فَخَرتَ بِيَومٍ لَم يَكُن لَكَ فَخرُهُ

فَخَرتَ بِيَومٍ لَم يَكُن لَكَ فَخرُهُ

أَحاديثُ طَسمٍ إِنَّما أَنتَ حالِمُ

أَحاديثُ طَسمٍ إِنَّما أَنتَ حالِمُ

You boasted of a day whose glory was not yours.

You boast of a day that was not yours to boast

Tales of Tasm—you are merely a dreamer.

Empty words of fantasy, you are but a dreamer

تُفاخِرُ قَوماً أَطرَدَتكَ رِماحُهُم

تُفاخِرُ قَوماً أَطرَدَتكَ رِماحُهُم

أَكَعبُ بنُ عَمرٍو هَل يُجابُ البَهائِمُ

أَكَعبُ بنُ عَمرٍو هَل يُجابُ البَهائِمُ

You vie in boasting with a people whose spears drove you off.

Boasting to a people who repelled you with their spears

O Ka‘b son of ‘Amr, are beasts to be answered?

Ka'b bin Amr, should fools be answered?

فَلَو شَهِدَت أُمُّ الصَبيَّينِ حَملَنا

فَلَو شَهِدَت أُمُّ الصَبيَّينِ حَملَنا

وَرَكضَهمُ لِاِبيَّضَ مِنها المَقادِمُ

وَرَكضَهمُ لِاِبيَّضَ مِنها المَقادِمُ

And had the mother of the two boys witnessed our charge,

If the mother of the two boys had witnessed us carrying them

and their flight, her forelocks would have turned white,

And their running, her arrival would have whitened

غَداةَ تَوَلَّيتُم وَأَدبَرَ جَمعُكُم

غَداةَ تَوَلَّيتُم وَأَدبَرَ جَمعُكُم

وَأُبنا بِأَسراكُم كَأَنّا ضَراغِمُ

وَأُبنا بِأَسراكُم كَأَنّا ضَراغِمُ

on the morning you turned away and your host retreated,

The morning after you turned and your army retreated

and we returned with captives from among you, as though we were lions.

And we took your families captive as if they were lambs