لَوَ أنَّ بني لِحْيَانَ كَانُوا تَنَاظَرُوا

لَوَ أنَّ بني لِحْيَانَ كَانُوا تَنَاظَرُوا

لَقَوْا عُصَباً في دَارِهمْ ذَاتِ مَصْدَقِ

لَقَوْا عُصَباً في دَارِهمْ ذَاتِ مَصْدَقِ

If the sons of Lihyan had waited,

Had the sons of Lihyan only cared to consider,

they would have met bands of steadfast valor in their own land.

They would have found a band in their abode with a truthful pact.

لَقَوْا سَرَعاناً يملأُ السَّربَ رَوْعُهُ

لَقَوْا سَرَعاناً يملأُ السَّربَ رَوْعُهُ

أمامَ طَحُونٍ كالمجرَّة فَيْلَقِ

أمامَ طَحُونٍ كالمجرَّة فَيْلَقِ

They would have met a swift vanguard whose terror fills the path,

They would have soon found it filling the pasture with its clamor,

ahead of a crushing host, a vast army like the Milky Way.

In front of a mill like the Milky Way pouring.

ولكنَّهُمْ كَانُوا وِباراً تَتَبَّعَثْ

ولكنَّهُمْ كَانُوا وِباراً تَتَبَّعَثْ

شِعَابَ حِجَازٍ غيرِ ذي مُتَنَفَّقِ

شِعَابَ حِجَازٍ غيرِ ذي مُتَنَفَّقِ

But they were hyraxes that followed

But they were pious men who wandered

the ravines of Hijaz, with no burrow for refuge.

Through the ravines of Hejaz and nothing else.