أشجاك الربع أقوى والديار — Alfhend Alzamani

أَشَجاكَ الرَبعُ أَقوى وَالدِيارُ

وَبُكاءُ المَرءِ لِلرَبعِ خَسارُ

Did the deserted campsite and dwellings grieve you?

A man's weeping for the campsite is loss.

أَيُّ لُبٍّ لِاِمرِئٍ في قَدرِهِ

عائِذٍ بِالحُزنِ إِذ تُشجيهِ دارُ

What understanding has a man, for all his standing,

Who takes refuge in sorrow when a dwelling grieves him?

إِنَّما يَبكي الأُلى كانوا بِها

فَاِنتَأَوهُ بَعدَ ما شَطَّ المَزارُ

He only weeps for those who lived there

And withdrew from him after visiting grew distant.

يُخرِبُ الدَهرُ وَيَبني جاهِداً

وَخَرابُ الدَهرِ لِلدارِ عَمارُ

Time destroys and builds, striving,

And time's ruin of a dwelling is its rebuilding.

أَيُّها الباكي عَلى ما فاتَهُ

أَقصِرَن عَنكَ فَبَعضُ القَولِ عارُ

O you who weep over what you have lost,

Desist, for some speech is shameful.

إِنَّ لُؤمَ المَرءِ عَجزٌ نادرا

سَبَبٌ لِلجَهلِ وَالجَهلُ مَحارُ

A man's baseness is helplessness, rarely

A cause of ignorance; ignorance is ruin.

إِنَّ لُؤمَ المَرءِ إِن فاتَ اِمرِأً

سَبَبُ الغَدرِ اِضطِرارٌ وَاِنبِهارُ

Indeed, if a man's baseness passes a man by,

Treachery's cause is compulsion and bewilderment.

لَيسَ يُغني اللُؤمُ إِلّا أَنَّهُ

جَزَعٌ بِالقَومِ لُؤمٌ وَاِضطِرابُ

Baseness avails nothing, except that it is

Distress among the people, baseness and turmoil.

لَيسَ يُغني جَزعُ القَومِ إِذا

وَقَعَ الأَمرُ بِهِم إِلّا الغِيارُ

A people's panic avails nothing when

Calamity strikes them—only change avails.

فَاِجزَعو لِلأَمرِ أَو لا تَجزَعوا

قَد تَداعى السَقفُ وِاِنهارَ الجِدارُ

So lament the calamity, or do not lament:

The roof has fallen apart, and the wall has collapsed.

لَو رَأَيتَ الطَعنَ دَيناً لَم تَجِد

إِذ دِماءُ القَومِ بِالطَعنِ تُمارُ

Had you counted spear-thrusts a debt, you would have found nothing

When men's blood was made to flow by spear-thrusts.

وَلَقَد هَرَّت فَما عَزَّت بِهِ

كَلبَةُ الأَودِيِّ إِذ ضاعَ الذِمارُ

She snarled, yet gained no strength thereby:

Al-Awdi's bitch, when honor was lost.

هَيِّنٌ بِالقَولِ تَقصيفُ القَنا

إِذ نَأَت عَنكَ العَوالي وَالشِفارُ

Splintering lances is easy in words

When spearheads and blades are far from you.

قَد وَصَفتُ الخَيلَ لَو أَقدَمتَها

وَالقَنا لَو ساعَدَ الوَصفَ اِصطِبارُ

I have described the horses—if only you had advanced them—

And the lances, if endurance had matched the description.

قَلَّ ما تُجدي قَوافيكَ عَلى

أَعظُمٍ قَد شَنَفَت مِنها النِسارُ

How little your rhymes avail upon

Bones from which the vultures have recoiled.

فَأَضَعتَ الكَرَّ في إِبّانِهِ

وَنَسيتَ الضَربَ إِذ في الضَربِ عارُ

You squandered the charge at its proper time

And forgot striking, when striking held shame.

وَتَغَنَّيتَ بِهِ مُستَأنِساً

بَعدَ ما نَجّاك رَكضٌ وَبِدارُ

You sang of it, taking comfort,

After galloping and haste had saved you.

تَتَمَنّاكَ الأَمانِيُّ وَقَد

مِلتَ بِالمُهرِ وَنَجّاكَ الفِرارُ

Hopes yearn for you, although

You veered with your colt, and flight saved you.

