1. لقد علمت زوراء دجلة أنني

    وقورٌ إذا خفَّتْ حلوم العشائر

    The Zawra of the Tigris has surely learned that I am

    dignified when the clans' judgment grows flighty.

  2. وأني قتولٌ بالأناة إذا نبتْ

    صدور العوالي والسيوف البواتر

    And I am deadly through deliberation when

    the tips of tall lances and cleaving swords fail.

  3. وأني غفورٌ للسفيه وآخذُ النَّبي

    هِ ومنَّاع النزيل المجاورِ

    And I forgive the fool, but hold the discerning

    one to account, and staunchly defend the neighboring guest.

  4. أعير الجهولَ الغِرَّ لينة راحم

    وأضرب في رأس الكميِّ المغامر

    I lend the ignorant innocent the gentleness of one who shows mercy,

    and strike the head of the daring armored warrior.

  5. وأصدف عن هزل المقال ترفُّعاً

    بمجديَ عن مؤذٍ لجديِّ ضائر

    And I turn away from frivolous speech, proudly keeping

    my glory above what offends and harms my earnestness.

  6. وكم من سفيه الرأي والقول أجلبت

    فواحشُه اجلاب هوجاءَ داعرِ

    And many a fool in thought and speech has had

    his obscenities clamor like a reckless debauchee.

  7. يقول لي الفحشاء كما أجيبه

    فيغدو بقولي في عِداد النَّظائر

    He speaks obscenities to me as I answer him,

    and through my words becomes counted among my peers.

  8. كررت عليه الحلمَ حتى تبدلت

    جرائمه من خلجةٍ بالمعاذر

    I met him with forbearance again and again, until

    his offenses gave way, in a moment, to apologies.

  9. وحاجة مصدورٍ سهرت لنُجحها

    وقد نام عنها ربُّها غير ساهر

    And for a heartsick man's need I kept vigil to fulfill it,

    while its owner slept through it, keeping no vigil.

  10. قطعت لها ليْليْ سُرىً ورويَّةً

    فجاءت وما نَمَّ الصباحُ بجاشِر

    For it I passed my night in travel and deliberation,

    and it was fulfilled before dawn revealed a herdsman abroad.

  11. إذا شطَّ مأمولٌ أروم دراكه

    ركبت متون العزم قبل الأباعر

    When a hoped-for prize lies far away and I seek to attain it,

    I ride the backs of resolve before the camels.

  12. وإني لمشتاقٌ إلى ذي حفيظةٍ

    شديد مضاءِ البأس مُرِّ البوادر

    And I long for a man of protective pride,

    of fierce, unflagging valor and bitter sudden assaults.

  13. متى سمته بالقول نصراً جرت به

    مقاولُ أغمادٍ فصاحُ المجازر

    Whenever I ask him in words for aid, he lets flow

    the utterances of scabbards, eloquent amid slaughter.

  14. إذا أغمد البيض الصوارم في الطلى

    وحطَّم مَّران الوغى في الحناجر

    When he sheathes the white, keen swords in necks

    and shatters war's spear-shafts in throats,

  15. تخيَّر مني جالب الشر في العِدا

    تَخيُّرَ معزٍ لا تخير زاجر

    he chooses in me the bringer of harm upon foes,

    as one who lends strength chooses, not one who restrains.

  16. فيفتك فيمن رام ظُلمي بأول

    ويسأل عما جَرَّ حربي بآخر

    So he strikes down whoever seeks to wrong me first,

    and asks what caused my war only afterward.

  17. يكون نصيري عند إدراكي العُلى

    ولن تُدرك العلياءُ إلا بناصر

    He is my helper as I attain the heights,

    and the highest station cannot be attained without a helper.

  18. شأوت بني الزوراء مجداً فأبغضوا

    وهل يُضمر المقهور حباً لقاهر

    I outstripped the sons of al-Zawra in glory, and they hated me;

    and does the vanquished harbor love for his vanquisher?

  19. وأنكر جِدي هزلهم فتنافروا

    نفارُ المواشي عن مقام القساور

    My earnestness rejected their frivolity, so they scattered,

    as grazing beasts flee the lions' haunt.

  20. وكيف يقيم الليل والشمس برزةٌ

    ويدنو حمامُ الأيك من وكر كاسر

    How can night remain when the sun stands forth,

    and woodland doves approach a raptor's nest?

