Sol 6.1

  1. فَسيرا فَلا شَيخَينِ أَحمَقُ مِنكُما

    فَلَم تَرقَعا يا اِبنَي أُمامَةَ مَرقَعا

    So go, you two: no two old men are more foolish than you.

    For you have mended no rent, O sons of Umamah.

  2. تَسوقانِ عَبّاداً زَعيماً كَأَنَّما

    تَسوقانِ قِرداً لِلحَمالَةِ أَصلَعا

    You drive Abbad forward as a guarantor, as though

    you were driving a bald monkey to stand surety.

  3. سَيَأتي اِبنَ مَسعودٍ عَلى نَأيِ دارِهِ

    ثَناءٌ إِذا غَنّى بِهِ الرَكبُ أَقذَعا

    To Ibn Masud, however distant his home, will come

    a tribute—when the riders sing it, they utter foul abuse:

  4. قَوارِعُ مِن قيلِ اِمرِئٍ بِكَ عالِمٍ

    أَجَرَّكُمُ صَيفاً جَديداً وَمَربَعا

    stinging blows from the words of a man who knows you,

    who gave you free rein for a new summer and a spring,

  5. أَناةً وَحِلماً وَاِنتِظارَ عَشيرَةٍ

    لِأَدفَعَ عَنّي جَهلَ قَومِيَ مَدفَعا

    out of patience, forbearance, and waiting for kin,

    so as to ward my people's folly well away from me.

  6. فَلَمّا أَبوا إِلّا الضَجاجَ رَمَيتُهُم

    بِذاتِ حَبارٍ تَترُكُ الوَجهَ أَسفَعا

    But when they insisted on nothing but clamor, I assailed them

    with a bruising stroke that leaves the face blackened.

  7. فَإِنَّ أَباكَ الوَقبَ قَبلَكَ خالِداً

    دَفَعناهُ عَن جُرثومَةِ المَجدِ أَجمَعا

    For your fool of a father, Khalid, before you,

    we drove him utterly away from the root of glory,

  8. بِمَأثُرَةٍ بَذَّت أَباكَ وَلَم يَجِد

    لَهُ في ثَناياها اِبنُ فِقرَةَ مَطلَعا

    by a noble deed that outstripped your father; nor could

    Ibn Fiqrah find himself a way up through its passes.

  9. أَيَسعى اِبنُ مَسعودٍ وَتِلكَ سَفاهَةٌ

    لِيُدرِكَ ما قَد كانَ بِالأَمسِ ضَيَّعا

    Does Ibn Masud strive—and that is folly—

    to attain what he had squandered yesterday,

  10. لِيُدرِكَ مَسعاةَ الكِرامِ وَلَم يَكُن

    لِيُدرِكَها حَتّى يُكَلِّمَ تُبَّعا

    to attain the noble men's achievement, though he could never

    attain it until he spoke to Tubba‘?

  11. كَذَبتُم بَني سَلمى وَقَد تَكذِبُ المُنى

    وَتُردى صَفاةُ الحَربِ حَتّى تَصَدَّعا

    You have lied, sons of Salma; hopes can prove false,

    and the rock of war is battered until it splits.

  12. فَإِنَّ لَنا مَجدَ الحَياةِ وَأَنتُمُ

    تَسوقونَ عَوداً لِلرُكوبِ مُوَقَّعا

    For ours is the glory of life, while you

    drive an old riding camel, scarred by saddle sores.

  13. سَيَعلَمُ قَومي أَنَّني بِمَفازَةٍ

    فَلاةٍ نَفَت عَنها الهَجينَ فَأَرتَعا

    My people will know that I am in a wilderness,

    a desert that drove out the half-bred, who then found pasture.

  14. إِذا طَلَبَتها نَهشَلٌ كانَ حَظُّها

    عَناءً وَجَهداً ثُمَّ تَنزَعُ ظُلَّعا

    Whenever Nahshal seeks it, their share is

    toil and hardship; then they withdraw, limping.

  15. أَبي غالِبٌ وَاللَهُ سَمّاهُ غالِباً

    وَكانَ جَديراً أَن يَضُرَّ وَيَنفَعا

    My father is Ghalib, and God named him Ghalib—the victor,

    and he was fit to bring harm and benefit.

  16. وَصَعصَعَةُ الخَيرِ الَّذي كانَ قَبلَهُ

    يُشَرِّفُ حَوضاً في حَيا المَجدِ مُترَعا

    And Sa‘sa‘ah the good, who preceded him,

    raised high a basin, brimful amid glory's rain.