1. لَيتَ شِعري أَأَوَّلُ الهَرجِ هَذا

    أَم زَمانٌ في فِتنَةٍ غَيرِ هَرجِ

    Would that I knew: is this the beginning of bloodshed,

    or a time of strife without bloodshed?

  2. إِن يَعِش مُصعَبٌ فَإِنّا بِخَيرٍ

    قَد أَتانا مِن عَيشِهِ ما نُرَجّي

    If Mus'ab lives, then surely we are well;

    his life has already brought us what we hope for.

  3. مَلِكٌ يُبرِمُ الأُمورَ وَلا يُش

    رِكُ في رَأيِهِ الضَعيفَ المُزَجّي

    A king who settles affairs and does not include

    the weak, ineffectual man in his counsel.

  4. جَلَبَ الخَيلَ مِن تِهامَةَ حَتّى

    وَرَدَت خَيلُهُ قُصورَ زَرَنجِ

    He brought the horses from Tihamah until

    his horses reached the palaces of Zaranj,

  5. حَيثُ لَم تَأتِ قَبلَهُ خَيلُ ذي الأَك

    تافِ يَرجِعنَ بَينَ قُفٍّ وَمَرجِ

    where, before him, no horses of Dhu al-Aktaf had come,

    returning between rocky uplands and meadows.

  6. أَنزَلوا مِن حُصونِهِنَّ بَناتِ ال

    تُركِ يَأتينَ بَعدَ عَرجٍ بِعَرجِ

    They brought down from their fortresses the daughters of the

    Turks, coming troop after troop.

  7. كُلُّ خِرقٍ سَمَيدَعٍ وَشَنونٍ

    ساهِمِ الوَجهِ تَحتَ أَحناءِ سَرجِ

    Every generous, noble man, and every lean horse,

    haggard-faced beneath the arches of a saddle.

  8. يَلبِسُ الجَيشَ بِالجُيوشِ وَيَسقي

    لَبَنَ البُختِ في عِساسِ الخَلَنجِ

    He mingles the army with armies and serves

    Bactrian camels' milk in bowls of khalanj wood.