Sol 6.1

  1. مَن مُبلِغٌ قَومَنا النائينَ إِذ شَحَطوا

    أنَّ الفُؤادَ إِلَهِم شَيِّقٌ وَلِعُ

    Who will tell our distant people, since they have gone far away,

    that my heart yearns for them, passionately attached?

  2. فَالدارُ تُنبيهِم عَنّي فَإِنَّ لَهُم

    وُدّي وَنَصري إِذا أَعداؤُهُم نَصَعوا

    So the dwelling tells them of me, for theirs are

    my affection and my aid when their enemies come forth,

  3. إِمّا بِحَدِّ سنانَ أَو مُحافِلَةٍ

    فَلا قَحومٌ وَلا فانٍ وَلا ضَرَعُ

    whether with a spearhead's edge or in an assembly.

    For I am neither decrepit nor spent nor weak.

  4. أَخو المَحافِلِ عَيّافَ الخَنا أَنِفٌ

    لِلنائِباتِ وَلَو أَضلَعنَ مُضطَلِعُ

    A man of assemblies, abhorring foul speech, proud,

    I shoulder calamities, even when they weigh me down.

  5. حَمّالُ أَثقالِ أَهلِ الوُدِّ آوِنَةً

    أُعطيهِمُ الجَهدَ مِنّي بَلهَ ما أَسَعُ

    At times I bear the burdens of those bound to me by affection,

    giving them my utmost effort, let alone what I can readily afford.

  6. هَذا وَقَومُ غِضابٌ قَد أَبُتُّهُم

    عَلى الكَلاكِلِ حَوضي عِندَهُم تَرِعُ

    Such am I; I have made an angry people spend the night

    upon their breasts, my pool brimful before them.

  7. تَبادَروني كَأَنّي في أَكُفِّهِم

    حَتّى إِذا ما رَأَوني خالِياً نَزَعوا

    They rushed at me as though I were in their hands,

    until, when they saw me alone, they drew back.

  8. وَاِستَحدَثَ القَومُ أَمراً غَيرَ ما وَهِموا

    وَطارَ أَنصارُهُم شَتّى وَما جَمَعوا

    The people encountered something other than what they had imagined,

    and their supporters scattered every way, with all they had mustered.

  9. كَأَنَّما يَتَفادى أَهلُ بِعضِهِم

    مِن ذي زَوائِد في أَرساغِهِ فَدَعُ

    As though the kin of some of them were fleeing

    from one with jutting claws and crooked wrist joints—

  10. ضِرغامَةٍ أَهَرَّت الشِدقَينِ ذي لَبِدٍ

    كَأَنَّهُ بُريُساً في الغابِ مُلتَفِعُ

    a mighty lion, broad-jawed, thick-maned,

    as though he were Buraysa, wrapped in the thicket.

  11. بِالثَنيِ أَسفَلَ مِن جَمّاء لَيسَ لَهُ

    إِلّا بِنِيه وَإِلّا عِرسَهُ شِيَعُ

    At the valley-bend below Jamma', he has

    no companions but his sons and his mate.

  12. أَبَنَّ عِريسةً عُنابُها أَشِبٌ

    وَدونَ غايَتها مُستَورَدٌ شَرَعٌ

    He settled in a lair whose jujube trees grow thick,

    and before its farthest reach lies a watering-place open to all.

  13. شَأسُ الهبوطِ زَناءُ الحامِيينَ مَتى

    تَنشَغ بِوارِدَةٍ يَحدُث لَها فَزَعُ

    Hard to descend, confined between two sheltering sides; whenever

    it receives a party seeking water, terror seizes them.

  14. أَبو شَتيمَينِ مِن حَصّاءَ قَد أَفِلَت

    كَأَنَّ أَطباءَها في رُفغِها رُقَعُ

    The father of two fearsome cubs by a short-haired lioness, now dry,

    whose teats in her groin look like patches.

  15. أَعطَتهُما جُهدَها حَتّى إِذا وَحِمَت

    صَدَّت وَصَدَّ فَلا غَيل وَلا جَدَعُ

    She gave them all her strength until pregnancy's cravings came;

    she turned away, and he too: no pregnancy-tainted milk, no stunting.

  16. ثُمَّ اِستَفاها فَلَم تَقطَع فِطامَهُما

    عَنِ التَصَبُّبِ لا شَعبٌ وَلا قَدَعُ

    Then he took her for himself; their weanlings were not kept

    from rushing downhill by ravines or restraint:

  17. وَردَينِ قَد أَخَذا أَخلافَ شَحمَهُما

    فَفيهِما عَزمَة الظَلماء وَالجَشَعُ

    two tawny cubs that have taken hold of the teats of their fat,

    within them are boldness in the dark and ravenous greed.

