1. وسَما ابنُ حمادٍ فَفا

    زَ بقدحِهم فوزَ المُقامِرْ

    And Ibn Hammad rose high and won

    with their lot-arrow, as a gambler wins;

  2. بلاّلُ أسوُقِها بما

    ءِ كعوبِها قبلَ الحَناجرْ

    he drenches their shanks with the water

    of their ankle-joints before their throats.

  3. ضاحٍ يكون مَقيلُهُ

    في ظلِّ ألويةِ العساكرْ

    Out in the sun, his midday resting-place is

    in the shade of the armies' banners.

  4. وسميرُهُ في ليلِه

    نَهمُ الهَماهمِ والزّماجرْ

    And his companion in his night is

    the din of murmurs and growls.

  5. صُلْبٌ فإنْ لايَنتَهُ

    ألفيتَهُ هشَّ المكاسِرْ

    Hard, yet if you treat him gently,

    you find him pliant at the joints.

  6. يا ذا المناقبِ والمطا

    هِرِ دون كلِّ أخٍ مُطاهِرْ

    O possessor of noble merits and pure qualities,

    beyond every fellow who vies in purity,

  7. وفتى عُقيلٍ حين تحزُ

    بُها الملماتُ الكبائرْ

    and champion of Uqayl when she is beset

    by mighty calamities,

  8. وأصَحَّها خُلقاً إذا

    طُوِيَتْ على الغِشِّ الضّمائرْ

    and her most upright in character, when

    consciences are folded around deceit;

  9. وإذا هوازنُ أعوزتْ

    بالضيفِ والجارِ المُجاورْ

    and when Hawazin was hard-pressed

    by a guest and a neighbor dwelling nearby,

  10. وعدا الوفي على أخي

    هِ ولم يخفْ لذعَ المُعايرْ

    and the loyal man assailed his brother

    and feared no reproacher's sting,

  11. والأرضُ دارعةٌ بنو

    بِ صَقيعها والجوُّ حاسرْ

    and the earth was armored by recurring spells

    of its frost, while the sky lay bare,

  12. كنتَ الذي تأوي إلي

    هِ قلوبُ قيسٍ في الثراثرْ

    you were the refuge sought

    by the hearts of Qays in al-Tharathir.

  13. ولقد حميتَ ذمارَ شَي

    بانَ بنَ ثعلبةَ المَغورْ

    Indeed, you protected the honor of Shayban

    ibn Thaʿlaba, when they were raided;

  14. إذْ جاوروكَ فكنتَ أك

    رَمَ مَنْ يُجاورُهُ مجاورْ

    when they dwelt beside you, you were the most generous

    of all beside whom a neighbor dwells.

  15. وضممتَ جانبَهم كما ان

    ضمّت على الكَسْرِ الجَبائرْ

    And you held their flank close, just as

    splints close around a fracture.

  16. وأجرتَهم والدهرُ بال

    أقوامِ منتفض المرائرْ

    And you sheltered them, while fate assailed

    the peoples, its tightly twisted cords quivering.

  17. وهم الذي تقسّموا

    بالحِنو أسلابَ الأكاسِرْ

    And they are the ones who shared out

    at al-Hinw the spoils of the Khosrows.

  18. هُم يومَ ذي قارٍ هُمُ

    عقدوا الأبيةَ بالمناخرْ

    They, on the day of Dhu Qar—they

    bound proud defiance to their nostrils.

  19. يا رافعَ بنَ محمد

    للمُصْمَئِلاّتِ الكَبائرْ

    O Rafiʿ ibn Muhammad, lifter

    of the great, unyielding calamities!

  20. ولحُبّهِ نزلتْ بوا

    دٍ ما يَطورُ بهِ المَناسِرْ

    And for love of him, she settled in a valley

    around which no raiding bands circle.

  21. لا يَزْجُرنّكَ عن عَطا

    ئِكَ واقتناءِ الحمد زاجرْ

    Let no one ever deter you from your giving

    and from acquiring praise.

  22. إنّ الغِنى ما صانَ عِر

    ضَ المرءِ أو سدّ المفاقِرْ

    Indeed, wealth is what preserves the honor

    of a person or fills the gaps of poverty.

  23. قد فاخرتْ من قبلنا

    أمَمٌ فما أغنى الَمفاخِرْ

    Before us there vied in boasting

    nations; yet what did their glories avail?

  24. بادرْ بمالكَ تَركَهُ

    إنّ الخُطوبَ لها بَوادرْ

    Hasten to give your wealth before leaving it;

    for calamities have sudden onsets.

  25. يفديكَ من مطْلِ السقا

    مِ وجرأَةِ الأجلِ المجاهِرْ

    May you be ransomed from lingering sickness

    and the audacity of brazen death,

  26. حِلَلٌ تروحُ على بيو

    تِهم المؤبلة البَهازرْ

    by encampments, to whose tents return at evening

    the great, sturdy camels, gathered in herds.

  27. ويروحُ مأثور الثنا

    ءِ عليكَ في بادٍ وحاضرْ

    And praise passed down returns at evening

    to you, among desert-dweller and townsman.

  28. آلُ المهيا من عُبا

    دةَ خيرُ من غَذَتِ الحَرائرْ

    The house of al-Muhayya, of ʿUbada,

    are the best whom freeborn women have nourished.

  29. هُم علّموا كَعباً شتي

    تَ الطعنِ والطعنَ المجاورْ

    They taught Kaʿb widely scattered

    spear-thrusts and thrusts at close quarters,

  30. وتناولَ الأضياف بال

    إيثارِ في حدّ الصّنابرْ

    and tending to guests

    with selflessness, in the bite of icy winds.

  31. أربابُها ومُلوكُها

    ونجومُها البيضُ الزّواهِرْ

    Her lords and her kings,

    and her white, radiant stars.

  32. ولأنتَ أكرمُها إذا

    صارتْ إلى الحَسبِ المَصائرْ

    And you are surely her noblest when

    outcomes hinge on ancestral honor.