لا ترجُ مني يابنَ سعد هوادةً

لا ترجُ مني يابنَ سعد هوادةً

ولا صحبةً ما أرزمَت أمّ حائل

ولا صحبةً ما أرزمَت أمّ حائل

Expect no leniency from me, O son of Saʿd,

Do not expect tenderness from me, son of Saad,

nor companionship, as long as a female camel calf's mother lows.

Nor companionship, for no mother raised a barrier.

أعند الأمير ابن الأمير تعيبني

أعند الأمير ابن الأمير تعيبني

وأنت ابن عمرو مضحك في القبائل

وأنت ابن عمرو مضحك في القبائل

Do you disparage me before the emir, the emir's son,

Does the prince, son of a prince, find fault with me?

while you, the son of ʿAmr, are a laughingstock among the tribes?

While you, son of Amr, are a laughingstock among the tribes.

ولو غيرنا يا سعد رمت حريمه

ولو غيرنا يا سعد رمت حريمه

بخسفٍ لقد غودرت لحقا لاكل

بخسفٍ لقد غودرت لحقا لاكل

And had you, Saʿd, assailed another's protected domain

Had it been another than us, O Saad, who cast away his womenfolk

with humiliation, you would surely have been left as [meat] for a devourer.

To abyss, he would have been wronged indeed, had he but known.

فشالت بك العنقاءُ أو صرت لحمة

فشالت بك العنقاءُ أو صرت لحمة

لأغبس عواء العشيات عاسلِ

لأغبس عواء العشيات عاسلِ

Then the ʿAnqāʾ would have carried you aloft, or you would have become a morsel

So the slender-necked one let you down, or you became a morsel

for a dusky wolf, howling in the evenings, loping along.

For the howling dog of eve, a castle abandoned.