جَزى اللَّهُ خَيراً وَالجَزاءُ بِكَفِّهِ

جَزى اللَّهُ خَيراً وَالجَزاءُ بِكَفِّهِ

أَخا الأَزد عَنّا ما أَذبَّ وَأَحرَبا

أَخا الأَزد عَنّا ما أَذبَّ وَأَحرَبا

May God reward with good—and recompense lies in His hand—

May Allah reward with goodness, and the reward is in His hand,

the brother of Azd on our behalf: how staunchly he defended, how fiercely he fought!

Oh brother of Azd, spare us from what angers and makes war.

وَلَمّا رَأَينا الأَمرَ قَد جَدَّ جِدُّهُ

وَلَمّا رَأَينا الأَمرَ قَد جَدَّ جِدُّهُ

وَأَلّا تُوارِي دونَنا الشَّمسُ كَوكَبا

وَأَلّا تُوارِي دونَنا الشَّمسُ كَوكَبا

And when we saw the matter had grown truly grave,

And when we saw the matter had become grave,

and that the sun concealed no star from our sight,

The sun shall not set beneath us as a fading star.

دَعَونا أَبا غَسّان فَاستَكَّ سَمعُهُ

دَعَونا أَبا غَسّان فَاستَكَّ سَمعُهُ

وَأَحنَفَ طاطا رَأسه وَتَهَيَّبا

وَأَحنَفَ طاطا رَأسه وَتَهَيَّبا

we called on Abu Ghassan—his ears were stopped—

We called Abu Ghassan but he was hard of hearing,

and on Ahnaf, who lowered his head and shrank in fear.

And tilted his head perplexedly and alarmed.

وَكانَ اِبنُ مَنجوفٍ لِكُلِّ عَظيمَةٍ

وَكانَ اِبنُ مَنجوفٍ لِكُلِّ عَظيمَةٍ

فَقَصَّرَ عَنها حَبلُهُ وَتَذَبذَبا

فَقَصَّرَ عَنها حَبلُهُ وَتَذَبذَبا

And Ibn Manjuf was a man for every grave crisis,

Ibn Manjuf was for every great feat,

yet his rope fell short of it, and he wavered.

But his rope was too short and unsteady.

فَلما رَأَينا القَومَ قَد كَلَّ حَدُّهُم

فَلما رَأَينا القَومَ قَد كَلَّ حَدُّهُم

لَدى حَربهم فيها دَعَونا المهلبا

لَدى حَربهم فيها دَعَونا المهلبا

So when we saw that the men's edge had grown blunt,

So when we saw the people had reached their limit,

as they fought in it, we called on al-Muhallab.

In this war we called Al-Muhalab.