Sol 6.1

  1. قَد بَلَغنا عَلى مَخشاةِ أَنفُسِنا

    شَطَّ الصَراةِ إِلى أَرضِ اِبنِ مَروانِ

    We have reached, though fearing for our lives,

    The bank of al-Sarat, toward the land of Ibn Marwan.

  2. طَيّارَةٌ كانَ لِلحَجّاجِ مَركَبُها

    تَرى لَها مِن أَذاةِ المَوجِ أَعوانا

    A flying boat that once served as al-Hajjaj's mount,

    You see it has helpers against the waves' harm.

  3. أَتَت بِنا كوفَةِ الرابي لِثالِثَةٍ

    مِنَ الأُبُلَّةِ لِلمَوجِ الَّذي كانا

    It brought us to lofty Kufa on the third night,

    From al-Ubulla, with the waves as they were.

  4. إِنّي حَلَفتُ بِأَعناقٍ مُعَلَّقَةٍ

    قَد أُلزِمَت مِن رُؤوسِ النيبِ أَذقانا

    Indeed, I swore by hanging necks,

    Made to bear the chins of aged she-camels' heads,

  5. هَديٍ تُساقُ إِلى حَيثُ الدِماءُ لَهُ

    يَبلُلنَ مِن عَلَقِ الأَجوافِ كَتّانا

    Sacrificial beasts driven to where their blood

    Soaks linen with clotted gore from their entrails.

  6. لَأَمدَحَنَّكَ مَدحاً لا يُوازِنُهُ

    مَدحٌ عَلى كُلِّ مَدحٍ كانَ عِليانا

    I shall surely praise you with praise that cannot be matched

    By any other praise—it stands high above them all.

  7. لَتَبلُغَن لِأَبي الأَشبالِ مِدحَتُنا

    مَن كانَ بِالغَورِ أَو مَروَي خُراسانا

    Our praise of Abu al-Ashbal shall surely reach

    Anyone in al-Ghawr or the two Marws of Khurasan.

  8. كَأَنَّها الذَهَبُ العِقيانُ حَبَّرَها

    لِسانُ أَشعَرِ أَهلِ الأَرضِ شَيطانا

    As though it were pure gold, embellished

    By the tongue of the man with earth's most poetic demon.

  9. قَومٌ أَبَوا أَن يَنالَ الفُحشُ جارَتَهُم

    وَالجاعِلونَ مِنَ الآفاتِ أَركانا

    A people who refused to let indecency touch their female neighbor,

    And who erect bulwarks against calamities,

  10. وَالضارِبونَ مِنَ الأَقرانِ هامَهُمُ

    إِذا الجَبانُ رَأى لِلمَوتِ أَلوانا

    And strike the heads of their matched foes,

    When the coward sees death in many forms.

  11. هُمُ الفَوارِسُ يَحمونَ النِساءَ إِذا

    خَرَجنَ يَسعَينَ يَومَ الرَوعِ خُفّانا

    They are the horsemen who protect the women when

    They come out running light-footed on the day of terror.

  12. وَأَنتَ مِن مَعشَرٍ يَحمي حُماتَهُمُ

    ضَربٌ يُخَرِّمُ أَرواحاً وَأَبدانا

    And you are from a people whose defenders are shielded

    By blows that rend souls and bodies.

  13. كانَت بَجيلَةُ إِن لاقى فَوارِسُها

    وَأَصبَحَ الناسُ سَلَّ السَيفَ عُريانا

    Bajila, when its horsemen met their foes,

    And the people rose at dawn with the sword drawn bare,

  14. أَحمَوا حِمىً بِطِعانٍ لَيسَ يَمنَعَهُ

    إِلّا رِماحُهُمُ لِلمَوتِ مَن حانا

    Guarded a sanctuary with spear-thrusts; none defended it

    But their spears, against men whose hour of death had come.

  15. الأَحلَمونَ فَما خَفَّت حُلومُهُمُ

    وَالأَثقَلونَ عَلى الأَعداءِ ميزانا

    The wisest—their minds never grew light,

    And the heaviest in the balance against their enemies.

  16. وَالمُعجِلونَ قِرى الأَضيافِ إِن نَزِلوا

    وَأَمنَعُ الناسِ يَومَ الرَوعِ جيرانا

    And swift to serve guests their meal when they alight,

    And best of all at protecting neighbors on the day of terror.

  17. أَيدي بَجيلَةَ أَيدٍ لا يُوازِنُها

    أَيدي طِعانٍ إِذا لاقَينَ أَقرانا

    The hands of Bajila are hands unmatched

    By spear-fighting hands when they meet their peers.

  18. قَومٌ لَهُم حَسَبٌ ضَخمٌ دَسيعَتُهُ

    زادوا عَلى بانِياتِ المَجدِ بُنيانا

    A people of ancestral honor, vast in its bounty;

    They built still higher upon the structures of glory.

  19. فَمَن يَكُن ساعِياً يَرجو مَساعِيَهُم

    يَجِد لَهُم دونَها فَرعاً وَأَركانا

    Whoever strives, hoping to attain their achievements,

    Will find their summit and pillars barring the way.

  20. قَومٌ إِذا رُفِعَت أَصواتُهُم هَزَموا

    مَن يَدَّعونَ بِهِ في الخَيلِ فُرسانا

    A people who, when their voices rise, rout

    Those acclaimed as champions among the cavalry.

  21. يُعطي عَطايا كِراماً لا يُوازِنُها

    مُعطٍ وَلا بَعدَ ما يُعطيهِ مَنّانا

    He gives noble gifts that cannot be matched

    By any giver; nor, after giving, does he taunt with favors.

  22. إِنّي رَأَيتُ أَبا الأَشبالِ مُعتَصِماً

    بِهِ الجِبالُ كَعادٍ عِندَ خَفّانا

    I have seen Abu al-Ashbal, with refuge sought

    In him by the mountains, like a raider near Khuffan.

  23. ضَيفٌ بِعَينِ أَباغٍ لا يَزالُ لَهُ

    لَحمٌ لِمُغتَصِبٍ لِلقَومِ غَرثانا

    A guest at Ayn Abagh, who always has

    Meat—a hungry ravager of the people.

  24. أَحمى البِرازَ فَلا يَسري بِهِ أَحَدٌ

    وَلَم يَدَع في سَوادِ الغيلِ إِنسانا

    He has barred the open ground; no one travels there by night,

    And has left no human in the darkness of the thicket.

  25. أَمّا الفُرادى فَلا فَردٌ يَقومُ لَهُ

    وَقَد يَشُدُّ عَلى الأَلفَينِ أَحيانا

    As for solitary men, not one can stand against him,

    And at times he charges against two thousand.