كَأَنَّ بَني سَدوسٍ رَهطِ ثَورٍ

كَأَنَّ بَني سَدوسٍ رَهطِ ثَورٍ

خَنافِسُ تَحتَ مُنكَسِرِ الجِدارِ

خَنافِسُ تَحتَ مُنكَسِرِ الجِدارِ

It is as though Banu Sadus, Thawr’s clan,

Like the ants of Sadus, a tribe of Thawr

were beetles beneath the broken part of the wall,

Beetles under the broken wall

تَحَرِّكُ لِلفَخارِ زُبانَيَيها

تَحَرِّكُ لِلفَخارِ زُبانَيَيها

وَفَخرُ الخُنفُساءِ مِنَ الصَغارِ

وَفَخرُ الخُنفُساءِ مِنَ الصَغارِ

waving their two feelers to boast;

Moving their antennas over the pottery

and a beetle’s boasting is a form of abasement.

Yet the beetle boasts in its smallness