1. حَيِّيا صاحِبَيَّ أُمَّ العَلاءِ

    وَاِحذَرا طَرفَ عَينِها الحَوراءِ

    Greet Umm al-Ala, my two companions,

    and beware the glance of her bright, dark-pupilled eye.

  2. إِنَّ في عَينِها دَواءً وَداءً

    لِمُلِمٍّ وَالداءُ قَبلَ الدَواءِ

    In her eye are indeed a cure and an ailment

    for one who comes near; the ailment precedes the cure.

  3. رُبَّ مُمسٍ مِنها إِلَينا عَلى رَغ

    مِ إِزاءٍ لا طابَ عَيشُ إِزاءِ

    Many an evening visitor came from her to us, despite

    Iza—may Iza's life never be sweet.

  4. أَسقَمَت لَيلَةَ الثُلاثاءِ قَلبِي

    وَتَصَدَّت في السَبتِ لي لِشَقائِي

    She sickened my heart on Tuesday night,

    and appeared before me on Saturday to bring me misery.

  5. وَغَداةَ الخَميسِ قَد مَوَّتَتني

    ثُمَّ راحَت في الحُلَّةِ الخَضراءِ

    On Thursday morning she quite killed me,

    then went away in her green robe.

  6. يَومَ قالَت إِذا رَأَيتُكَ في النَو

    مِ خَيالاً أَصَبتَ عَيني بِداءِ

    The day she said: 'If I see you in sleep

    as a phantom, you afflict my eye with sickness,

  7. وَاِستَخَفَّ الفُؤادُ شَوقاً إِلى قُر

    بِكَ حَتّى كَأَنَّني في الهَواءِ

    and my heart grows weightless with longing for your nearness,

    until I seem to be floating in the air.'

  8. ثُمَّ صَدَّت لِقولِ حَمّاءَ فينا

    يا لقَومي دَمي عَلى حَمّاءِ

    Then she turned away because of Hamma's words about us.

    O my people! My blood is on Hamma!

  9. لا تَلوما فَإِنَّها مِن نِساءٍ

    مُشرِفاتٍ يَطرِفنَ طَرفَ الظِباءِ

    Do not blame me, you two, for she is among women

    lofty in stature, who glance with the glances of gazelles.

  10. وَأَعينا اِمرَأً جَفا وُدَّهُ الحَيُ

    وَأَمسى مِنَ الهَوى في عَناءِ

    Help a man whose affection the tribe has spurned,

    and who has fallen into anguish through love.

  11. اِعرِضا حاجَتي عَلَيها وَقولا

    أَنَسيتِ السَرارَ تَحتَ الرِداءِ

    Lay my need before her, and say:

    'Have you forgotten our whispering beneath the cloak,

  12. وَمَقامي بَينَ المُصَلّى إِلى المِن

    بَرِ أَبكي عَلَيكِ جَهدَ البُكاءِ

    and my standing between the prayer-place and the pulpit,

    weeping for you with all my strength,

  13. وَمَقالَ الفَتاةِ عودي بِحِلمٍ

    ما التَجَنّي مِن شيمَةِ الحُلَماءِ

    and the maiden's words: “Return with forbearance;

    unjust reproach is not the way of the forbearing”?

  14. فَاِتَّقي اللَهَ في فَتىً شَفَّهُ الحُب

    بُ وَقَولُ العِدى وَطولُ الجَفاءِ

    So fear God regarding a young man wasted by love,

    his foes' words, and long estrangement.

  15. أَنتِ باعَدتِهِ فَأَمسى مِنَ الشَو

    قِ صَريعاً كَأَنَّهُ في الفَضاءِ

    You drove him away, and now, from longing,

    he lies stricken, as though out in the open.

  16. فَاِذكُري وَأيَهُ عَلَيكِ وَجودي

    حَسبُكِ الوَأيُ قادِحاً في السَخاءِ

    Remember the pledge you owe him, and be generous;

    let that pledge suffice to kindle your generosity.

  17. قَد يُسيءُ الفَتى وَلا يُخلِفُ الوَع

    دَ فَأَوفي ما قُلتِ بِالرَوحاءِ

    A young man may do wrong, yet not break his promise;

    so fulfill what you said at al-Rawha.

  18. إِنَّ وَعدَ الكَريمِ دَينٌ عَلَيهِ

    فَاِقضِ وَاِظفَر بِهِ عَلى الغُرَماءِ

    A noble man's promise is a debt upon him;

    pay it, and thereby prevail over your creditors.'

