1. ذَهَبتَ وَلَم تَزُر أَهلَ الشِفاءِ

    وَما لَكَ في الزِيارَةِ مِن جَداءِ

    You went away without visiting the people of al-Shifa,

    and you have nothing to gain from a visit.

  2. كَبِرتَ فَلَستَ مِن شَرطِ الغَواني

    وَفارَقتَ الصِبا غَيرَ الخَفاءِ

    You have grown old, no longer of the sort the fair women favor,

    and you have plainly parted from youth.

  3. وَشابَ بَنوكَ فَاِستَحيَيتَ مِنهُم

    وَأُبتَ إِلى العَفافَةِ وَالحَياءِ

    And your sons have gone gray, so you felt ashamed before them,

    and returned to chastity and modesty.

  4. وَغُرمٍ قَد حَمَلتُ جَناهُ غَيري

    وَفَيتُ بِهِ عَلى حُبِّ الوَفاءِ

    And many a debt incurred by another I shouldered;

    I discharged it out of love for keeping faith.

  5. وَمَولى قَد نَصَحتُ لَهُ فَأَعيَت

    عَلَيَّ أُمورُهُ كُلَّ العَياءِ

    And an ally I sincerely counseled, but I was baffled

    by his affairs—utterly baffled.

  6. فَلَو ما كُنتُ أَروَعَ أَبطَحِيّاً

    أَبِيَّ الضَيمِ مُطَّرِحَ الدَناءِ

    So, were I not a gallant man of al-Abtah,

    refusing humiliation and casting off baseness,

  7. لَوَدَّعتُ الجَزيرَةَ قَبلَ يَومٍ

    يُنَسّي القَومَ أَطهارَ النِساءِ

    I would have bidden al-Jazira farewell before a day

    that makes men forget women's times of purity;

  8. فَكُنتُ هُناكَ أَحيَنَ مِن ثَفالٍ

    يُعَدَّلُ فَوقَهُ سَقَطُ الرِعاءِ

    and there I would have been more ill-fated than a sluggish camel

    on whose back the herdsmen's odds and ends are balanced.

  9. فَذالِكَ أَم مُقامُكَ وَسطَ قَيسٍ

    وَتَغلِبَ بَينَها سَفكُ الدِماءِ

    Is that better, then, or your staying amid Qays

    and Taghlib, with bloodshed between them?

  10. وَقَد مَلَأَت كِنانَةُ بَينَ مِصرٍ

    إِلى عُليا تِهامَةَ فَالرُهاءِ

    And Kinana has already filled the land from Egypt

    to upper Tihama, then al-Ruha,

  11. بَرازيقاً تَمُرُّ مُسَوَّماتٍ

    وَأَلوِيَةً تَؤولُ إِلى لِواءِ

    with companies marching past, bearing their insignia,

    and banners converging upon one banner.

  12. بَنو شَيخٍ بِمَكَّةَ خِندِفِيٍّ

    دَفَنّاهُ بِأَبطَحَ ذي كَداءِ

    Sons of an elder of Khindif in Mecca,

    whom we buried in al-Abtah by Kada,

  13. يُهينونَ النُفوسَ بِكُلِّ صِدقٍ

    وَلَو بيعَت لَقامَت بِالغَلاءِ

    they hold their lives cheap in all earnestness,

    though, if sold, they would command a high price.