أَفي حَدَثانِ الدَهرِ أَم في قَديمِهِ

أَفي حَدَثانِ الدَهرِ أَم في قَديمِهِ

تَعَلَّمتَ أَلا تَقرِيَ الضَيفَ عَلقَما

تَعَلَّمتَ أَلا تَقرِيَ الضَيفَ عَلقَما

Was it in time’s recent days or in its days of old

Is it in the events of time or in its ancientness

that you learned not to offer the guest hospitality, Alqama?

That you have learned to not feed a guest cooked meat