يا كَعبُ لا تَهجُوَنّا العامَ مُعتَرِضاً

يا كَعبُ لا تَهجُوَنّا العامَ مُعتَرِضاً

فَإِنَّ شِعرَكَ إِن لاقَيتَني غَرَرُ

فَإِنَّ شِعرَكَ إِن لاقَيتَني غَرَرُ

O Kaʿb, do not lampoon us this year, challenging us.

O Ka'b do not satirize us this year, intruding,

For your verse, should you face me, is a perilous gamble.

For if you meet me, your poetry is but deceit,

إِنّي أَنا اللَيثُ في عَريسَةٍ أَشِبٍ

إِنّي أَنا اللَيثُ في عَريسَةٍ أَشِبٍ

فَوَرِّعِ السَرحَ حَتّى يَفسَحَ البَصَرُ

فَوَرِّعِ السَرحَ حَتّى يَفسَحَ البَصَرُ

Indeed, I am the lion in a lair dense with tangled trees.

I am the lion in the thicket of a night,

So hold back the grazing herd until the view opens wide.

So curb your mount until the vision clears.

قَد جِئتَ تَحمِلُ رَأساً غَيرَ مُلتَئِمٍ

قَد جِئتَ تَحمِلُ رَأساً غَيرَ مُلتَئِمٍ

كَما تَحامَلَ فَوقَ القُنَّةِ الأَمَرُ

كَما تَحامَلَ فَوقَ القُنَّةِ الأَمَرُ

You have come bearing a head not knit together,

You've come bearing a head not yet attached,

Like a young mountain goat straining onto the peak.

As a commander bears above the howdah his order.

إِنَّ اللَهازِمَ لَن تَنفَكَّ تابِعَةً

إِنَّ اللَهازِمَ لَن تَنفَكَّ تابِعَةً

هُمُ الذُنابى وَشُربُ التابِعِ الكَدَرُ

هُمُ الذُنابى وَشُربُ التابِعِ الكَدَرُ

Indeed, al-Lahāzim will never cease to be subordinate.

For the defeated ones will not cease to follow,

They are the tail, and the follower's drink is murky water.

The wolf packs whose water the stirred up is bitter.

قَبيلَةٌ كَشِراكِ النَعلِ دارِجَةٌ

قَبيلَةٌ كَشِراكِ النَعلِ دارِجَةٌ

إِن يَهبِطوا العَفوَ لا يوجَد لَهُم أَثَرُ

إِن يَهبِطوا العَفوَ لا يوجَد لَهُم أَثَرُ

A tribe passing away, like a sandal's strap:

A tribe worn like the straps of sandals,

If they descend onto untrodden ground, no trace of them is found.

If they come down to pardon, no trace of them can be found.

مَحَلُّهُم مِن بَني تَيمٍ وَإِخوَتِهِم

مَحَلُّهُم مِن بَني تَيمٍ وَإِخوَتِهِم

حَيثُ يَكونُ مِنَ الحِمارَةِ الثَفَرُ

حَيثُ يَكونُ مِنَ الحِمارَةِ الثَفَرُ

Their station among Banū Taym and their brothers

Their abode is among the Taym and their brothers,

Is where the crupper sits on a she-ass.

Where the braying of donkeys can be heard.