يا اِبنَي رِفاعَةَ ما بالي وَبالُكُما

يا اِبنَي رِفاعَةَ ما بالي وَبالُكُما

هَل تُقصِرانِ وَلَم تَمسَسكُما ناري

هَل تُقصِرانِ وَلَم تَمسَسكُما ناري

O two sons of Rifāʿah, what is there between you two and me?

O sons of Rifa'ah, what is my plight and what is yours?

Will you two desist before my fire touches you?

Do you fall short while my fire has not touched you?

ما كانَ مُنتَهِياً حَتّى يُقاذِفَني

ما كانَ مُنتَهِياً حَتّى يُقاذِفَني

كَلبٌ وَجَأتُ عَلى فيهِ بِأَحجارِ

كَلبٌ وَجَأتُ عَلى فيهِ بِأَحجارِ

He would not desist until he traded insults with me—

It would not have ended until a dog attacks me

A dog I struck on the mouth with stones.

And I pelt it with stones in its mouth

يَكسو الثَلاثَةَ نِصفُ الثَوبِ بَينَهُمُ

يَكسو الثَلاثَةَ نِصفُ الثَوبِ بَينَهُمُ

لِمِئزَرٍ وَرِداءٍ غَيرِ أَطهارِ

لِمِئزَرٍ وَرِداءٍ غَيرِ أَطهارِ

Half a garment clothes the three, shared among them,

Three share half a garment between them

As loincloth and cloak—none of them clean.

For a waist-wrapper and cloak without purity

قَد خابَ قَومٌ نِيارٌ مِن سَراتِهِمِ

قَد خابَ قَومٌ نِيارٌ مِن سَراتِهِمِ

رِجلاً مُجَوَّعَةٍ شُبَّت بِمِسعارِ

رِجلاً مُجَوَّعَةٍ شُبَّت بِمِسعارِ

A people has surely failed with Niyār among its chiefs—

A people has failed, feeble because of their elite

A starved woman's leg, set alight with a fire-poker.

Bare-legged, kindled with flint

لَولا اِبنُ هَيشَةَ إِنَّ المَرءَ ذو رَحِمٍ

لَولا اِبنُ هَيشَةَ إِنَّ المَرءَ ذو رَحِمٍ

إِذاً لَأَنشَبتُ بِالبَزواءِ أَظفاري

إِذاً لَأَنشَبتُ بِالبَزواءِ أَظفاري

Were it not for the son of Hayshah—for a man has ties of kinship—

Were it not for Ibn Hayshah's son, a man of kin

Then I would have sunk my claws into al-Bazwāʾ.

I would then dig my claws into the open ground