  18. غِذاهُما بِلِحامِ القَومِ مُذ شَدنا

    فَما يَزالُ بِوَصلي راكِب يَضَعُ

    He fed them on human flesh from the time they grew independent,

    and still he hurries along with a rider's two limbs.

  19. عَلى جَناجِنِهِ مِن ثَوبِهِ هِبَبٌ

    وَمِن دَم صائِكٍ مُستَكرَهٍ دُفَعُ

    Upon his breastbones lie shreds of the rider's clothes,

    and splashes of sticky, repulsive blood.

  20. كَأَنَّما هُوَ في أَهدابِ أَرمَلَةٍ

    مَسرول وَإِلى الإِبِطَينِ مُدَرَّعُ

    As though, in the fringes of a widow's garment,

    he were trousered and tunic-clad up to the armpits.

  21. أَفَرَّ عَنهُ بِني الخالاتِ جُرأَتُهُ

    لا الصَيدُ يَمنَعُ منهُ وَهوَ مُمتَنِعُ

    His daring drove his maternal cousins away from him;

    no quarry can resist him, while he is unassailable.

  22. فَما اِكتَسَبنَ رَئيس غَير مُنتَقِصِ

    وَلَيسَ فيما تَرى مَن كَسبه طمعُ

    What they have gained is a leader lacking nothing;

    and, as you see, there is no hope of capturing him.

  23. مُستَضرِعٌ ما دنا مِنهُنَّ مُكتَئِب

    بِالعَرفِ مُجتَلَماً ما فَوقَهُ فَنَعُ

    Whatever comes near them is humbled and downcast,

    shorn at the mane, with no high crest above it.

  24. عَلى حُطامٍ مِنَ العَصباءِ عِندَهُما

    مِن شِكَّةِ القَومِ مَخروعٍ وَمُنصَدِعُ

    Upon the splinters of a sinew-bound bow beside the two,

    lie pieces of the people's arms, torn apart and split:

  25. سَهمٌ وَقَوسٌ وَعُكّازٌ وَذو شَطَبٍ

    لَم يَتَّرِك لَومَةً في رَمِّهِ الصَنَعُ

    an arrow, a bow, a staff, and a grooved blade.

    The skilled craftsman left no fault in its repair.

  26. مُعراً وَآخِرُ مُرتَدٌ بِدامِيَةٍ

    وَمُزهِقٌ بِعدَما التَحنيقِ يَطَّلِعُ

    One bare, another rebounding bloodied,

    and one overshooting, rising after a forceful draw.

  27. أَلقاهُ غَيرَ بَعيدِ القَومِ حِلَّته

    وَلَم يُعَرِّج عَلَيهِ الرَكبُ فَاِندَفَعوا

    He felled him, his camp not far from the people,

    and the riders did not stop for him, but sped away.

  28. فَأَبصَرتهُ وَراءَ القَومِ كالِئَةٌ

    عَينٌ فَإِن أَرَقت ماء بِها قَمَعُ

    Then, behind the people, he was seen by a watchful

    eye; if it shed water, it was from soreness.

  29. فَأَجمَرَت حَرَجٌ خَوصاءَ قَد ذَبُلَت

    وَأَيقَنَت أَنَّهُ إِذ كَلَّلَ السَبُعُ

    Then the lean, narrow-eyed camel, already gaunt, bolted,

    and knew for certain that, when the beast charged,

  30. وَقَد دَعا دَعوَةً وَالرَجلُ شائِلَةٌ

    فَوقَ العَراقي فَلَم يُلووا وَقَد سَمِعوا

    he had cried out, his leg raised

    above the saddle's crossbars; they did not turn, though they heard.

  31. وَثارَ أَعصارُ هَيجٍ بَينَهُم وَخَلَت

    بِالكَورِ لَأياً وَبِالأَنساعِ تَمتَصِعُ

    A whirlwind of stirred dust rose between them, and she escaped,

    saddle and all, with difficulty, whipping the girths about,

  32. شَحراً وَعَدواً وَعَينُ غَيرُ غافِلَةٍ

    عَنِ الغُبارِ وَظَنّاً أَن سَتُتبَعُ

    gaping and galloping, her eye never heedless

    of the dust, thinking she would be pursued.