كِاِنجِحارِ الكَلبِ يَدمى وَجهُهُ

وَهُوَ يَعوي حينَ أَعياهُ الهُرارُ

Like a dog retreating to its hole, its face bleeding,

Howling when sickness has exhausted it.

إِنَّما ذِكرُكَ شَيئاً قَد مَضى

حُلُمٌ لَم يرجِعِ الحُلمَ اِدِّكارُ

Your recalling something that has passed

Is a dream that recollection cannot restore.

هَدَمَ الآخِرُ ما كانَ بَنى

لَكُمُ الأَوَّلُ فَاِنقاضَ المَنارُ

The later one demolished what had been built

For you by the first, and the beacon crumbled.

يا بَني تَيمَةَ قَد عايَنتُمُ

وَقعَةً مِنّا لَها نارٌ شَنارُ

O sons of Taymah, you have witnessed

A battle at our hands, whose fire brings disgrace.

لَم تَزَل قَحطانُ عَنزاً باحِثاً

عَن مُدى فيها لِقَحطانَ البَوارُ

Qahtan has always been a goat digging

For knives in which Qahtan's destruction lies.

مالَتِ الريحُ عَلى أَباتِكُم

مِن لَظاها بِلَظىً فيهِ الدَمارُ

The wind swept down upon your defiant men,

From its flames bringing a blaze of destruction.

فَتَفادَيتُم وَأَبقَت مِنكُمُ

ذَنَبِيّاتٍ كَذا يَبقى الشَرارُ

You scattered to escape, and it left of you

Mere tail-ends; thus do sparks remain.

دارَت الحَربُ عَلَيكُم دَورَةً

تَرَكَتكُم وَأُواسيكُم قِصارُ

War swept around you in a circuit

That left you with your supporting pillars shortened.

رَفَعَ اللَهُ نِزاراً فَعَلَت

بِالعُلى الناسَ فَلِلباغي الصَغارُ

God exalted Nizar, and it rose

Above the people in eminence; abasement belongs to the aggressor.

جَمَعَ اللَهُ نِزاراً فَنَفى

بِهِمُ الناسَ جَميعاً فَاِشتَناروا

God gathered Nizar and drove off

All the people through them, and they shone.

إِنَّما الناسُ ظَلامٌ دونَهُم

فَإِذا ما أَظلَمَ الناسُ أَناروا

The people are only darkness beside them;

When the people grow dark, they give light.

نَحنُ لِلناسِ سِراجٌ ساطِعٌ

وَضِرامٌ يَتَقّى مِنهُ الشَرارُ

We are a radiant lamp for the people,

And a blaze whose sparks are shunned.

فَاِسأَلوا عَنّا الرَدى ثُمَّ الضُبى

يَومَ قَحطانُ ضِباعٌ لا تُجارُ

Ask death about us, then the sword-edges,

On the day Qahtan were hyenas granted no protection.

إِذ قَتَلنا بِالحِما ساداتِكُم

وَأَجَرناكُم وَفي ذاكَ اِعتِبارُ

When we slew your chiefs in the protected ground

And gave you refuge—and in that is a lesson.

يَومَ فيكُم ذلَّةٌ عَن عِزَّةٍ

وَلَنا مِنكُم سِباءٌ وَإِسارُ

A day when abasement replaced your might,

And we took captives and prisoners from you.

وَعَلى نِشوَتِكُم أَردافُنا

كَالربابيحِ مِنَ الحَوكِ شَوارُ

And our hindquarters are upon your intoxication,

Like monkeys, with woven stuffs for raiment.

حينَ لِلخَطِّيِّ في أَكنافِكُم

كَأَطيطِ البُزلِ هاجَتها البِكارُ

When the Khatti lances in your flanks sounded

Like old camels groaning, stirred by young she-camels.

يَومَ يَروي مِنكُم أَطرافَهُ

عَلَقٌ فيهِ اسوِدادٌ وَاِحمِرارُ

The day their tips were drenched from you

By clotted blood, black and red.

وَاِسأَلوا عنّا بَقايا حِميَرٍ

وَبَقاياكُم إِذا النَقعُ مُطارُ

Ask the survivors of Himyar about us,

And your survivors, when dust flies:

أَيَّ قَومٍ ناجَدوا إِذ ناجَدوا

وَعَلا بِالنَفعِ في الدارِ الغِوارُ

What people they confronted when they fought,

And raiding swelled through the land with gain.