  19. فَاِستَهَلَّت بِعَبرَةٍ ثُمَّ قالَت

    كانَ ما بَينَنا كَظِلِّ السَراءِ

    She shed a tear, then said:

    'What lay between us was like the sara-tree's shade.

  20. يا سُلَيمى قومي فَروحي إِلَيهِ

    أَنتِ سُرسورَتي مِنَ الخُلَطاءِ

    O Sulayma, rise and go to him;

    you are my confidante among my companions.

  21. بَلِّغيهِ السَلامَ مِنّي وَقولي

    كُلُّ شَيءٍ مَصيرُهُ لِفَناءِ

    Convey my greetings to him, and say:

    “Everything is destined to perish.”'

  22. فَتَسَلَّيتُ بِالمَعازِفِ عَنها

    وَتَعَزّى قَلبي وَما مِن عَزاءِ

    So I distracted myself from her with musical instruments,

    and my heart consoled itself—yet there was no consolation.

  23. وَفَلاةٍ زَوراءَ تَلقى بِها العي

    نَ رِفاضاً يَمشينَ مَشيَ النِساءِ

    And many a far-flung desert where you meet wide-eyed wild cows,

    scattered in bands, walking with the gait of women—

  24. مِن بِلادِ الخافي تَغَوَّلُ بِالرَك

    بِ فَضاءً مَوصولَةً بِفَضاءِ

    of the unseen spirits' land, engulfing the caravan

    in open waste linked to open waste—

  25. قَد تَجَشَّمتُها وَلِلجُندُبِ الجَو

    نِ نِداءٌ في الصُبحِ أَو كَالنِداءِ

    I have braved it, while the dark grasshopper

    had a call at dawn, or something like a call,

  26. حينَ قالَ اليَعفورُ وَاِرتَكَضَ الآ

    لُ بِرَيعانِهِ اِرتِكاضَ النِهاءِ

    when the fawn rested at noon and the mirage surged

    at its height, like the rippling of pools.

  27. بِسَبوحِ اليَدَينِ عامِلَةِ الرِج

    لِ مَروحٍ تَغلو مِنَ الغُلواءِ

    On a mount with swimming forelegs and toiling hind legs,

    fleet and spirited, rushing in her headlong ardor,

  28. هَمُّها أَن تَزورَ عُقبَةَ في المُل

    كِ فَتَروى مِن بَحرِهِ بِدِلاءِ

    her aim is to visit Uqba in his realm,

    and drink from his sea by the bucketful.

  29. مالِكِيٌّ تَنشَقُّ عَن وَجهِهِ الحَر

    بُ كَما اِنشَقَّتِ الدُجى عَن ضِياءِ

    A man of Malik's clan, war parts before his face,

    as darkness parts before light.

  30. أَيُّها السائِلي عَنِ الحَزمِ وَالنَج

    دَةِ وَالبَأسِ وَالنَدى وَالوَفاءِ

    O you who ask me about resolve and valor,

    martial strength, generosity, and fidelity:

  31. إِنَّ تِلكَ الخِلالَ عِندَ اِبنِ سَلمٍ

    وَمَزيداً مِن مِثلِها في الغَناءِ

    those qualities are indeed found in Ibn Salm,

    and more of their kind in useful aid.

  32. كَخَراجِ السَماءِ سيبُ يَدَيهِ

    لِقَريبٍ وَنازِحِ الدارِ ناءِ

    The bounty of his hands is like the sky's yield,

    for those nearby and those whose homes lie far away.

  33. حَرَّمَ اللَهُ أَن تَرى كَاِبنِ سَلمٍ

    عُقبَةِ الخَيرِ مُطعِمِ الفُقَراءِ

    God has forbidden that you see the like of Ibn Salm—

    Uqba of goodness, feeder of the poor.

  34. يَسقُطُ الطَيرُ حَيثُ يَنتَثِرُ الحَب

    بُ وَتُغشى مَنازِلُ الكُرَماءِ

    Birds alight wherever grain is scattered,

    and the homes of the generous are frequented.

  35. لَيسَ يُعطيكَ لِلرَجاءِ وَلا الخَو

    فِ وَلَكِن يَلَذُّ طَعمَ العَطاءِ

    He does not give to you out of hope or fear,

    but savors the taste of giving.

  36. لا وَلا أَن يُقالَ شيمَتُهُ الجو

    دُ وَلَكِن طَبائِعُ الآباءِ

    No, nor so that people say his nature is generosity;

    rather, it is the disposition of his forefathers.

  37. إِنَّما لَذَّةُ الجَوادِ اِبنِ سَلمٍ

    في عَطاءٍ وَمَركَبٍ لِلِقاءِ

    The pleasure of generous Ibn Salm is only

    in giving and riding out to meet the foe.

