1. لَعَمْرُ أَبيك يا عباسُ إني

    لَمُنْقَطِعُ الرِّشاءِ من الأعادي

    By your father's life, O Abbas, I am

    indeed cut off from my foes, my rope severed.

  2. وإني قد تُعاتِبُني سُلَيْمٌ

    على جَرِّ الذُّيول إلى الفسادِ

    And indeed Sulaym sometimes reproaches me

    for dragging my robes’ hems toward mischief.

  3. أَكُلَّ الدَّهرِ لا تَنْفَكُّ تَجري

    إلى الأمرِ المُفَارِقِ للسَّدادِ

    Do you forever keep running

    toward a course at odds with sound judgment?

  4. إذا ما عايَنَتْكَ بنو سُلَيْمٍ

    تَبيتُ لهم بداهيةٍ نآدِ

    Whenever the sons of Sulaym behold you,

    you pass the night with a grievous calamity for them.

  5. فَزَنْدُكَ في سُلَيْمٍ شرُّ زَنْدٍ

    وزادُكَ في المعاشِرِ شرُّ زاد

    So your firestick among Sulaym is the worst of firesticks,

    and your provision among the clans is the worst of provisions.

  6. أَلا للهِ دَرُّكَ منْ رئيسٍ

    إذا عادَيْتَ فانْظُرْ مَنْ تُعادي

    Ah, God bless you—what a chief you are!

    When you make an enemy, consider whom you oppose.

  7. جَريتُ مُبَرِّزاً وجريتَ تكبو

    على تعبٍ فهل لك من مَعاد

    I ran out in front, while you ran stumbling,

    in exhaustion—so is there any return for you?

  8. ولم تَقْتُلْ أسِيرَكَ مِنْ زُبَيْدٍ

    بخالي بل غَدَرْتَ بمُستَقادِ

    And you did not kill your captive from Zubayd

    to avenge my maternal uncle; rather, you betrayed a man led captive.