HAPPY ENSLAVED BY ARABS, by Hagar's Sons?

Is it good for a simple and upright man
To be happy,
Like a bird tied up in the hands of boys--
Enslaved to Philistines and Hagarites and Hittites?

[from On the Wings of Eagles by Yehudah haLevi,
while on his way from Egypt to the Land of Israel,
translation by Eliyahu m'Tsiyon]