1. إِنّي حَلَفتُ بِرَبِّ البُدنِ مُشعَرَةً

    وَما بِجُمعٍ مِنَ الرُكبانِ وَالظُعُنِ

    Indeed, I have sworn by the Lord of the ritually marked sacrificial camels,

    And by the riders and women in howdahs at Jamʿ:

  2. لَتَأتِيَنَّ عَلى الدَيّانِ جادِعَةٌ

    شَنعاءُ تَبلُغُ أَهلَ السَيفِ مِن عَدَنِ

    A nose-severing satire shall surely fall upon al-Dayyān,

    Hideous, reaching the coastal folk of Aden,

  3. حَتّى يَبيتَ عَلَيهِم حَيزُ أَدرَكَهُم

    مِنّا جَوادِعُ قَد أُلحِقنَ بِالسُنَنِ

    Until they spend the night hemmed in [reading uncertain], overtaken

    By nose-severing satires from us, now set upon the established course.

  4. إِنَّ القَوافِيَ لَن يَرجِعنَ فَاِستَمِعوا

    إِذا بَلَغنَ شِعابَ الغَورِ ذي القُنَنِ

    Indeed, the rhymes will never turn back, so listen,

    Once they reach the ravines of the peak-crowned lowland.

  5. لَو وازَنوا حَضَناً مالَت حُلومُهُمُ

    بِالراسِياتِ الثِقالِ الشُمِّ مِن حَضَنِ

    Were they weighed against Ḥaḍan, their wisdom would outweigh

    Ḥaḍan’s firmly rooted, heavy, towering peaks.

  6. كَم فيهِمُ مِن كُهولٍ راجِحينَ بِهِم

    يَومَ اللِقاءِ وَشُبّانٍ ذَوي سُنَنِ

    How many elders among them lend them weight

    On the day of battle, and youths who follow established ways!

  7. بَني الحُصَينِ وَهُم رَدّوا نِساءَكُمُ

    عَلَيكُمُ يَومَ غِبٍّ ثابِتِ الدِمَنِ

    The sons of al-Ḥuṣayn—it was they who returned your women

    To you, on a day whose aftermath left enduring traces.

  8. رَدّوا عَلَيكُم سَباياكُم مُقَرَّنَةً

    وَقَد تُقُسَّمنَ في زَوفٍ وَفي قَرَنِ

    They returned your captive women to you, bound together,

    Though they had been divided among Zawf and Qaran.

  9. كانَت هَوامِلُ في زَوفٍ مُعَطَّلَةً

    إِنَّ الهَوابِلَ قَد يَرجِعنَ لِلوَطَنِ

    They were stray she-camels in Zawf, left untended;

    Indeed, bereaved she-camels may return to their homeland.

  10. كانَ اليَهودُ مَعَ الدَيّانِ دينَهُمُ

    وَدينُهُم كانَ شَرَّ الدينِ في الزَمَنِ

    With al-Dayyān, Judaism was their religion,

    And theirs was the worst religion of the age.

  11. بَني زِيادٍ رَأَيتُ اللَهَ زادَكُمُ

    لُؤماً وَأُمُّكُمُ مَخلوعَةُ الرَسَنِ

    Sons of Ziyād, I have seen God increase you

    In baseness, while your mother is unhaltered.

  12. لا وَالَّذي هُوَ بِالإِسلامِ أَكرَمَنا

    وَجاعِلُ المَيتِ بَعدَ المَوتِ في الجَنَنِ

    No, by Him who honored us through Islam,

    And places the dead, after death, in the grave:

  13. ما كانَ يَبني بَنو الدَيّانِ مَكرُمَةً

    وَلَم تَكُن لِبَني الدَيّانِ مِن حَسَنِ

    The sons of al-Dayyān never built up any honor,

    Nor did the sons of al-Dayyān possess any goodness.