1. أَقُولُ غَدَاةَ أَتَانَا الخَبِيرُ

    يَدُسُّ أحادِيثهُ هَينَمَه

    I say, on the morning the news-bearer came to us,

    conveying his news in a furtive murmur:

  2. لَكَ الوَيلُ مِن مُخبِرٍ مَا تَقُول

    أَبِن لِي وعَدِّ عن الجَمجَمه

    "Woe to you, news-bearer! What are you saying?

    Speak plainly to me, and leave off mumbling."

  3. فَقَال خَرَجتُ وَقَاضِي القُضَا

    ةِ مُنفَكَّةٌ رِجلُهُ مُؤلِمَه

    He said, "When I left, the chief judge

    had a dislocated, aching leg."

  4. فقلتُ وضَاقَت عليَّ البِلاَدُ

    وَخِفتُ المجلَّلَةَ المُعظَمَه

    Then I said, as the land closed in upon me,

    and I feared the great, overwhelming calamity:

  5. فَغَزوَانُ حُرٌّ وَأُمُّ الوَلِيدِ

    إن اللهُ عافَى أَبَا شُبرُمَه

    "Then Ghazwan is free, and Umm al-Walid,

    if God restores Abu Shubruma to health,

  6. جزاءً لمعروفِهِ عندَنَا

    وَمَا عِتقُ عَبدٍ لَهُ أَو أَمَه

    in return for his kindness to us;

    and what is freeing a slave or bondwoman for his sake?"