وَنَجَّاكَ خَوَّارُ العِنانِ مُقلِّصٌ

وَنَجَّاكَ خَوَّارُ العِنانِ مُقلِّصٌ

طويلُ عِمادِ الصَّدرِ من خيلك الشُهبِ

طويلُ عِمادِ الصَّدرِ من خيلك الشُهبِ

And a supple-reined, lean-flanked steed saved you,

The weak-reined charger saved you, though far drawn back,

its chest borne on long pillars, one of your grey horses,

While the long shaft still quivered in your enemy’s breast.

عشيَّةَ توصي بالنَّجَاءِ مُصَرِّفاً

عشيَّةَ توصي بالنَّجَاءِ مُصَرِّفاً

وَتَهتِفُ أَلَّا أَدرِكَنَّ بَني كَعبِ

وَتَهتِفُ أَلَّا أَدرِكَنَّ بَني كَعبِ

that evening when you urged swift escape, wheeling about,

You were calling out at evening for relief,

and shouted that I must not overtake the sons of Kaʿb.

Shouting: “I shall o’ertake Ibn Khuweilid's son!”

فَإِنِّيَ لو أدركتُكَ ابنَ خُوَيلِدٍ

فَإِنِّيَ لو أدركتُكَ ابنَ خُوَيلِدٍ

عَلَوتُكَ والعُزَّى بصَمصامةٍ عَضبِ

عَلَوتُكَ والعُزَّى بصَمصامةٍ عَضبِ

For had I caught you, son of Khuwaylid,

For had I but o'ertaken Ibn Khuweilid's son,

I would have struck you, by al-ʿUzzā, with a keen Ṣamṣāma.

I had made him taste the deadly temper of my blade!