لَم تَلومونا عَلى رَيثِ القُوى

بِخَزارٍ يَومَ ضَمَّتنا الدِيارُ

You did not reproach us for the forces' delay

At Khazar, when the lands brought us together.

كَم قَتَلنا بِخَزازى مِنكُم

وَأَسَرنا بَعدَما حَلَّ الحَرارُ

How many of you we slew at Khazaza

And captured, once the heat descended,

مِن مُلوكٍ أَشرَفَت أَعناقُها

بِوُجوهٍ نَجُبَت فَهيَ نُضارُ

Of kings whose necks stood high,

With noble faces, themselves pure gold.

حَرُمَت كَأسٌ عَلى ناذِرِها

فَلَقَد طابَت بِأَن حَلَّ العُقارُ

A cup was forbidden to the one who vowed;

Now it is sweet, since wine became permitted.

وَمُلوكاً مِنكُمُ رُحنا بِهِم

وَعَلى كُلِّ منَ الذُلِّ عِذارُ

And we departed with kings of yours,

Each wearing a bridle of humiliation.

تِسعَةٌ كُلٌّ عَلى قِسمَتِهِ

حِليَةُ المُلكِ الَّتي لا تُستَعارُ

Nine, each with his allotted share

Of kingship's ornament, which cannot be borrowed.

صَلِيَ القَتلَ بِهِ ذو حُرَيثٍ

وَقَديماً صَلِيَ القَتلَ الخِيارُ

Through it Dhu Hurayth endured death,

And long ago the finest endured death.

وهَوَت أَودٌ وَلِلسُمرِ بِنا

في سَبابِ القَومِ قَصدٌ وَاِنكِسارُ

Awd fell; and through us the brown lances

Were splintered and broken amid the people's taunts.

وَنَجَت مِنّا فِراراً مَذحِجٌ

هَرَباً وَالخَيلُ يَعلوها ا لغُبارُ

Madhhij escaped us by fleeing,

In flight, while dust rose over the horses.

إِنَّنا نَضرِب بِبيض أُخلِصَت

فَلَها مِن جَوهَرِ العِتقِ نِجارُ

We strike with bright blades, purified,

Whose stock is of the essence of nobility.

أَسمَحَت قَحطانُ في أَرسانِنا

خَبَبَ الأَعيارِ تَتلوها الصِغارُ

Qahtan yielded in our halters,

Trotting like asses, with their young following.

فَحَوَينا دونَكُم أَرساننا

وَتَرَكنا النَهبَ يَحويهِ الخُشارُ

So we gathered our halters, to your exclusion,

And left the booty for the riffraff to gather.

تُجنَبُ الأَملاكُ مِنكُم طَرَداً

بَينَ أَيدينا وَتُستَهدى العِشارُ

Your kings are driven along beside us,

Before us, and pregnant she-camels are taken as gifts.

لَستُمُ كَالخَيلِ في أَعراقِها

تَتبَعُ الخَيلَ لَدى السَبقِ المِهارُ

You are not like horses in their pedigrees;

At the race, foals follow the horses.

وَعَلى هَمدانَ مِلنا بِالقَنا

فَوَرانَ القَدرِ تُطفى وَتُنارُ

We turned our lances against Hamdan,

Like a pot boiling, quenched and rekindled.

فَاِرجِعوا مِنّا فُلولاً وَاِهربوا

لِظِفارٍ لَيسَ يُؤويكُم ظَفارُ

Return from us as routed remnants, and flee

To Zafar; Zafar will not shelter you.

إِنَّما قَحطانُ فينا حَطَبٌ

وَنِزارٌ في بَني قَحطانَ نارُ

Qahtan is only firewood among us,

And Nizar is fire among the sons of Qahtan.

لَن تَنالوا مِن نَزارٍ مِثلَما

مِنكُمُ نالَت مِنَ الذُلِّ نِزارُ

You will never gain from Nizar the like

Of the humiliation Nizar gained from you.

وَسَمَت في عارِضٍ مُغلَولِبٍ

بِسَجيلٍ فيهِ بَرقٌ وَقِطارُ

And it rose in a densely massed cloud,

With a torrent bearing lightning and rain.

آخِذٌ بِالأُفُقِ كَاللَيلِ لَهُ

عارِضٌ ما بَلَغَت مِنهُ الغِزارُ

Filling the horizon like night, with

A rain-cloud no rain-heavy clouds could match.

