ولَسْتُ وإِنْ شَاحَنْتُ بَعْضَ عَشِيرَتِي

ولَسْتُ وإِنْ شَاحَنْتُ بَعْضَ عَشِيرَتِي

لأَذْكُرَهَا ما الكَهْلُ الكِلاَبِيُّ ذَاكِرُ

لأَذْكُرَهَا ما الكَهْلُ الكِلاَبِيُّ ذَاكِرُ

I will not, even if I quarrel with some of my clan,

Though I have quarreled with some of my tribe,

say of them what the middle-aged man of Kilāb says.

I shall remember them as long as the old dog remembers

فَكَمْ لِيَ مِنْ أُمٍّ لَعِبْتُ بِثَدْيِهَا

فَكَمْ لِيَ مِنْ أُمٍّ لَعِبْتُ بِثَدْيِهَا

كِلاَبِيَّةٍ عَادَتْ عَلَيْهَا الأَوَاصِرُ

كِلاَبِيَّةٍ عَادَتْ عَلَيْهَا الأَوَاصِرُ

For many a mother of mine, whose breast I played with,

How many a Kilabian mother have I sucked

was a woman of Kilāb, to whom ties of kinship led back.

Whose family ties have long been severed