1. أَلا أَبلِغ لَدَيكَ بَني كِلابٍ

    وَإِخَوَتَها مُعاوِيَةَ بنَ بَكرِ

    Hear this: tell the sons of Kilab there with you,

    and their kinsmen, Muʿawiyah son of Bakr:

  2. فَلَيتَ الناقِمِيَّةَ لَم تَلِدكُم

    وَلَم تَحمِلكُمُ مِنها بِظَهرِ

    If only al-Naqimiyyah had never borne you,

    nor carried you upon her back.

  3. فَإِنَّ سَوامَ ما صِرتُم إِلَيهِ

    رِتاعٌ بَينَ أَوطاسٍ وَسِعرِ

    For the herds of the land you have reached

    graze freely between Awtas and Siʿr.

  4. حَماهُ مَن يُمَتِّعُهُ بِقودٍ

    وَيَمنَعُكُم مَخافَةَ كُلِّ ثَغرِ

    He who lets them thrive guards them with long-necked steeds,

    and shields you from fear at every vulnerable frontier.

  5. أَأَن غَضِبَت كِلابٌ في عِقارٍ

    تَعُدُّ لَنا النَوابِغُ ذَنبَ صُحرِ

    Is it because Kilab grew angry over the slaughter of camels

    that the upstarts charge us with Ṣuḥr’s sin?

  6. وَلَو أَنّا نَخافُ الحَيَّ نَصراً

    لَدَعثَرنا دِيارَهُمُ بِمَجرِ

    And had we feared the tribe of Nasr,

    we would have razed their dwellings with a mighty host,

  7. بِزُرقٍ في مُثَقَّفَةٍ حِرارٍ

    تُقَوَّمُ في قَنا الخَطِّيِّ سُمرِ

    with fine blue spearheads in straightened shafts,

    set true in al-Khatt’s brown spear-reeds.