  21. ولو عقلوا كان الفخارُ بهمَّتي

    على المدن أحرى بالنُّهى والبصائر

    Had they sense, pride in my ambition

    over other cities would better befit reason and insight.

  22. ولكن أضاعوني وفي الله حافظٌ

    وليس تغطي الشمس راحةُ ساتر

    Yet they neglected me, while in God there is a guardian,

    and no concealing palm can cover the sun.

  23. فلو لحظوا عن أعين الحق همَّتي

    رأوا ملك الآمال في زيِّ شاعرِ

    Had they viewed my ambition through the eyes of truth,

    they would have seen the king of hopes in a poet's garb.

  24. أبى السيف إلا فتكةً دارميةً

    تروي صداه من دماء المساعر

    The sword would accept only a Darimi stroke of slaughter

    to slake its thirst with the blood of kindlers of war,

  25. وخيلاً تَعادى بالكماة كأنها

    نسور الموامي أو ذئابُ القراقر

    and horses racing with armored warriors, as though they were

    vultures of the wastelands or wolves of the level plains.

  26. يخف بها غِمر إلى كل ناكثٍ

    ويجذبها ضغن إلى كل غادر

    Rancor spurs them toward every oath-breaker,

    and hatred draws them toward every traitor.

  27. تمارحُ تحت الدارعين مراحَها

    على كلأٍ من منبت الحَزْن ناضر

    Beneath armored riders they frolic with the same playfulness

    as on fresh herbage growing on rugged uplands.

  28. إذا قيل هذا الروع أغنى نشاطها

    بقرع العوالي عن جلاد المخاصر

    When 'Here is battle's terror' is cried, their vigor needs only

    the clash of tall lances, not the blows of riding switches.

  29. عليهن منا كل لافظ جُنَّةٍ

    ترفَّع أن يلقى الردى غير حاسر

    On them rides each of us who casts aside his armor,

    too proud to meet death except unarmored:

  30. أخي ضَمَدِ ضاق الفؤاد بهمهِ

    فأوسع ضرباً هاتكاً للمغافر

    a man of rancor whose heart is cramped with care,

    so he pours forth blows that tear through mail helmets.

  31. هجرنا إلى آمالنا كل مطعمٍ

    فلم ترَ إلا ضامراً فوق ضامر

    We forsook every meal to pursue our hopes,

    so you saw only a lean rider atop a lean mount,

  32. بيوم وغىً تعمي العجاجةُ شمسه

    وتُطلعُ زهر الذابلات الشَّواجر

    on a battle-day when dust clouds blind its sun

    and raise the blossoms of slender, interlacing lances.

  33. جبهناهم فيه بطعنٍ كأنه

    خروقُ العَزالي واستنانُ المواطر

    We faced them there with thrusts that seemed

    like the openings of waterskins and the streaming of rainclouds.

  34. وسُقناهم تحت العجاج كأنما

    نخبُّ بغزلان الصَّريم النوافر

    And we drove them beneath the dust, as though

    we were driving the sand-dunes' fleeing gazelles at a trot.

  35. فلو لا ادِّكارٌ من أناة ابن خالدٍ

    لما كفَّ عن ضرب الطُّلى غرب باتر

    Had there been no recollection of Ibn Khalid's restraint,

    no cleaving sword's edge would have ceased striking necks.

  36. فتى سنَّ نهج الحلم من غير ذلةً

    لكل حديد في الخصام مساور

    A young man who established forbearance's path without abasement

    for every hot-tempered assailant in a quarrel;

  37. وأسبل ماء الجود حتى تزاورتْ

    عيون بني الَّلأواءِ عن شيم ماطر

    and let the waters of generosity flow until

    the eyes of hardship's sons turned from watching for rainclouds.

  38. مطاعٌ بلا فتك ولم تشهر الظُّبى

    لحب الردى بل لامتثال الأوامرِ

    Obeyed without slaughter, and the blades were not bared

    for love of death, but to obey commands.

  39. تَوَهَّمُ ريَّا عرضه نشر روضةٍ

    أصاب الحيا من صيِّباتِ البواكر

    You imagine the fragrance of his honor the scent of a meadow

    where rain has fallen from early downpours.

  40. إذا ما سعى للمال قومٌ فسعيه

    بناءُ المعالي واكتساب المفاخر

    When others strive for wealth, his striving is

    to build lofty standing and acquire honors.

