لَقَد كانَ قَيسٌ في اللِئامِ مُرَدِّداً

لَقَد كانَ قَيسٌ في اللِئامِ مُرَدِّداً

عُصارَةَ فَرخٍ مَعدِنِ اللُؤمِ ماكِدِ

عُصارَةَ فَرخٍ مَعدِنِ اللُؤمِ ماكِدِ

Indeed, Qays was repeatedly numbered among the base,

Qais was truly immersed in vileness

the squeezed juice of a fledgling, an abiding source of baseness.

The essence of a fledgling from the mine of cowardice, a plotter

وِلادَةُ سوءٍ مِن سُمَيَّةَ إِنَّها

وِلادَةُ سوءٍ مِن سُمَيَّةَ إِنَّها

أُمَيَّةُ سوءٍ مَجدُها غَيرُ تالِدِ

أُمَيَّةُ سوءٍ مَجدُها غَيرُ تالِدِ

A foul birth from Sumayya—indeed, she is

An evil birth from a poisonous mother

a vile little slave-woman whose glory is not ancestral—

Umayya of evil, whose glory is never lasting

سِفاحاً جِهاراً مِن أُحَيمَقِ مِنهُمُ

سِفاحاً جِهاراً مِن أُحَيمَقِ مِنهُمُ

فَقَد سَبَقَتهُم في جَميعِ المَشاهِدِ

فَقَد سَبَقَتهُم في جَميعِ المَشاهِدِ

through open fornication with a little fool among them;

Brazenly committing adultery indiscreetly due to his stupidity

for she had outstripped them at every gathering.

Thus he surpassed them in every disgraceful act

فَجاءَت بِقَيسٍ أَلأَمِ الناسِ مَحتِداً

فَجاءَت بِقَيسٍ أَلأَمِ الناسِ مَحتِداً

إِذا ذُكِرَت يَوماً لِئامُ المَحاتِدِ

إِذا ذُكِرَت يَوماً لِئامُ المَحاتِدِ

So she bore Qays, the basest of people in ancestry,

So she brought forth Qais, the most vicious of all vicious men

if ever those of base lineage are mentioned.

Whenever the disgrace of the disgraced is recalled one day