مِنَ الشَرِّ وَالتَبريحِ أَولادُ مَعشَرٍ

كَثيرٍ وَلا يُعطونَ في حادِثٍ بَكرا

From evil and calamity, many sons of a tribe,

Numerous, who are not given precedence in any event.

هُمُ حَرمَلٌ أَعيا عَلى كُلِّ آكِلٍ

مُبيرٌ وَلَو أَمسى سَوامُهُمُ دَثرا

They are wild donkeys who tire every eater,

Aged even if their threadbare clothes were new.

جَمادٌ بِها البَسباسُ تَرهُصُ مَعزُها

بَناتِ اللُبونِ وَالسَلاقِمَةَ الحُمرا

Livestock whose young goats bleat,

Daughters of white and red sheep.

فَما ذَنبُنا في أَن أَداءَت خُصاكُمُ

وَأَن كُنتُمُ في قَومِكُم مَعشَراً أُدرا

What is our crime that your herd wandered,

And that you were among your people a large clan?

إِذا جَلَسوا خَيَّلتَ تَحتَ ثِيابِهِم

خَرانِقَ توفي بِالضَغيبِ لَها نَذرا

When they sit, you'd think beneath their clothes

Were beetles repaying the pact made to them.

أَبا كَرِبٍ أَبلِغ لَدَيكَ رِسالَتي

أَبا جابِرٍ عَنّي وَلا تَدَعَن عَمرا

O Father of Sorrows, deliver my message,

O Father of Youth, about me, and do not neglect, O friend.

هُمُ سَوَّدوا رَهواً تَزَوَّدَ في اِستِهِ

مِنَ الماءِ خالَ الطَيرَ وارِدَةً عَشرا

They darkened a place of rest, frequented by

Birds coming to drink, ten at a time.