غدا أبطن الكشح الحسام المهندا — Alabywrdy

غَداً أُبْطِنُ الكَشْحَ الحُسامَ المُهَنّدا

إذا وقَذَ الحَيَّ الهَوانُ وأَقْصَدا

Tomorrow I shall lodge the Indian-forged sword in my flank,

when humiliation strikes the clan senseless and deals its mortal blow.

وللهِ فِهْريٌّ إذا الوِرْدُ رابَهُ

أبى الرِّيَّ واخْتارَ المَنيَّةَ مَوْرِدا

And praise to God for a man of Fihr who, when the watering-place alarmed him,

refused to drink his fill and chose death as his watering-place.

يُراقِبُ أفْراطَ الصّباحِ بناظِرٍ

يُساهِرُ في المَسْرى جُدَيّاً وفَرْقَدا

He watches for dawn's first signs with an eye

that keeps vigil on the night journey with Judayy and Farqad.

ولوْ بَقِيَتْ في المَشْرَفيّةِ هَبّةٌ

ضَرَبْتُ لداعِي الحَيّ بالخِصْبِ مَوعِدا

And had a spark of life remained in the Mashrafi swords,

I would have set the clan's caller a rendezvous with plenty.

وهلْ ينفَعُ الصّمْصامُ مَنْ يَرتَدي بهِ

بحيْثُ الطُّلى تُفْرَى إذا كان مُغْمَدا

And can the keen blade help the man who wears it,

where throats are slit, if it remains sheathed?

فما أرْضَعَتْني دِرَّةَ العِزِّ حُرّةٌ

لَئِنْ لم أذَرْ شِلْوَ ابنِ سَلْمى مُقدَّدا

Then no freeborn woman suckled me on honor's flowing milk,

if I do not leave Ibn Salma's corpse cut into strips.

تَريعُ إليهِ كلُّ مُمْسًى ومُصْبَحٍ

حَصَانٌ تَشُقُّ الأتْحَميَّ المُعَضَّدا

To him returns, at every dusk and dawn,

a chaste woman, tearing her striped Athami cloth,

بعَيْنٍ تَفُلُّ الدّمعَ بالدّمعِ ثَرّةٍ

أفاضَتْ على النّحْرِ الجُمانِ المُبَدَّدا

with a brimming eye that breaks tear against tear,

pouring scattered pearls upon her breast.

وطَيْفٍ سَرى واللّيْلُ يَنْضو خِضابَهُ

ويَجْلو عَلينا الصُّبْحَ خَدّاً مُوَرَّدا

And a phantom traveled by night, as night strips off its dye

and unveils dawn before us, a rose-red cheek.

أتى والثُّريّا حِلّةُ الغَوْرِ مَعْشَراً

كِراماً بأطْرافِ المَروداتِ هُجَّدا

It came, while the Pleiades camped in the lowlands, to a company

of noble men sleeping on the outskirts of al-Marudat.

يَرومونَ أمراً دونَهُ رَبُّ سُرْبَةٍ

لُهامٍ تَشُبُّ الكَوْكَبَ المُتَوقِّدا

They seek a goal barred by the lord of a cavalry troop,

a mighty host that kindles the blazing star.

وصَلْنا بِهِ سُمْرَ الرِّماحِ وربّما

هَجَرْنا لها بَيضَ التّرائِبِ خُرّدا

For its sake we courted tawny spears, and often

for their sake forsook fair-breasted, bashful maidens.

وإنّي على ما فيَّ منْ عَجْرَفيّةٍ

إذا ما التَقى الخَيْلانِ أذْكُرُ مَهْدَدا

Yet, for all the rough arrogance in me,

when the two cavalry forces meet, I remember Mahdad.

هِلاليَّةٌ أكْفاؤُها كُلُّ باسِلٍ

بَعيدِ الهَوى إن غارَ للحَرْبِ أنْجَدا

A woman of Hilal, whose equals are all valiant men,

far-reaching in ambition, who rise high if they descend to war.

رَمَتْني بعَيْنَيْ جُؤْذَرٍ وتَلفّتَتْ

بذي غَيَدٍ يَعْطو بهِ الرّيمُ أجْيَدا

She shot me with an oryx calf's eyes and turned,

with a supple neck such as a long-necked gazelle stretches to browse.

فَيا خادِيَيْها سائِقَيْنِ طَلائِحاً

تَجوبُ بصَحْراءِ الأراكَةِ فَدْفَدا

So, O her two camel-drivers, driving exhausted mounts

that traverse a wasteland in the desert of al-Araka,

إذا أصْغَرَتْ أو أكْبَرَتْ في حَنينِها

ظَلِلْتُ على آثارِهِنَّ مُغرِّدا

when their yearning cries fall low or rise loud,

I go on singing in their wake.

أَفيقا قَليلاً منْ حُداءِ غَشَمْشَمٍ

أقامَ منْ القَلْبِ المُعَنّى وأقْعَدا

Rest a little, you two, from that headlong camel-chant,

which makes the anguished heart rise and sink.

فإنّكُما إنْ سِرْتُماها بهُدنَةٍ

رَمَت بكُما نَجْداً من اليومِ أو غَدا

For if you two drive them at an easy pace,

they will deliver you both to Najd today or tomorrow.

وسِيّانِ لولا حُبُّها عامريّةً

غُرابٌ دَعا بالبَيْنِ أو سائِقٌ حَدا

And were it not for love for her, a woman of Amir, these would be alike:

a raven calling separation, or a camel-driver chanting.

