Poems
- أبعد بشر أسيرا في بيوتهمAfter Bushr was held captive in their houses,
- أتدري من منعت ورود حوضDo you know whom you barred from coming to a pool—
- أتيناك كيما يعلم الناس فضلناWe have come to you so that people may know our excellence,
- أخوك الذي لا ينقض الدهر عهدهYour brother is the one who never breaks his pledge,
- أظل بيتي أم حسناء ناعمةWas it the shade of my house, or a beautiful woman living in ease,
- أغشى المهالك بالرجال ولاI brave deadly perils with men, and do not
- أقفي الرقيب أداويه وأصنعهI favor the watcher, nurse him and care for him;
- الله أعطاني وأنعمGod gave to me and bestowed favor,
- ألم أك باذلا ودي ونصريWas I not freely giving my affection and my aid,
- آليت لا أبكي على هالكI swore not to weep for anyone who dies
- آليت لله حجا حافيا رجلاI vowed to God to make a pilgrimage barefoot and on foot,
- إني امرء عيصي بشوكتهIndeed, I am a man whose thicket is guarded by its thorns;
- تراه كأن الله يجدع أنفهYou see him as though God were mutilating his nose
- ساروا إلينا بنصف الليل فاحتملواThey marched to us at midnight, then carried captives away;
- سعد بن زيد كثير إن عددتهمSaʿd ibn Zayd are numerous, if I count them;
- طوى كل معروف وأحضر دونهHe folded away every kindness and brought before it
- فبتلك أقضي الهم إذ وهمت بهSo with that I dispel worry when it preoccupies
- فجاءوا بفأس ذات خلفين مكنتSo they brought an axe with two cutting ends, which made room
- فيالله لولا أنت بالغيب لم اجيءSo, by God, were it not for you, though absent, I would not have come
- مقطوطيا يشتم الأقوام ظالمهمA clipped one reviles the peoples and their wrongdoer.
- من مبلغ عمرو بن نعمان إنماWho will tell ʿAmr ibn Nuʿmān that the only
- نحن الكرام فلا حي يعادلناWe are the noble ones; no clan is our equal.
- وإن أك من كعب بن سعد فإننيAnd if I am of Kaʿb ibn Saʿd, then indeed I
- وبردا ابن ماء المزن عمي اكتساهماAnd my uncle donned the two cloaks of Ibn Māʾ al-Muzn,
- وعبد من ذوي قيس أتانيAnd a slave from among the people of Qays came to me,
- وفيت بأذواد الرسول وقد أبتI fulfilled my duty with the Messenger's camel herds, though
- وفيت بأذواد النبي محمدI fulfilled my pledge regarding the camel herds of the Prophet Muhammad,
- وفيت بذمة القيسي لماI honored my pledge of protection to al-Qaysi when
- ولي ابن عم لا يزالAnd I have a cousin who never ceases
- وماء قديم عهده ما يرى بهAnd a waterhole, long unvisited, where none is seen
- ومن الموالي موليان فمنهماAnd among allies are two kinds; one of them is
- يهدي الخميس نجادا في مطالعهاHe guides the army through the uplands, along their ascents:
No poems found.