1. تُبَكّي عَلى المَنتوفِ بَكرُ اِبنُ وائِلٍ

    وَتَنهى عَنِ اِبنَي مِسمَعٍ مَن بَكاهُما

    Bakr ibn Wa'il laments al-Mantuf,

    Yet forbids anyone to mourn Mismaʿ's two sons:

  2. قَتيلَينِ تَجتازُ الرِياحُ عَلَيهِما

    مُجاوِرُ نَهرَي واسِطٍ جَسَداهُما

    Two slain men over whom the winds sweep,

    Their bodies lying beside Wasit's two rivers.

  3. وَلَو أَصبَحا مِن غَيرِ بَكرِ اِبنِ وائِلٍ

    لَكانَ عَلى الجاني ثَقيلاً دِماهُما

    And had they been of any but Bakr ibn Wa'il,

    Their blood would surely have weighed heavily on the killer.

  4. غُلامانِ نالا مِثلَ ما نالَ مِسمَعٌ

    وَما وَصَلَت عِندَ النَباتِ لِحاهُما

    Two youths who attained the like of what Mismaʿ attained,

    While their beards had not yet grown together.

  5. وَلَو كانَ حَيّاً مالِكٌ وَاِبنُ مالِكٍ

    لَقَد أَوقَدا نارَينِ عالٍ سَناهُما

    And had Malik and Malik's son been alive,

    They would surely have kindled two fires with soaring radiance.

  6. وَلَو غَيرُ أَيدي الأَزدِ نالَت ذَراهُما

    وَلَكِن بِأَيدي الأَزدِ حُزَّت طُلاهُما

    And had hands other than the Azd's reached their lofty heads—

    But by the hands of the Azd their throats were slit.