وكُلُّ هَوىً نَهْبُ الليالي وحُبُّها

إذا بَلِيَتْ أهواءُ قَوْمٍ تَجدَّدا

Every passion is prey to the nights, but love for her,

when other people's passions wear out, renews itself.

وعاذِلَةٍ نَهْنَهْتُ من غُلوائِها

وكُنتُ أبيّاً لا أُطيعُ المُفَنَّدا

And many a reproaching woman I restrained in her vehemence,

and I was unyielding, obeying no one of unsound judgment.

إذا استَلَّ مني طارِقُ الخَطْبِ عَزْمَةً

فلابُدّ من نَيْلِ المَعالي أوِ الرّدى

When calamity's night-visitor unsheathes a resolve in me,

I must attain the heights of honor or meet death.

أأسْحَبُ ذَيلي في الهَوانِ وأُسْرَتي

تَجُرُّ إِلى العِزِّ الدِّلاصَ المُسَرّدا

Shall I drag my hem through humiliation, while my family

drags polished, finely linked mail toward glory?

ولي من أميرِ المؤْمِنينَ إيالَةٌ

ستُرغِمُ أعْداءً وتَكْمِدُ حُسَّدا

And I have from the Commander of the Faithful a governorship

that will humble enemies and torment the envious.

هيَ الغايةُ القُصْوى إذا اعْتَلَقَتْ بها

مآرِبُ طُلّابِ العُلا بَلَغوا المَدى

It is the utmost goal: once it engages

the ambitions of those seeking greatness, they attain their furthest aim.

أغَرُّ مَنافيٌّ يمُدُّ بضَبْعِهِ

جُدودٌ يُعالونَ الكَواكِبَ مَحْتِدا

An illustrious Manafi, whose arm is upheld

by forebears who rival the stars in lofty lineage.

تبرَّعَ بالمَعْروفِ قبلَ سؤالِهِ

فلمْ يَبْسُطِ العافي لِساناً ولا يَدا

He freely gave kindness before anyone asked him,

so the petitioner stretched out neither tongue nor hand.

فرُحْنا بمالٍ فرَّقَ المَجْدُ شَمْلَهُ

وراحَ بحَمْدٍ ضمَّ أشْتاتَهُ الندىً

We departed with wealth whose store glory had scattered,

and he with praise whose scattered parts generosity had gathered.

حَلَفْتُ بفَتْلاءِ الذِراعِ شِمِلَّةٍ

تَخُبُّ بقَرْمٍ منْ أميّةَ أصْيَدا

I swore by a strong-forelegged, fleet she-camel,

trotting with a high-headed chieftain of Umayya,

وتَهوي إِلى البَيْتِ العَتيقِ ورَبُّها

إذا غالَ منْ تأويبهِ البيدُ أسْأَدا

speeding toward the Ancient House, while her master,

when the deserts curtail his day's journey, travels through the night.

أظلَّتْ مُحِلَّيْ طيّءٍ منهُ وقْعَةٌ

فكادوا يُبارونَ النّعامَ المُطَرّدا

A battle he unleashed loomed over Tayy's two encampments,

so they almost matched the speed of fleeing ostriches.

ولاقى رَئيسُ القَوْمِ عَمْرو بنُ جابِرٍ

طِعاناً يُنَسِّيهِ الهَدِيِّ المُقَلدا

And the people's chief, Amr ibn Jabir, met

lance-thrusts that would make him forget the garlanded sacrificial offering.

لأَسْتَودِعَنَّ الدّهْرَ فيكمُ قَصائِداً

وهنَّ يُوشِّحْنَ الثّناءَ المُخلَّدا

I shall surely entrust to time poems about you,

and they shall garland immortal praise.

زَجَرْتُ إليكمْ كلَّ وَجْناءَ حُرّةٍ

وأدْهَمَ محْجولَ القوائِمِ أجْرَدا

I urged toward you every noble, stout-cheeked she-camel

and every sleek black horse with white-stockinged legs.

فألْبَستموني ظِلَّ نُعْمى كأنني

أُجاوِرُ رِبْعياً من الرّوضِ أغْيَدا

You clothed me in the shade of bounty, as though I

dwelt beside a lush, spring-watered meadow.

تَسيرُ بها الرّكْبانُ شرقاً ومَغْرباً

ويَسْري لها العافونَ مَثْنى ومَوْحَدا

Riders carry it eastward and westward,

and seekers of favor journey by night for it, in pairs and singly.

وكمْ لكَ عندي مِنّةً لوْ جَحَدْتُها

لقامَ بها أبناءُ عدنانَ شُهَّدا

How many a favor I owe you—if I denied it,

the sons of Adnan would rise as witnesses to it,

بمُعْتَرَكِ العِزِّ الذي في ظِلالهِ

أفُلُّ شَبا الخَطْبِ الذي جارَ واعْتَدى

in the arena of glory, beneath whose shade

I blunt the sharp edge of calamity that oppressed and assailed me.

يظلُّ حَوالَيْهِ المَساكينُ عُوَّذاً

بخَيْر إمامٍ والسّلاطينُ سجّدا

The poor remain around him, seeking refuge

with the best of imams, while sultans lie prostrate.

عليهِ من النّورِ الإلهيِّ لمْحَةٌ

إذا اكْتَحَلَ السّاري بلأْلائِها اهْتَدى

Upon him rests a glimmer of divine light;

when the night-traveler lines his eyes with its radiance, he finds his way.

ورِثْتَ عُبَيْدَ اللهِ عمَّكَ جودَهُ

وأشْبَهْتَ عبدَ اللهِ جَدَّك سُؤْدَدا

You inherited the generosity of your uncle Ubayd Allah,

and resembled your grandfather Abd Allah in nobility.