قالت بجيلة إذ قربت مرتحلا

يا رب جنب أبي الأوصابَ والعطبا

Bujaylah said, as I drew near, ready to depart:

“Lord, spare my father sickness and destruction.”

وأنت يا ربِّ فارحمها ومد لنا

في عُمرِها وقها الفاقاتِ والوصبا

And You, Lord, have mercy on her, and prolong for us

her lifetime; shield her from want and illness.

يا بجلُ إن لجنبِ المرءِ مضطجعاً

لا يستطيعُ له دفعاً إذا وجبا

O Bujayl, a man's side has a resting place

that he cannot ward off when it becomes due.

فشاهِدُ الحيِّ فيهم مثلُ غائِبِهم

عندَ المنايا إذا ما يومُهُ اقترَبا

The clansman present among them is like their absent man

before death, when his appointed day draws near.

وما تدني وفاةَ المرءِ رحلتُهُ

عما قضى اللَه في الفُرقانِ إذ كتبا

A man's journey does not bring his death nearer

than God decreed in the Furqān when He wrote.

لا يرجِعُ الهولُ مِثلي عند مِثلِكم

إذا تردَّى نِجادُ السيفِ واعتَصَبا

No terror turns a man like me back among such as you,

once he has donned his sword-baldric and bound his turban.

ولا الغُرابُ الذي لم يدرِ عائِفُكُم

لعلَّهُ كان بالبشر لنا نعبا

Nor does the crow whose meaning your augur did not know—

perhaps it cawed good tidings for us.

يا بجل قومي إلى أميك فاغتمضي

إن المصابات قد أنستني الطربا

O Bujayl, go to your two mothers and close your eyes;

calamities have made me forget delight.

وهل وجدتُ أبا سني لجاريةٍ

أبقى الزمانُ لها من والدين أبا

Have I ever found a father of my age for a girl

for whom time has spared a father out of two parents?

قد كنتُ ذا والدٍ حولي بيوتهم

ففارقُوا غير أني أعلمُ النسبا

I too once had a father, their houses all around me;

they departed, though I still know the lineage.

إني سيدركني ما كان أدركهم

وكلهم عاشَ حيناً ثُمَّ قد ذهبا

What overtook them will overtake me;

each lived a while, then went away.

وإن رجعت فإني سوف أكسبهم

ما لا بنيةُ إن ذو حيلةٍ كسبا

If I return, I shall earn for them

wealth, little daughter, if any resourceful man ever earned it.

وإن أتاك نعيي فاندبن أباً

قد كانَ يضطلعُ الأعداءَ والخَطَبا

If news of my death reaches you, lament a father

who stood up to enemies and calamities.

واستغفري اللَه لا تنسيهِ واحتسبي

فإنما يأجرُ اللَهُ الذي احتسبا

Ask God's forgiveness, do not forget Him, and seek your reward;

God rewards only the one who seeks His reward.

ولا يزينن لكِ الشيطانُ فتنَتَهُ

شقَّ الجيوبِ ولا في وجهكِ الندبا

Do not let Satan make his temptation seem fair to you:

rending collars or scratching your face.

إني اعتمدتُ أمامَ الناس إذ ذهبت

إبلي وخيلي وخفت الجوعَ والحربا

I turned toward the people's leader when I lost

my camels and horses, and feared hunger and dispossession.

وصرتُ كالجدع مما كنت أملِكُهُ

أفنى المشذبُ عنهُ الليفَ والكَرَبا

Of all I once owned, I was left like a stump

from which a pruner had stripped the fibre and leaf-bases.

ما أبقتِ السنةُ البيضاءُ إذ رجعت

ولا بناتٌ لها من عيشنا نشبا

The barren year, when it returned, left nothing,

nor did its daughters leave any wealth from our livelihood.

فاخترت مهرية قد شق بازلها

من إبل تهنئ تبدي العتقَ والأدبا

So I chose a Mahri she-camel whose mature tooth had broken through,

from Tahniʾ's camels, showing noble breeding and good training.

جرداءَ ما جرها الراعي لربتها

ولا غذت ولداً يوماً فتحتلبا

Smooth-coated, never dragged by the herdsman for her mistress,

nor had she ever nursed a calf and then been milked.

كأنها قارحٌ يحدو ضرائره

جأب يعلمها الإصدار والقربا

She seemed a full-grown wild ass urging his rival mates,

a sturdy one, teaching them departure from water and its approach.

إذا رأى مثله أو غيره شبحاً

مد السجيلَ على العلياء وانتحبا

When he saw the shape of another like him, or something else,

he prolonged his bray upon the high ground and wailed.

كأنه وهو يجري غير مكترثٍ

من بغيه ظالعٌ أو يشتكي نكَبا

He seemed, running all unconcerned,

in his swagger, to limp or complain of an injured hoof.

