There have been many different readings of parts of this text since it was first published by René Dussaud in 1902 (DINA). For a discussion of most of the interpretations up to the mid-1980's see BNRN, though Bellamy's own interpretation is untenable, and for important contributions since then see ZIK and ZBC. It was discovered in 1901 by René Dussaud and Frédéric Macler approximately 1 km east of the ancient site of Al-Namāra in the basalt desert of southern Syria, and had served as the lintel over the doorway to the tomb of Mrʾ-lqays (DMNab 20).
Line 1.
In the past, the name has been vocalized as “Imruʾlqays”, like that of the pre-Islamic poet, but in the inscription there is no ʾ before the m. It is often assumed that he was the second king of the Lakhmids on the basis that his father's name, ʿmrw, is the same as an “ʾm(r)[w] ki(ng) of the  Lakhmids” mentioned in the Pailkuli inscription (H 18,03-1,04. 44), where Arabic ʿayn is transliterated by Middle Persian and Parthian alif. But ʿmrw is a common Arab name — indeed, in the Paikuli list of kings, this ʾm(r)[w] is next to another ʾmrw “[king of] the Abgars” — and there is no firm evidence to connect the Lakhmid ʾm(r)[w] with Mrʾlqys's father. There has been much discussion of the title mlk ʾl-ʿrb klh and the translation here is based on that of ZIK meaning “the extensive cis- and trans-Ephratean region of central and southern Iraq and the eastern Syro-Arabian desert” (see ZIK p. 9–18). For the translation of klh, which has caused many arguments, see MEARL p. 405, n. 165. For  "he bound on the crown" see ZBC.
Line 2.
For ʾsyryn as “the two Syrias" see BLI p. 267. For mḏḥgw, Alain Desreumaux's extremely careful copy of the inscription (BLI p. 265) and an intensive study of the original by L. Nehmé and M.C.A. Macdonald show that this is the correct reading rather than mḏ[ḥ]gw in readings before BLI. On ʿkdy (in lies 2 and 5) as an adverb meaning “after”, “thereafter” see JOGS p. 164.
Line 3.
For the translation of mdynt šmr as “the realm [rather than city] of Shammar”, see BNF p. 4–5.
Line 4.
For the interpretation of šʿwb as “settled peoples” see BNF p. 5. On w wklw lprs w lrwm see MEARL p. 408. Lm yblʿ mlk mblʿ represents Arabic lam yabluġ malikun mablaġahu “no king has/had matched his achievement” BNF p. 6
Line 5.
In an excellent rereading of the numerals used in this and other Developing Arabic inscriptions (RKAV p. 375–378, at p. 376), Christian Robin has re-read the date as year 227 and day 3 of Kislūl. There have been numerous attempts to read the last phrase, e.g. DMNab 20 p. 321, BNRN p. 45–46, BCRN p. 269, none of which is entirely satisfactory and so it seemed better to leave it untranslated until a convincing interpretation can be found.