ما بالُ عَيني دُموعُها تَكِفُ

مِن ذِكرِ خَودٍ شَطَّت بِها قُذُفُ

What is wrong with my eyes that their tears keep flowing

With the memory of a cheek the embers scattered over?

بانَت بِها غَربَةٌ تَأُمُّ بِها

أَرضاً سِوانا فَالشَكلُ مُختَلِفُ

Loneliness has become familiar and home

So the shape has changed although the land is the same

ما كُنتُ أَدري بِوَشكِ بَينَهِمُ

حَتّى رَأَيتُ الحُدوجَ قَد عَزَفوا

I did not know how estranged they were from me

Until I saw the tribe had departed

فَغادَروني وَالنَفسُ غالِبُها

ما شَفَّها وَالهُمومُ تَعتَكِفُ

So they left me with my soul in turmoil

Not comforted and worries still testing me

دَع ذا وَعَدِّ القَريضَ في نَفَرٍ

يَدعونَ مَجدي وَمِدحَتي شَرَفُ

Leave this and count the poets among the group

Who call my glory and praise an honor

إِن أَدعُ في المَجدِ أَلقَهُم سَلَفاً

أَهلَ فِعالٍ يَبدوا إِذا وُصِفوا

If I were to boast of glory I would find them

People of action when described

بَلِّغ عَنّي النُبَيتَ قافِيَةً

تُذِلُّهُم أَنَّهُم لَنا حَلَفوا

So pass on from me, matching rhyme

That would humble them that they swore alliance with us

بِاللَهِ جَهداً لَنَقتُلَنَّكُمُ

قَتلاً عَنيفاً وَالخَيلُ تَنكَشِفُ

By God, striving that “We will kill you

A violent killing” and the horses in open country

أَو نَدعُ في الأَوسِ دَعوَةً هَرَباً

وَقَد بَدا في الكَتيبَةِ النَصَفُ

Or we will make a plea for flight in (our) auxiliaries

As half the battalion came into the open

كُنتُم عَبيداً لَنا نُخَوِّلُكُم

مَن جاءَنا وَالعَبيدُ تُضطَعَفُ

“You were slaves to us, we favored you,

Whoever came to us” and slaves grow arrogant

كَيفَ تَعاطَونَ مَجدَنا سَفَهاً

وَأَنتُمُ دِعوَةٌ لَها وَكَفُ

How dare you belittle our glory in ignorance?

While you are a tribe with no glory

شانَكُمُ جَدُّكُم وَأَكرَمَنا

جَدٌّ لَنا في الفَعالِ يَنتَصِفُ

Your lineage is your own while ours honored us

An ancestry for us of those who gain victory in action

تَجعَلُ مَن كانَ المَجدُ مَحتِدَهُ

كَأَعبُدِ الأَوسِ كُلَّما وُصِفوا

You made whoever possessed glory to lose it

Like the slaves of (our) auxiliaries whenever described

هَلّا غَضِبتُم لِأَعبُدٍ قُتِلوا

يَومَ بُعاثٍ أَظَلَّهُم ظَلَفُ

Why did you not get angry for the slaves who were killed

The day of Bu’ath darkly shaded by clouds?

نَقتُلُهُم وَالسُيوفُ تَأخُذُهُم

أَخذاً عَنيفاً وَأَنتُمُ كُشُفُ

We kill them and the swords take them

Violently while you stand there dejected

وَكَم قَتَلنا مِن رائِسٍ لَكُمُ

في فَيلَقٍ يُجتَدى لَهُ التَلَفُ

And how many chieftains of yours have we killed

In a mangled corpse whose parts are scattered

وَمِن لَئيمٍ عَبدٍ يُحالِفُكُم

لَيسَت لَهُ دَعوَةٌ وَلا شَرَفُ

And what worthless slave swears alliance with you

With no tribe and no honor

إِنَّ سُمَيراً عَبدٌ طَغى سَفَهاً

أَجدادُهُ أَعبُدٌ لَنا تَلَفُ

Sumayra is decidedly a slave exceeded in folly

His ancestors were slaves to us and perished

بِالكاهِنينَ الَّذينَ جَدُّهُمُ

عَبدُ العَصا وَاللِئامُ إِن أَسِفوا

By the priests whose ancestors

Were slaves to divining arrows and staves if you inquire