1. سَيَبلُغُ عَنّي غَدوَةَ الريحِ أَنَّها

    مَسيرَةُ شَهرٍ لِلرِياحِ الهَواجِمِ

    Word from me will reach you on the wind's morning journey, which is

    a month's journey for the onrushing winds.

  2. بَني عامِرٍ ما مَن تَأَوَّلَ مِنكُمُ

    بِأَن سَوفَ يَنجو مِن تَميمٍ بِحازِمِ

    Sons of Amir, no one among you who supposes

    he will escape Tamim is a man of sound judgment.

  3. وَلَو أَنَّ كَعباً أَو كِلاباً سَأَلتُمُ

    عَلى عَهدِهِم قالوا لَكُم قَولَ عالِمِ

    And had you asked Ka'b or Kilab,

    in their day, they would have answered you as one who knows.

  4. لَقالوا لَكُم كانَت هَوازِنُ حِقبَةً

    عَلى عَهدِ أَكّالِ المِرارِ القُماقِمِ

    They would have told you: for a time Hawazin were

    in the days of Akkal al-Murar, the mighty lord,

  5. قَطيناً يَرُبّونَ النِحاءَ لِيَفتَدوا

    بِهِنَّ بَنيهِم مِن غُوَيٍّ وَسالِمِ

    dependents, dressing butter-skins to ransom

    with them their sons from Ghuwayy and Salim.

  6. إِذا النَحيُ لَم تَعجَل بِهِ عامِرِيَّةٌ

    فَداها اِبنُها أَو بِنتُها في المَقاسِمِ

    If an Amiri woman did not hurry with the butter-skin,

    her son or daughter became her ransom when the spoils were divided.

  7. أَظَنَّت كِلابُ اللُؤمِ أَن لَستُ خابِطاً

    قَبائِلَ غَيرَ اِبنَي دُخانٍ بِدارِمِ

    Did ignoble Kilab think I would not assail

    tribes besides the two sons of Dukhan, with Darim?

  8. لَبِئسَ إِذاً حامي الحَقيقَةِ وَالَّذي

    يُلاذُ بِهِ في مُعضِلاتِ العَظائِمِ

    Then how wretched a defender of honor I would be, and one

    in whom refuge is sought amid great, intractable calamities!

  9. وَحَتّى الخَناثى مِن قُشَيرٍ تَسُبُّني

    وَجَعدَةُ أَشباهُ الإِماءِ الخَوادِمِ

    And even the hermaphrodites of Qushayr revile me,

    and Ja'da, the likes of serving slave women.

  10. وَظَنَّت بَنو العَجلانِ أَن لَستُ ذاكِراً

    عِلاطَهُمُ المَعروضَ تَحتَ العَمائِمِ

    And Banu al-Ajlan thought I would not mention

    their brand running crosswise beneath their turbans.

  11. وَظَنَّت عُقَيلٌ أَنَّني لَستُ ذاكِراً

    عَجوزَهُمُ الدَغماءَ أُمَّ التَوائِمِ

    And Uqayl thought I would not mention

    their dark-faced old woman, the mother of twins.

  12. وَكَم مِن لَئيمٍ قَد رَفَعتُ لَهُ اِسمَهُ

    وَأَطعَمتُهُ بِاِسمي وَلَيسَ بِطاعِمِ

    And how many a base man's name have I raised high,

    and fed him through my name, though otherwise he would not eat.