عَلِمَ اِبنُ جُدعانَ بِن عَمروٍ

أَنَّهُ يَوماً مُدابِر

The son of Jud'an bin 'Amr knew

That one day he would depart

وَمُسافِراً سَفَراً بَعيداً

لا يَأوبُ بِهِ المُسافِرُ

And journey on a long trip

From which no traveller returns

فَقُدورُهُ بِفِنائِهِ

لِلضيفِ مُترَعَةٌ زَواخِر

So his cooking pots in his abode

Are left for the guest overflowing

تَبدو الكُسورُ مِن إِن

ضِراجِ الغَلي فيها وَالكَراكِر

The fragments appear from the

Glare of boiling in them and the bubbling

فَكأَنَهُنَّ بِما حَمَينَ

وَما شُحِنَّ بِها ضَرائِر

As if they, with what they contain

And what they are laden with,

وَكَأَنَّهُنَّ بِها عُرَينَةُ

في طَوائِفِها وَهاجِر

Are like a she-camel in its stages

Roaming about with its young

زَبَدٌ وَقَرقَرةٌ كَقَرقَرَةِ

الفُحولِ إِذا تُخاطَر

Foam and bubbling like the bubbling

Of stallions when they compete

بَذَّ المَعاخِرَ كُلَّها

بِالفَضلِ قَد عَلِمَ المَعاشِر

He surpassed all the vainglorious

In merit, as the society knew

وَعَلا عَلوَّ الشَمسِ

حَتّى ما يُفاخِرُهُ مُفاخِرُه

And rose as high as the sun

Until none could compete with him

دانَت لَهُ أَبناءُ فَهرٍ

مِن بَني كَعبٍ وَعامِر

The sons of Fahr from the tribes

Of Ka'b and 'Amir submitted to him

أَنتَ الجَوادُ إبنُ الجَوادِ

بِكُم يُنافِرُ مَن يُنافِر

You are the generous one, son of the generous

With you he competes who wishes to compete

آباؤُك الشُمُّ المَراجيحُ

المَسامِحُ الأَخاير

Your forefathers are the piercing flames

The clement, the openhanded

وَإِذا تَشامُ بُروقِهم

جادَت أَكُّفَهُمُ المَواطِر

And when their lightning flashes

Their palms rain down heavily

لا يَحتَويهِم جانِبٌ

لِلمَحلِ مِنهُ وَلا مُجاوِر

No side can contain them

Of an arena, neither neighbor

قومٌ حُصونُهُمُ الأَسِنَّةُ

وَالأَعِنَّةُ وَالبَواتِر

A people whose fortresses are the tongues

The arms, and the sharp swords

نَزَلوا البِطاحَ وَفُضِّلَت

بِهِمُ البَواطِنُ وَالظَواهِر

They descended on the open ground and were

Preferred in the essence and appearance