  38. لا يَهابُ الوَغى وَلا يَعبُدُ الما

    لَ وَلَكِن يُهينُهُ لِلثَناءِ

    He does not fear battle or worship wealth,

    but holds it cheap for the sake of praise.

  39. أَريَحِيٌّ لَهُ يَدٌ تُمطِرُ النَي

    لَ وَأُخرى سُمٌّ عَلى الأَعداءِ

    Open-handed, he has one hand that rains bounty,

    and another that is poison to his foes.

  40. قَد كَساني خَزّاً وَأَخدَمني الحو

    رَ وَخَلّى بُنَيَّتي في الحُلاءِ

    He has clothed me in silk-and-wool and given me fair-eyed servants,

    and left my little daughter decked in jewels.

  41. وَحَباني بِهِ أَغَرَّ طَويلَ ال

    باعِ صَلتَ الخَدَّينِ غَضَّ الفَتاءِ

    And bestowed on me one bright-faced, long of

    arm, smooth-cheeked, fresh in youth.

  42. فَقَضى اللَهُ أَن يَموتَ كَما ما

    تَ بَنونا وَسالِفُ الآباءِ

    Then God decreed that he should die, just as

    our sons and our forefathers died.

  43. راحَ في نَعشِهِ وَرُحتُ إِلى عُق

    بَةَ أَشكو فَقالَ غَيرَ نِجاءِ

    He departed in his bier, and I went to Uqba,

    complaining; he said, without a whisper:

  44. إِن يَكُن مِنصَفٌ أَصَبتُ فَعِندي

    عاجِلٌ مِثلُهُ مِن الوصَفاءِ

    'If a servant is what I procured, then I have

    another like him ready among my pages.'

  45. فَتَنَجَّزتُهُ أَشَمَّ كَجَروِ ال

    لَيثِ غاداكَ خارِجاً مِن ضَراءِ

    So I received him as promised—high-nosed, like a young

    lion greeting you at dawn as it emerges from a thicket.

  46. فَجَزى اللَهُ عَن أَخيكَ اِبنَ سِلمٍ

    حينَ قَلَّ المَعروفُ خَيرَ الجَزاءِ

    So may God reward Ibn Salm, on your brother's behalf,

    when kindness has grown scarce, with the finest reward.

  47. صَنَعَتني يَداهُ حَتى كَأَنّي

    ذو ثَراءٍ مِن سِرِّ أَهلِ الثَراءِ

    His two hands have made me, till I seem

    a wealthy man among the choicest of the wealthy.

  48. لا أُبالي صَفحَ اللَئيمِ وَلا تَج

    ري دُموعي عَلى الخَؤُونِ الصَفاءِ

    I do not heed an ignoble man's snub, nor do

    my tears flow for one who betrays sincere friendship.

  49. وَكَفاني أَمراً أَبَرَّ عَلى البُخ

    لِ بِكَفٍّ مَحمودَةٍ بَيضاءِ

    He spared me a plight worse than miserliness,

    with a praiseworthy, white and beneficent hand.

  50. يَشتَري الحَمدَ بِالثَنا وَيَرى الذَم

    مَ فَظيعاً كَالحَيَّةِ الرَقشاءِ

    He buys praise with praise, and deems blame

    dreadful as a speckled serpent.

  51. مَلِكٌ يَفرَعُ المَنابِرَ بِالفَض

    لِ وَيَسقي الدِماءَ يَومَ الدِماءِ

    A king who rises on pulpits through excellence,

    and gives blood to drink on the day of bloodshed.

  52. كَم لَهُ مِن يَدٍ عَلَينا وَفينا

    وَأَيادٍ بيضٍ عَلى الأَكفاءِ

    How many favors he has bestowed upon us and among us,

    and white benefactions upon his peers!

  53. أَسَدٌ يَقضُمُ الرِجالَ وَإِن شِئ

    تَ فَغَيثٌ أَجَشُّ ثَرُّ السَماءِ

    A lion who crunches men—or, if you wish,

    a hoarse-thundering raincloud, pouring abundantly from the sky.

  54. قائِمٌ بِاللِواءِ يَدفَعُ بِالمَو

    رِجالاً عَن حُرمَةِ الخُلَفاءِ

    Standing with the standard, he drives back with death

    men, in defense of the caliphs' sanctity.

  55. فَعَلى عُقبَةَ السَلامُ مُقيماً

    وَإِذا سارَ تَحتَ ظِلِّ اللِواءِ

    So peace be upon Uqba when at rest,

    and when he marches beneath the standard's shade.