مَا أَصَابُوا مِنْ تَغْلِبِيٍّ فَمَطْلُولٌ عَلَيْهِ إِذَا أُصِيبَ الْعَفَاءُ
Meaning: Any Taghlibī they struck was, according to the poet, left without requital, his blood disregarded and the matter covered over like something buried in dust.
Taghlibī is a tribal nisbah; maṭlūl refers to blood left unavenged or uncompensated. Al-ʿafāʾ evokes dust covering what has been left behind.
The poet downplays the enemy’s claimed successes by portraying their results as unreconciled bloodshed, not lasting victory. This is a partisan memory of conflict rather than a statement of general legal doctrine.