إما تري ظلل الأيام قد حسرت — Al Nabigha Al Jadi

إِمّا تَري ظُلَلَ الأَيامِ قَد حَسَرَت

عَنّي وشمَرتُ ذيلاً كانَ ذَيّالا

If you see the days' shades have receded

From me, and I have tucked up a once-trailing hem,

وَعمَّمتني بَقايا الدَهرِ مِن قُطُنٍ

فَقَد أُنَضِّجُ ذا فِرقينِ مَيّالا

And time's remnants have turbaned me with cotton,

Yet I once tempered a swaying, twin-tressed head.

فَقَد تَرُوعُ الغَواني طَلعَتي شَعَفاً

يَنصُصنَ أَجيادَ أُدمٍ تَرتَعي ضالا

My appearance once startled fair women into passion,

They craned necks like pale gazelles grazing wild lote trees.

في غُرَّةِ الدَهرِ إِذ نُعمانُ ذُو تَبَعٍ

وَإِذ تَرى الناسَ في الأَهواءِ هُمّالا

In time's first bloom, when Nu'man had his followers,

And when you saw people wandering unrestrained in their passions,

حَتّى أَتَى أَحمَدُ الفُرقانُ يَقرَأُهُ

فِينا وَكُنّا بِغَيبِ الأَمرِ جُهّالا

Until Ahmad came, reciting the Criterion

Among us, while we were ignorant of what lay hidden.

فَالحمدُ لِلّهِ إِذ لَم يأتِني أَجَلي

حَتّى لَبِستُ مِنَ الإِسلامِ سِربالا

So praise to God that my appointed end did not reach me

Until I had donned Islam as a robe.

يا بِنَ الحَيا إِنَّني لَولا الإلهُ وَما

قالَ الرَسُولُ لَقَد أَنسيَتُكَ الخالا

O son of a vulva, were it not for God and what

The Messenger said, I would have made you forget your swagger.

لَقَد وَسَمتُك وَسماً لاَ يُغَيَّبُهُ

ثَوباكَ يَبرُقُ في الأَعناقِ أَحوالا

Indeed, I have branded you with a mark that cannot be hidden

By your two garments, gleaming on necks for years.

أَنّى تُهَمِّمُ فِينا الناقِصاتُ وَقَد

كُنّا نُقَدِّمُ لِلظُلاّمِ أَنكالا

How can dishonor assail us, when

We used to prepare fetters for oppressors?

فَإِنَّ صَخرَتَنا أَعيَت أَباكَ فَلا

يَألُو لَها ما استَطاعَ الدَهرَ إِخبالا

For our rock has baffled your father, though he

Spares no effort, all his life, to damage it.

رُدَّت مَعَاوِلُهُ خثُماً مُفَلَّلَةً

وَصادَفَت أَخضَرَ الجالَينِ صَلاّلا

His picks were turned back, blunted and notched,

And struck hard, ringing stone, dark green on both flanks.

فَاذكُر مَسَاعِيَ أَقوَامٍ فَخَرتَ بِهِم

وَلاَ تَدَعهُم مِنَ الأَسماءِ أَغفالا

Then recount the exploits of the people you boast of,

And do not leave their names unmentioned.

فَقُل هُمُ رَحَلُوا يَوماً إِلى مَلِكٍ

وَقَطَّعُوا عَن عُناةِ الشَعبِ أَغلالا

Say: they once journeyed to a king

And cut the fetters from the tribe's captives,

كَما فَعَلنا بِحَسّانَ الرَئِيسِ وَبِا

بنِ الجونِ إِذ لا يُريدُ الناسُ إِقبالا

As we did with Hassan the chief, and with

Ibn al-Jawn, when men had no wish to advance.

إِذ أَصعَدَت عامِرٌ لا شَيءَ يَحسِبُهُم

حَتّى يَروا دُونَهُم هَضباً وأَنوالا

When 'Amir marched upland, nothing checking them,

Until they saw hills and valleys before them,

حَتّى عَطَفناهُمُ عَطفَ الضَرَّوسِ وَهُم

يَلقَونَ مِمّا تخافُ النَفسُ بَلبالا

Until we wheeled them round like a biting she-camel, while they

Faced the turmoil the soul dreads.

أَو قُل هُمُ قاتَلُوا شَهباءَ مُضلِعَةً

قَد قَذَفَت في قُلُوبِ الناسِ أَهوالا

Or say: they fought a gray, crushing host

That had cast terrors into men's hearts,

مِن بَعدِ ما استَنطَقَت حَيَّ الحَرِيشِ وَحَي

ياً مِن عُبادَةَ لَم تُنعِمهُمُ بالا

After it had made the clan of al-Harish cry out, and a clan

Of 'Ubada, granting them no peace of mind,

وَمِثلَهُم مِن بَنِي عَبسٍ تَدُقُّهُمُ

دَقَّ الرَحَى الحَبَّ إِدباراً وَإِقبَالا

And others like them of Banu 'Abs, grinding them

As a millstone grinds grain, backward and forward.

