1. لمن الديار غَشيتُها كالمُهرَقِ

    قَدُمت وعهدُ جديدها لم يُخلقِ

    Whose are these dwellings I visited, like a parchment?

    They have grown old, yet the memory of their newness has not faded.

  2. إني يراني المُوعديَ كأنني

    في الحصن من نجران أو في الأبلقِ

    Indeed, the one who threatens me sees me as though I were

    In the fortress of Najran, or in al-Ablaq,

  3. في يافعٍ دون السماء ممرَّدٍ

    صَعبٍ تزلُّ به بنانُ المرتقي

    In a lofty, smooth-walled stronghold beneath the sky,

    Hard to scale, where the climber’s fingertips slip.

  4. ويصدُّهُم عني بأنّي ماجدٌ

    حسبي وأصدُقُهم إذا ما نلتَقي

    And they are kept from me by the nobility

    Of my lineage; I fight them in earnest when we meet.

  5. وإذا عفَوتُ عَفَوت عفواً بيِّناً

    وإذا انتَصرتُ بلغتُ رنقَ المُستقى

    And when I pardon, I grant a clear and open pardon.

    And when I avenge myself, I reach the watering place’s murky dregs.