إِن تَسأَلِ الأَشياخَ مِن آلِ مازِنٍ

إِن تَسأَلِ الأَشياخَ مِن آلِ مازِنٍ

تُرَدَّ إِلى عِلجٍ كَثيرِ القَوادِحِ

تُرَدَّ إِلى عِلجٍ كَثيرِ القَوادِحِ

If you ask the elders of Mazin's clan,

If you ask the elders of the clan of Mazin

You will be referred to a non-Arab with many faults.

You will be led back to many a night of revelry

وَكَم في قُرى مَيسانَ مِن عِلجِ قَريَةٍ

وَكَم في قُرى مَيسانَ مِن عِلجِ قَريَةٍ

قَريبٍ بِكَفَّيهِ الوُشومُ لِصالِحِ

قَريبٍ بِكَفَّيهِ الوُشومُ لِصالِحِ

And many a non-Arab villager in Maysan's villages

And how many are there in the villages of Maysan

Is kin to Salih, with tattoos on both his palms.

A village of warriors with tattooed arms for Saleh

يَقولونَ صَبِّح صالِحاً فَاِستَغِث بِهِ

يَقولونَ صَبِّح صالِحاً فَاِستَغِث بِهِ

وَما صالِحٌ ريحُ الخُروءِ بِصالِحِ

وَما صالِحٌ ريحُ الخُروءِ بِصالِحِ

They say, "Visit Salih in the morning, then seek his help."

They say, “Say good morning to Saleh and seek his aid”

And Salih—the stench of excrement—is no good.

Yet Saleh is not a man to be moved by entreaty