شَكا الخصرُ مِنهُ ما يُلاقي برِدفه

شَكا الخصرُ مِنهُ ما يُلاقي برِدفه

وَيُضعِفُ غُصنَ البانِ جَرُّ كَثيبِ

وَيُضعِفُ غُصنَ البانِ جَرُّ كَثيبِ

His waist complained of what it suffers from his hips;

His waist complained of what it endures from him

And dragging a sand dune weakens the bān-tree branch.

And the bending of the slender branch weakens it

إِذا كانَ مِنهُ البَعضُ يَظلِمُ بَعضُه

إِذا كانَ مِنهُ البَعضُ يَظلِمُ بَعضُه

فَما حالُ مشتطِّ الدِيارِ غَريبِ

فَما حالُ مشتطِّ الدِيارِ غَريبِ

If one part of him wrongs another,

When some of it oppresses the other

What, then, is the plight of a stranger far from home?

Then what is the state of the foreign land’s traveler