  41. حمي إذا خيف الردى بات جاره

    على عِظم الأعداء غير محاذر

    A protector: when death is feared, his neighbor spends the night

    unafraid, despite his enemies' might.

  42. وذي فرق ضاقت به الأرض خيفة

    كما ضاق أُحبولُ الملا باليعافر

    And many a fearful man for whom the earth grew narrow with dread,

    as the desert's snare closes upon gazelle fawns,

  43. تدافع لا الحصن المنيع بآمنٍ

    عليه ولا الليل البهيم بساتر

    fled restlessly: neither the impregnable fortress could protect

    him, nor could blackest night conceal him.

  44. إذا قال هذا معقل قذفت به

    نواجِيه قذف الراشقات العوابر

    Whenever he said, 'Here is a refuge,' his swift mounts flung him

    onward with the rush of fleet, coursing she-camels.

  45. يودُّ لو أنَّ الأمر في عربيةٍ

    فتحميه أطناب البيوت الدواسر

    He wishes his case lay with an Arab tribe,

    so the ropes of mighty tents might shield him.

  46. رمى بالحريم الطاهريِّ رحاله

    إلى سالمٍ من شائب العيب طاهر

    He laid down his baggage in the Tahiri precinct,

    with one unblemished, pure of any taint of fault.

  47. فباشر أمناً لا أداءُ عُهودهِ

    بزورٍ ولا أيمانهُ بفواجر

    And he found safety: the fulfillment of his pledges is not

    false, nor are his oaths perjured.

  48. تميل بعطفيه القوافي كم مشى

    دبيب الحميَّا في عظام المُعاقر

    Rhymes sway his shoulders—how often has

    wine's warmth crept through a habitual drinker's bones!

  49. إذا فجر المُداح في مدح غيره

    فمادحُه في مدحه غير فاجر

    If panegyrists lie in praising others,

    the man who praises him is no liar in his praise.

  50. تتيه به الدنيا فخاراً وينثني

    بما ناله من مجد غير فاخر

    The world proudly exults in him, while he returns

    with the glory he has won, yet does not boast.

  51. عليمٌ بإصلاح الورى

    تحيل رقى ألفاظه الضغن خلَّة

    Knowing well how to set humankind right,

    the spells of his words turn rancor into friendship,

  52. ويغدو بها لموتور سلماً لواتر

    تُناخ مطايا مُعتفيه بماجدٍ

    and through them the wronged finds peace with his wrongdoer.

    The mounts of those seeking his bounty kneel before a noble man,

  53. رفيع عمادِ البيت جَمِّ المآثر

    إذا انتجعوه جاد صوب يمينه

    whose house's pillar is lofty and whose noble deeds abound.

    When they seek his bounty, his right hand's rain pours forth

  54. بمغدودقٍ يُنسى انهمال الهوامر

    لهم منه رفْداً وجهه ونواله

    so abundantly that the streaming of rainclouds is forgotten.

    His face and his bounty are gifts from him to them;

  55. فلم يُرَ إِلا باذلاً غِبَّ باشِر

    هناك قدوم الصَّوم والعيد إذ هما

    he is seen only giving, after smiling a welcome.

    May the coming of the fast and the feast gladden you, for they

  56. شريكاكَ في تقواهما والبشائر

    أمنتُ صروف الحادثات وعصمتي

    are your two partners in their piety and glad tidings.

    I am safe from the turns of events, and my protection is

  57. بردءٍ شديدٍ من يديك مُظاهري

    وأخرست ضوضاء الخطوب وربما

    a mighty support from your hands, standing beside me.

    And I have silenced the uproar of calamities, which might well

  58. رمتني لو لم تحمني بالفواقر

    أيادي الفتى في الناس ذخرٌ وأنها

    have struck me with back-breaking blows, had you not protected me.

    A young man's favors among people are a treasure, and they,

  59. بودِّ الفصيح الحرِّ خيرُ الذخائر

    وما أنا للنعماء منك بجاحدٍ

    with an eloquent, free man's affection, are the finest treasures.

    And I do not deny the blessings I receive from you,

  60. ولا لأياديك الجسام بكافر

    وحاشاك يومأً أن تُرى غير مُنعم

    nor am I ungrateful for your mighty favors.

    Far be it from you ever to be seen other than bestowing,

  61. وحاشاي حيناً أن أرى غير شاكر

    and far be it from me ever to be seen other than grateful.