1. دَفَعناكُمُ بِالحِلمِ حَتّى بَطِرتُمُ

    وَبِالكَفِّ حَتّى كانَ رَفعُ الأَصابِعِ

    We held you off with forbearance until you grew insolent,

    and with restraint, until fingers were raised.

  2. فَلَمّا رَأَينا جَهلَكُم غَيرَ مُنتَهٍ

    وَما قَد مَضى مِن حِلمِكُم غَيرَ راجِعِ

    Then, when we saw that your folly would not end,

    and that your vanished forbearance would not return,

  3. مَسَننا مِنَ الآباءِ شَيئاً وَكُلُّنا

    إِلى حَسَبٍ في قَومِهِ غَيرُ راضِعِ

    we disparaged some of the fathers, though each of us

    came of honored stock among his people, none ignoble.

  4. فَلَمّا بَلَغنا الأُمَّهاتِ وَجَدتُمُ

    بَني عَمِّكُم كانوا كِرامَ المَضاجِعِ

    But when we reached the mothers, you found

    your cousins had been noble in their marriage beds.