فرَّ المساحِلُ عنه واعترفنَ له

وقد تركن بليتي عنقه جلبا

The other wild asses fled him and yielded to him,

having left scabs on both sides of his neck.

أذاك أم لهقٌ سودٌ قوائمُهُ

فردٌ يخوضُ ندى الوسمي والعُشُبا

Was she that, or a white bull with black legs,

solitary, wading through autumn rain's moisture and grass?

كأنه إذ أضاء البرقُ صورته

مسربلٌ قبطرياً يصطلي اللهبا

When lightning illuminated his form, he seemed

clad in white linen, warming himself at a blaze.

يرعى رياضاً يلهيه الذبابُ بها

منها مغن ومنها رافعٌ صخبا

He grazed meadows where flies diverted him,

some humming, others raising a clamour.

حتى تأوبهُ غيثٌ بمحنيةٍ

جودٌ يرددُ في حافاته اللجبا

Until rain visited him in a valley bend,

a downpour sending its roar along the edges.

فبات يغسلُهُ في ريحِ باردةٍ

من الصبا الغيثُ حتى قَرَّ واكتأبا

All night it washed him in a cold wind—

the rain, in the east wind—till he grew chilled and miserable.

يجذو إلى حفف أرطاة يلوذُ بها

للركبتين إذا شؤبوبه انسكبا

He crouched beside an arṭā shrub's fringes, sheltering there

on both knees whenever the downpour poured.

حتى إذا الشمس أبدت عن محاسنها

وجددتها شمالٌ أفجأ العجبا

Until, when the sun unveiled its beauty

and a north wind renewed its brightness, he met a startling sight:

غضفاً مقلدةَ الأنساع طاويةً

وقانصاً يتبغى الصيد قد شحبا

flop-eared hounds, collared with straps, lean-bellied,

and a hunter, grown wan from seeking game.

فانقض كالكوكب الدري وانصلتت

مناهباتٍ وما أتبعن منتهبا

He shot away like a brilliant star, and they darted out,

vying to seize him—but they pursued no easy prey.

يفرين بالقاع ما أفرت قوائمه

وقد يثبنَ من الوعثِ الذي وثبا

They tore the flatland as his hooves had torn it,

and leapt the rough ground he had leapt.

كالخورِ نور الخزامى بينها قطعٌ

مما جذبن ومما كان قد جذبا

Like al-khawr—an unclear comparison—lavender blossoms lay in fragments among them,

some torn up by them, and some he had torn up.

مرا يكون بعيداً وهي جاهِدةٌ

عند الحضارِ ومرا دانيا كثبا

At times he was far away, though they strained

in the race; at times he was close, quite near.

حتى إذا باعدت ميلين وانتكثت

ولو يشاءُ نأى منهن فانقضبا

Until, when they had gone two miles and slackened,

though he could have gone far from them and broken away,

كرت به نفصس كرار محافظة

من الشجاعة أو كرت به غضبا

a charging spirit turned him back to defend himself,

out of courage—or turned him back in anger.

ينحي بروقين ما ضلا فرائصها

حتى تجولن بالجبانِ واختضبا

He drove two horns that never missed their flanks,

till they reeled on the open plain and both horns were stained.

لا حي فيهن إلا نازعاً رمقا

إذا تنفس دفا جوفه شخبا

None among them lived except at its final gasp;

when it breathed, its belly spurted blood.

ثم استمر صحيحاً غير مكترثٍ

كأن روقيهِ علا الورسَ والنجبا

Then he went on unharmed, unconcerned,

as though wars-dye and red bark covered his two horns.

فذاك شبهتها إذ جاءَ قائِدُها

عند الرحيل وجاءَت تعرِفُ الخَبَبا

That was her likeness when her leader came

at departure, and she came knowing the trot.

جاءت تبين أين الرحل خاضِعةٌ

مهريةٌ لم تسق مهراً ولا جلبا

She came meekly, seeking where the saddle was,

a Mahri camel, never driven as dowry or merchandise.

قد كنت أعفيتها حتى إذا نفجت

جنبي سنام تبد الرحل والقتبا

I had spared her work until she had filled out

both sides of a hump that forced saddle and frame apart.

كسوتها الرحل من قصوان بادنة

تستطعم المشي بالموماة والخببا

I saddled her, a stout camel of Qaṣwān,

craving walking and trotting through the wilderness.

ودُونَ دارِ أميرِ المؤمنينَ لنا

سِتونَ يوماً على هولٍ لمن دأبا

Before the Commander of the Faithful's house lay, for us,

sixty days of terrors for one who travelled tirelessly.

زوري هشاماً إمام الناس وارتغبي

كذاك من أنجحت حاجاته ارتغبا

Visit Hishām, the people's leader, and seek his bounty;

so aspires the one whose needs have been fulfilled.