شَهباءُ فِلقٌ شَمُوسُ نَشرُها ذَفِرٌ

تَلَبَّسَت مِن ثِيابِ الكُرهِ أَجلالا

A gray, monstrous host, untamable, with a rank reek,

Wrapped in heavy mantles of horror.

ثُمَّ استَمَرَّت شَمُوسُ الرِّيحِ سَاكِنَةً

تُزجِي رَباعاً ضِعافَ الوَطءِ أَطفالا

Then the wild-winded host pressed calmly on,

Driving children like spring-born calves, weak of tread.

حَتّى لَحِقناهُمُ تُعدِي فَوارِسُنا

كأَنَّنا رَعنُ قُفٍّ يَرفَعُ الآلا

Until we overtook them, our horsemen galloping,

As though we were a stony ridge's spur, lifting the mirage.

فَلَم نُوَقِّف مُشيلينَ الرِماحَ وَلَم

نُوجَد عَواويرَ يَومَ الروع عُزّالا

We did not halt holding our spears aloft, nor

Were we found fainthearted and unarmed on the day of terror.

حَتّى خَرَجنَ بِنا مِن جوفِ كَوكَبِهِم

حُمراً مِنَ الطَعنِ أَعناقاً وأَكفالا

Until our steeds bore us out from the heart of their host,

Their necks and rumps red from spear-thrusts.

ثُمَّ نَزَلنا وَكَسَّرنا الرِماحَ وَجَر

رَدنا صَفِيحاً كَسَتهُ الرومُ دَجّالا

Then we dismounted, broke our spears, and drew

Broad blades that the Romans had dressed in gold.

فِي غَمرَةِ المَوتِ نَغشاها وَنَركَبُها

ثُمَتَ تَبدُو كِرامَ الصَبرِ أَبطالا

Into death's deep flood we plunged and rode;

Then heroes show themselves, noble in endurance.

حَتّى غَلَبنا وَلَولا نَحنُ قَد عَلِمُوا

حَلَّت سَليلاً عَذارِيهِم وَجُمّالا

Until we prevailed; and but for us—as they know—

Their maidens would have settled in Salil and Jummal.

فَإِن يَكُن حاجِبٌ مِمَّن فَخَرتَ بِهِ

فَلَم يَكُن حاجِبٌ عَمّاً وَلا خالا

If Hajib is among those you boast of,

Hajib was neither your paternal nor maternal uncle.

فَإِن يَكُن قَدَمٌ بِالشامِ يَنشُدُها

فإِنَّ بِالشامِ أَقداماً وَأَوصالا

If there is a foot in Syria that he seeks,

There are indeed many feet and limbs in Syria,

مِنَ الجُنودِ وَمِمَّن لا تَعُدُ فَلا

تَفخَر بِما كانَ فيهِ الناسُ أَمثالا

Of soldiers and of men you do not count; so do not

Boast of what other men shared equally.

نَحنُ الفَوارِسُ يَومي رَحرَحانَ وَقَد

ظَنَّت هَوازِنُ أَنَّ العِزَّ قَد زالا

We are the horsemen of the two days of Rahrahan, when

Hawazin thought that glory had departed.

وَيَومَ مَكَّةَ إِذ ماجَدتُمُ نَفَراً

حاموا عَلى عُقَدِ الأَحسابِ أَزوالا

And on the day of Mecca, when you vied in glory with a band

Who guarded the bonds of ancestral honor—men of mettle.

عِندَ النَجاشيِّ إِذ تُعطون أَيدِيَكُم

مُقَرَّنينَ وَلا تَرجونَ إِرسالا

Before the Negus, when you surrendered your hands,

Bound together, expecting no release,

إِذ تَستَحِبّونَ عِندَ الخَذلِ أَنَّ لَكُم

مِن آلِ جَعدَةَ أَعماماً وَأَخوالا

When, forsaken, you wished you had

Paternal and maternal uncles among the house of Ja'da.

لَو تَستَطِيعونَ أَن تُلقُوا جُلُودَكُمُ

وَتَجعَلُوا جِلدَ عبد اللَهِ سِربالا

If you could have cast off your skins

And made 'Abd Allah's skin a garment,

إِذَن تَسَربَلتُمُ فِيهِ ليُنجِيَكُم

مِمّا يَقولُ اِبنُ ذِي الجَدّينِ إِذ قالا

You would have clothed yourselves in it, that he might save you

From what Ibn Dhi al-Jaddayn said when he spoke.

حَتّى وَهَبتُم لِعَبدِ اللَهِ صاحِبَهُ

وَالقَولُ فِيكُم بإِذنِ اللَهِ ما فالا

Until you gave 'Abd Allah his companion,

And the words about you, by God's leave, proved true.

تِلكَ المَكارِمُ لا قَعبانِ مِن لَبَنٍ

شِيبا بِماءٍ فَعادا بَعدُ أَبوالا

Those are noble deeds—not two bowls of milk

Mixed with water, only later to turn to urine.

وَقَد أُرَوِّي نَديمي مِن مُشَعشَعَةٍ

وَقَد أُقلِّبُ أَوراكاً وأكفالا

And often I slaked my companion's thirst with diluted wine,

And often I turned over hips and rumps.