينا

The Pleiades shine for us like a rainy cloud

When its edges glow, we look upon them delighted

فَقَتَّلنا الرُهونَ بِغَيرِ رَهنٍ

وَأَشطَطنا القَضِيَّةَ وَاِعتَدَينا

We killed the pledges without any collateral

And we exceeded proper bounds and trespassed

ذَكَرتَ وَلَيتَ أَنَّكَ لَم تَذَكَّر

زَماناً كانَ حِقَبٍ مَضَينا

You remembered—would that you had not recalled—

A time that was an epoch now passed

وَيَرمينَ القُلوبَ بِنَبلِ جِنٍّ

فَقَد أَقصَدنَ قَلبَكَ إِذ رَمَينا

And they shoot hearts with the arrows of jinn

For they aimed at your heart when they shot

يَروغُ القِردُ مِنّي إِن رَآني

فَقُل لِلقِردِ أَينَ تَروغُ أَينا

The ape eludes me when he sees me

Say to the ape, where, where do you elude?

أَحينَ رَأَيتَني مَرِسَت حِبالي

وَجَدَّ الجِدُّ تَسأَلُني الهُوَينا

Did you see me when my ropes slackened

And someone in earnest asks me, where are they slacking?

فَقَد أَمسى البَعيثُ سَخينَ عَينٍ

وَما أَمسى الفَرَزدَقُ قَرَّ عَينا

The death woef has become hot coals

Yet al-Farazdaq's eye is not burning hot

وَحَربٍ تَضجَرُ النُخَباتُ مِنها

قَرَيناها الأَسِنَّةَ وَاِصطَلَينا

And war that the elite are weary of

We made it familiar with our tongues when we met

إِذا ذُكِرَت مَساعينا غَضِبتُم

أَطالَ اللَهُ سُخطَكُمُ عَلَينا

When our efforts are mentioned, you become angry

May your anger at us be prolonged

تَفيشُ مُجاشِعٌ بِلِحىً عِظامٍ

وَأَحلامٍ ضَلِلنَ وَما اِهتَدَينا

Adolescents with the beards of grown men blab

Having gone astray with no guidance found

فَقَد صارَت حُماتُكُم إِماءً

وَحاميكُم بَني وَقبانَ قَينا

Your protectors have become our slave girls

And your allies—the tribe of Wulayb—our slaves

تَباعَدَ مِن بَني وَقبانَ صُلحي

وَقَد مَرِسَت حِبالي وَاِلتَوَينا

My reconciliation with the tribe of Wulayb has waned

And my ropes have gone slack though I twist them

وَقَد كانَ الجَبابِرُ قَد عَلِمتُم

إِذا لَم نَرضَ حُكمَهُمُ عَصَينا

You know the overlords—if we reject

Their rule we disobey

إِذا لَمَعَ الرَبيئَةُ لَم نُكَذِّب

وَلا نَشوي العَدوَّ إِذا اِلتَقَينا

When the Pleiades shine we do not deny

Nor burn the foe when we meet

وَذي سَرحٍ يَظَلَّ بِنا مُقيماً

وَمُغتَبِطٍ بِمَنزِلِنا نَفَينا

With free rein they remain shading us

While glad of our abode we banish them

وَلَو مِنّا فَتاتُكُمُ لَغِرنا

وَلَو عادَ الزُبَيرُ بِنا وَفَينا

Were we to gain even your crumbs we would be wealthy

And were al-Zubayr to return to us we would fulfill

أَتَعدِلُ لا أَبا لَكُمُ الخَناثى

بِيَربوعٍ تَباعَدَ ذاكَ بَينا

Do you have equity—no!—for you effeminate ones

With well ropes far apart between them