تطوي الحزون إلى سهل تواعسه

والحزن قد بث في أخفافها النقبا

She crosses rugged lands toward one whose rough paths are smooth,

though rough ground has riddled her foot-pads with sores.

ولا تغور إلا تحت هاجرة

إذا الشقي ارتقى في العودِ وانتصبا

She takes no midday rest except in scorching heat,

when the wretched grasshopper climbs a stick and stands upright.

ثم تروحُ والعُصفورُ منحجرٌ

والظبيُ تبعثهُ قد أوطن السربا

Then she journeys on while the sparrow hides in a hole,

and the gazelle she rouses has settled in its lair.

ولا تعرسُ حتى يستبينَ لها

وردٌ ترى الليلَ منه ممعِناً هربا

She makes no night halt until she can discern

a ruddy dawn, from which you see night fleeing far.

ومن فليجٍ وفلجٍ ساورت بهما

ومن صحارِيهِما الصحراءَ والعَتَبا

From Fulayj and Falaj she pressed onward through both,

and from their wastes across desert and rocky rises.

وعارضتها من الأوداةِ أوديةٌ

قفرٌ تجرعُ منها الضخمَ والشعبا

Valleys among the valleys crossed her path,

desolate; she swallowed their broad reaches and ravines.

تجتازُهنَّ وقد خفت ثميلتُها

وطالَ فضلُ قصيرِ النسعِ فاضطَرَبا

She traverses them, her belly's reserves dwindling,

and the short girth-strap's loose end lengthens and flaps.

لا تطعمُ الماءَ إلا فوقَهُ عطَنٌ

يُلقي الحمامُ عليهِ الريشَ والزغبا

She tastes no water except where foul scum lies over it,

on which doves cast their feathers and down.

وبالسماوةِ لو باتَت تعارِضُها

جنيُّ يبرينَ أضحى وهو قد لغبا

In al-Samāwah, had one spent the night racing her—

a jinn of Yabrīn—dawn would have found him exhausted.

حتى رأت من جبالِ الشامِ منتطقاً

بالآلِ تبدُو الذُرى منه وإن نضبا

Until she saw, among al-Shām's mountains, one girdled

in mirage, its peaks showing even when it ebbed.

تدنو إذا ما دنا في الآلِ طاوَلَهُ

وإن تقاصَرَ عنهُ آلهُ رَسَبا

She draws near; when it nears in the mirage, it rivals its height;

but when its mirage falls short of it, it sinks.

لم تأتِهِ العيسُ حتى كدتُ أتركُها

ولا طم الضفرُ في أحقابها الحقبا

The pale camels did not reach it till I nearly abandoned them,

nor did the braided strap cover the belly-girth among their rear straps [wording uncertain].

واقتصها الذيب في آثارها بدم

من الحفا ثم خشي السيف فانقلبا

A wolf tracked them, following the blood in their footprints

from worn hooves; then it feared the sword and turned back.

لم يبق شهران عناها الصدى بهما

إلا العظام وإلا الجلدَ والعصبا

Two months, in which thirst tormented them, left nothing

but bones, skin, and sinews.

ما تنكر السوط إن ربٌّ أشارَ به

ولا تزيدُ ولا ترغو وإن ضربا

She does not flinch at the whip when her master points it,

nor quicken or bellow, even when he strikes.

وما طلبتُ امامَ الناسِ من طلَبٍ

ناءٍ ولا كنتُ ممن يلعبُ اللعِبا

I sought no request from the people's leader

too far beyond reach, nor was I one to play at games.

لكن أحاطَ فؤادي أنها خسفت

أرضي برجلي إن لم تعطني السببا

But my heart knows that it will cave in—

my ground beneath my foot—unless you give me a rope.

فدونك الكف إني قد مددت بها

فأعطها منك سجلاً كرم واحتسبا

Here is my hand; I have stretched it out:

give it a brimming bucket from you, generously, seeking reward,

كما تناولني من قعرِ مظلمةٍ

لم يترك الدهرُ لي في جوفها شذبا

as though you were reaching me from the bottom of a dark pit,

where time has left me not a branch.

ملكُ بن ملكٍ أغر شب نأملُهُ

أخا ملوكِ يقيم العجمَ والعَرَبا

A king, son of a king, radiant and young, our hope,

a brother of kings, who governs non-Arabs and Arabs.

إن الخلافةَ تبدو في وجوههم

كما ترى في بياض الفضةِ الذهبا

The caliphate shows in their faces

as you see gold against silver's whiteness:

المدرِكونَ إذا أيديهم طلبت

والسابقون برأس الوترِ من طلبا

those who attain whenever their hands seek,

and outstrip all who seek a head in vengeance.