أَلا لَيتَ شِعري ما تَقولُ مُجاشِعٌ

أَلا لَيتَ شِعري ما تَقولُ مُجاشِعٌ

إِذا قالَ راعي النيبِ أَودى الفَرَزدَقُ

إِذا قالَ راعي النيبِ أَودى الفَرَزدَقُ

Ah, would that I knew what Mujāshiʿ will say

Alas, I wonder what the lover will say

When the herdsman of the old she-camels says, “Al-Farazdaq has perished.”

When the shepherd of An-Nabi is lost, Al-Farazdaq

أَلَم أَكُ أَكفيها وَأَحمي ذِمارَها

أَلَم أَكُ أَكفيها وَأَحمي ذِمارَها

وَأَبلُغُ أَقصى ما بِهِ مُتَعَلَّقُ

وَأَبلُغُ أَقصى ما بِهِ مُتَعَلَّقُ

Did I not meet her needs and protect her honor,

Did I not protect her and guard her family line

And reach the farthest point to which one can cling?

And attain the utmost that one attached to her could attain?

وَإِنّي لَمِمّا أورِدُ الخَصمَ جَهدَهُ

وَإِنّي لَمِمّا أورِدُ الخَصمَ جَهدَهُ

إِذا لَم يَكُن إِلّا الشَجى وَالمُخَنَّقُ

إِذا لَم يَكُن إِلّا الشَجى وَالمُخَنَّقُ

And indeed I often drive the adversary to the limit of his endurance,

Yet I am of those who exhaust the opponent

When there is nothing but a choking obstruction and strangulation.

When there is nothing left but grief and strangulation