1. أَبوكَ وَعَمّي يا مُعاوِيَ أَورَثا

    تُراثاً فَأَولى بِالتُراثِ أَقارِبُه

    Your father and my uncle, O Mu‘awiya, both bequeathed

    an inheritance; his kinsmen have first claim to it.

  2. فَما بالُ ميراثِ الحُتاتِ أَكَلتَهُ

    وَميراثُ حَربٍ جامِدٌ لَكَ ذائِبُه

    Then why have you devoured al-Hutat's inheritance,

    while the liquid part of Harb's inheritance remains solid for you?

  3. فَلَو كانَ هَذا الحُكمُ في جاهِلِيَّةٍ

    عَرَفتَ مَنِ المَولى القَليلُ حَلائِبُه

    Had this judgment been in the age of ignorance,

    you would have known which kinsman had few supporting bands.

  4. وَلَو كانَ هَذا الأَمرُ في غَيرِ مِلكِكُم

    لَأَدَّيتَهُ أَو غَصَّ بِالماءِ شارِبُه

    And had this matter been outside your dominion,

    you would have repaid it, or the drinker would have choked on water.

  5. وَلَو كانَ إِذ كُنّا وَلِلكَفِّ بَسطَةٌ

    لَصَمَّمَ عَضبٌ فيكَ ماضٍ مَضارِبُه

    And had it happened when we had a free hand,

    a keen sword would have cut through you, its striking edges sharp.

  6. وَقَد رُمتَ أَمراً يا مُعاوِيَ دونَهُ

    خَياطِفُ عِلوَدٍّ صِعابٌ مَراتِبُه

    And you have sought a thing, O Mu‘awiya, before which stand

    the swift wolves of ‘Ilwadd, whose ascents are hard.

  7. وَما كُنتُ أُعطي النِصفَ مِن غَيرِ قُدرَةٍ

    سِواكَ وَلَو مالَت عَلَيَّ كَتايِبُه

    I would not grant fair terms from lack of strength

    to anyone but you, even if his battalions bore down on me.

  8. أَلَستَ أَعَزَّ الناسِ قَوماً وَأُسرَةً

    وَأَمنَعَهُم جاراً إِذا ضيمَ جانِبُه

    Are you not the mightiest of men in clan and family,

    and their staunchest defender of a neighbor when his side is assailed?

  9. وَما وَلَدَت بَعدَ النَبِيِّ وَأَهلِهِ

    كَمِثلي حِصانٌ في الرِجالِ يُقارِبُه

    And after the Prophet and his household, no

    chaste woman has borne a man who approaches the likes of me.

  10. أَبي غالِبٌ وَالمَرءُ صَعصَعَةُ الَّذي

    إِلى دارِمٍ يَنمي فَمَن ذا يُناسِبُه

    My father is Ghalib, and the man Sa‘sa‘a is the one

    whose descent reaches Darim—who can rival his lineage?

  11. أَنا اِبنُ الجِبالِ الشُمِّ في عَدَدِ الحَصى

    وَعِرقُ الثَرى عِرقي فَمَن ذا يُحاسِبُه

    I am the son of lofty mountains, as numerous as the pebbles,

    and the earth's root is my root—who can reckon it?

  12. وَبَيتي إِلى جَنبٍ رَحيبٍ فِناؤُهُ

    وَمِن دونِهِ البَدرُ المُضيءُ كَواكِبُه

    And my house stands by a flank whose courtyard is spacious,

    and below it is the full moon, with its shining stars.

  13. وَكَم مِن أَبٍ لي يا مُعاوِيَ لَم يَزَل

    أَغَرَّ يُباري الريحَ ما اِزوَرَّ جانِبُه

    And how many a forefather of mine, O Mu‘awiya, has ever been

    bright-browed, rivaling the wind, never turning his side away.

  14. نَمَتهُ فُروعُ المالِكينِ وَلَم يَكُن

    أَبوكَ الَّذي مِن عَبدِ شَمسٍ يُخاطِبُه

    Branches of the two Maliks gave him lineage, and never was

    your father, the man of ‘Abd Shams, fit to address him as an equal.

  15. تَراهُ كَنَصلِ السَيفِ يَهتَزُّ لِلنَدى

    جَواداً تَلاقى المَجدَ مُذ طَرَّ شارِبُه

    You see him like a sword blade, stirred to generosity,

    open-handed, having met glory since his moustache first sprouted.

  16. طَويلِ نِجادِ السَيفِ مُذ كانَ لَم يَكُن

    قُصَيٌّ وَعَبدُ الشَمسِ مِمَّن يُخاطِبُه

    Long of sword-baldric since his earliest days—never were

    Qusayy and ‘Abd al-Shams among those who could address him as an equal.