شَمَّرَ الفِتيانُ فيهِ بِالقَنا

وِبِأَسبابٍ لَهُم فيها اِبتِيارُ

The youths girded themselves in it with lances

And with means in which they could rightly boast.

نَحنُ ذُدنا فَحَمَينا دارَنا

حينَ لَم يَمنَعكُمُ مِنها اِصطِهارُ

We drove you off and defended our abode

When marriage ties did not keep you from it.

نَحنُ أَولادُ مَعدٍّ ذي الحَصى

وَلَنا مِن هاجر المَجدُ الكبارُ

We are the sons of Ma'add, lord of multitudes,

And from Hagar we have mighty glory.

وَلَدَت أَكرَمَ مَن شُدَّ بِهِ

عُقَدُ الحُبوَةِ قِدماً وَالإِزارُ

She bore the noblest man about whom were tied

The knots of the knee-wrap and loincloth, long ago.

إِنَّ إِسماعيلَ مَن يَفخَر بِهِ

يُلفَ في دارٍ بِها حَلَّ الفَخارُ

Whoever boasts of Ishmael

Is found in an abode where glory has settled.

عَكَفَ اللَيلُ عَلى آثارِنا

مِثلَ ما حَنَّت عَلى البَوِّ الظُؤارُ

Night clung to our tracks,

As foster-camels yearn over a stuffed calf-skin.

فَاِخسَأَوا لَيسَ لَكُم بَيتٌ عَلى

مِثلِنا اللَهُ لَهُ رَبٌّ وَجارُ

So slink away! You have no house to surpass

Ours, whose Lord and protector is God.

لَيسَ بَيتٌ رغبَةُ الناسِ مَعاً

أَن يَزوروهُ كَبَيتٍ لا يُزارُ

No house that all people wish

To visit is like a house never visited.

قَد رَآنا اللَهُ عِزّاً أَهلَهُ

وَهوَ المُختارُ وَالخَلقُ كُثارُ

God has seen us as glory's rightful people;

He is the chooser, and creatures are many.

قَد رَآنا اللَهُ أَولى مِنكُمُ

بِاليَدِ العُليا وَلِلَهِ الخِيارُ

God has judged us worthier than you

Of the upper hand; choice belongs to God.

لَم تَزَل تُحجَرُ قَحطانُ لَنا

كَجِعارِ الرَملِ إِذ جَدَّ الغِوارُ

Qahtan has always been driven into dens by us,

Like the sand-hyena when raiding grew fierce.

فَوِهَ الأَفوَهُ لَمّا هَتَمَت

فَمَهُ مِن هَضبَةِ الشِعرِ الفِهارُ

Al-Afwah gaped when

Stones from poetry's mountain smashed his mouth.

كانَ في القَولِ مُطيلاً قَبلَها

فَلَقَد أَقصَرَ وَالقَصرُ القُصارُ

He had been long-winded in speech before that;

Now he has cut it short, and the shortening is final.

وَعَلا في شَأوِهِ مَيداءَهُ

وَعَلا الكَودَنُ رَبوٌ وَاِنبِهارُ

He exceeded his own range in the race,

And panting and breathlessness overtook the hack.

بِبِرازٍ ناهَ مِن قَحطانَ في

شَرَفِ الذِكرِ بِعِزٍّ لا يُطارُ

In single combat he rose from Qahtan to

Lofty renown, with unassailable might.

وَلَقَد تَعلَمُ أَنّا دونَها

لِلعَذارى البيضِ بِالبيضِ نَغارُ

You well know that we stand in her defense,

Jealous for the fair maidens, with bright swords.

قَد خَطَرنا عَنهُم المَجدَ بِنا

وَلَهُم نَحنُ لَدى البَأسِ خِطارُ

We have staked glory for them upon ourselves,

And for them, in battle, we are the stake.

نَحنُ نَحميهُم عِداهُم وَنَلي

قَتلَهُم إِن نَكَّبوا عَنّا وَجاروا

We shield them from their foes, and undertake

Their killing if they turn from us and act unjustly.

إِنَّنا قَومٌ تَرى الجِنُّ لَنا

سَورَةً مِنها جَميعاً تُستَطارُ

We are a people in whom the jinn behold

A fury that sends them all flying.

أَيَّما قَومٍ حَلَلنا بِهِمُ

لِلرَدى فهُم رَواحٌ وَاِبتِكارُ

Whatever people we descend upon

To deal death are our evening and morning forays.