أَظُنُّ وَلا أَدري وَإِنّي لَقائِلٌ

أَظُنُّ وَلا أَدري وَإِنّي لَقائِلٌ

لَعَلَّ الغُلامَ الحَنظَلِيَّ سَيُنشَدُ

لَعَلَّ الغُلامَ الحَنظَلِيَّ سَيُنشَدُ

I think, though I do not know, and I do declare:

I guess, though I don't know, that I'm saying

Perhaps the Ḥanẓalī youth will be sought,

Perhaps the curly-haired boy will recite

إِذا جاءَ خَصمٌ كَالحِفافِ لَبوسُهُم

إِذا جاءَ خَصمٌ كَالحِفافِ لَبوسُهُم

سَوابِغُ أَبدانٍ وَرَيطٌ مُعَضَّدُ

سَوابِغُ أَبدانٍ وَرَيطٌ مُعَضَّدُ

When adversaries come like al-Ḥifāf, their garb is

When an opponent comes dressed like warriors

Full-length coats of mail and striped mantles.

Wearing long robes and girded with belts

تُخاصِمُ قَوماً لا تَلَقّى جَوابَهُم

تُخاصِمُ قَوماً لا تَلَقّى جَوابَهُم

وَقَد أَخَذَت مِن أَنفِ لِحيَتِكَ اليَدُ

وَقَد أَخَذَت مِن أَنفِ لِحيَتِكَ اليَدُ

You dispute with men whose reply you cannot withstand,

You dispute a people whose response you don't meet

While the hand has already seized the tip of your beard.

Yet the hand has taken from your moustache's tip