Sol 6.1

  1. أَلا أَبلِغِ المُستَمِعينَ لِوَقعَةٍ

    تَخِفُّ لَها شُمطُ النِساءِ القَواعِدُ

    Hear now: tell those listening of a battle

    that makes gray-haired women past childbearing spring up.

  2. وَظَنُّهُمُ بي أَنَّني لِعَشيرَتي

    عَلى أَيِّ حالٍ كانَ حامٍ وَذائِدُ

    And their belief about me is that, for my clan,

    whatever the circumstances, I am a protector and defender.

  3. فَإِن لَم أُحَقِّق ظَنَّهُم بِتَيَقُّنٍ

    فَلا سَقَتِ الأَوصالَ مِنّي الرَواعِدُ

    If I do not fulfill their expectation beyond doubt,

    may the thunderclouds never water these limbs of mine.

  4. وَيَعلَمُ أَكفائي مِنَ الناسِ أَنَّني

    أَنا الفارِسُ الحامي الذَمارَ المُناجِدُ

    And my peers among men know that I

    am the horseman, defender of honor, a helper in battle,

  5. وَأَن لَيسَ لِلأَعداءِ عِندي غَميزَةٌ

    وَلا طافَ لي مِنهُم بِوَحشِيَ صائِدُ

    and that my enemies can find no weakness in me,

    nor has any hunter of theirs prowled around my game.

  6. وَأَن لَم يَزَل لي مُنذُ أَدرَكتُ كاشِحٌ

    عَدُوٌّ أُقاسيهِ وَآخَرُ حاسِدُ

    And that, since I came of age, I have never lacked a spiteful foe—

    an enemy I contend with, and another full of envy.

  7. فَما مِنهُما إِلّا وَأَنّي أَكيلُهُ

    بِمِثلٍ لَهُ مِثلَينِ أَو أَنا زائِدُ

    So to each of the two I measure out

    two measures for one of his—or I add still more.

  8. فَإِن تَسأَلي الأَقوامَ عَنّي فَإِنَّني

    إِلى مَحتِدٍ تَنمي إِلَيهِ المَحاتِدُ

    If you ask the peoples about me, then indeed I

    spring from a stock to which other lineages trace their roots.

  9. أَنا الزائِرُ الصَقرَ اِبنَ سَلمى وَعِندَهُ

    أُبَيٌّ وَنُعمانٌ وَعَمروٌ وَواقِدُ

    I am the visitor to al-Saqr, son of Salma; with him are

    Ubayy, Nu'man, Amr, and Waqid.

  10. فَأَورَثَنا مَجداً وَمَن يَجنِ مِثلَها

    بِحَيثُ اِجتَناها يَنقَلِب وَهوَ حامِدُ

    So he bequeathed us glory; whoever reaps its like

    where he reaped it returns full of praise.

  11. وَجِدّي خَطيبُ الناسِ يَومَ سُمَيحَةٍ

    وَعَمّي اِبنُ هِندٍ مُطعِمُ الطَيرِ خالِدُ

    My grandfather was the people's spokesman on the day of Sumayha,

    and my uncle is Ibn Hind—Khalid, feeder of birds.

  12. وَمِنّا قَتيلُ الشِعبِ أَوسُ اِبنِ ثابِتٍ

    شَهيداً وَأَسنى الذِكرِ مِنهُ المَشاهِدُ

    Among us is the man slain in the ravine, Aws ibn Thabit,

    a martyr; his battles are his most glorious remembrance.

  13. وَمَن جَدُّهُ الأَدنى أَبي وَاِبنُ أُمِّهِ

    لِأُمِّ أَبي ذاكَ الشَهيدُ المُجاهِدُ

    And he whose nearest grandfather is my father, and his maternal brother—

    born of my father's mother—that martyred warrior.

  14. وَفي كُلِّ دارٍ رَبَّةٍ خَزرَجِيَّةٍ

    وَأَوسِيَّةٍ لي مِن ذَراهُنَّ والِدُ

    And in every great Khazraji house

    and Awsi house, I have a forefather among their lofty ranks.

  15. فَما أَحَدٌ مِنّا بِمُهدٍ لِجارِهِ

    أَذاةً وَلا مُزرٍ بِهِ وَهوَ عامِدُ

    Not one of us offers his neighbor

    harm, or deliberately demeans him.

  16. لِأَنّا نَرى حَقَّ الجِوارِ أَمانَةً

    وَيَحفَظُهُ مِنّا الكَريمُ المُعاهِدُ

    For we regard the rights of neighbors as a trust,

    and the noble covenant-keeper among us guards it.

  17. فَمَهما أَقُل مِمّا أُعَدِّدُ لا يَزَل

    عَلى صِدقِهِ مِن جُلِّ قَومِيَ شاهِدُ

    Whatever I say of the things I recount, there is always

    a witness to its truth among the mass of my people.

  18. لِكُلِّ أُناسٍ ميسَمٌ يَعرِفونَهُ

    وَميسَمُنا فينا القَوافي الأَوابِدُ

    Every people has a brand they recognize,

    and our brand among us is enduring rhyme.

  19. مَتى ما نَسِم لا يُنكِرِ الناسُ وَسمَنا

    وَنَعرِف بِهِ المَجهولَ مِمَّن نُكايِدُ

    Whenever we brand, people cannot mistake our brand,

    and by it we identify the unknown among those we outwit.

  20. تَلوحُ بِهِ تَعشو عَلَيهِ وُسومُنا

    كَما لاحَ في سُمرِ المِتانِ المَوارِدُ

    Our brands gleam on him, dazzling your gaze,

    as watering places gleam upon the dark uplands.

  21. فَيَشفينَ مَن لا يُستَطاعُ شِفاؤُهُ

    وَيَبقَينَ ما تَبقى الجِبالُ الخَوالِدُ

    They heal those whose cure is beyond reach,

    and endure as long as the everlasting mountains.

  22. وَيُشفينَ مَن يَغتالُنا بِعَداوَةٍ

    وَيُسعِدنَ في الدُنيا بِنا مَن نُساعِدُ

    They bring ruin to whoever attacks us treacherously in hatred,

    and through us gladden in this world those we aid.

  23. إِذا ما كَسَرنا رُمحَ رايَةِ شاعِرٍ

    يَجيشُ بِنا ما عِندَنا فَنُعاوِدُ

    When we break the spear-shaft of a poet's banner,

    what lies within us surges, and we strike again.

  24. يَكونُ إِذا بُثَّ الهِجاءُ لِقَومِهِ

    وَلاحَ شِهابٌ مِن سَنا البَرقِ واقِدُ

    He is, when satire is spread against his people

    and a blazing flame flashes from the lightning's radiance,

  25. كَأَشقى ثَمودٍ إِذ تَعاطى لِحَينِهِ

    خَصيلَةَ أُمِّ السَقبِ وَالسَقبُ وارِدُ

    like Thamud's most wretched man, when, to his doom, he reached for

    the hamstring of the calf's mother, as the calf came to water.

  26. فَوَلّى فَأَوفى عاقِلاً رَأسَ صَخرَةٍ

    نَمى فَرعُها وَاِشتَدَّ مِنها القَواعِدُ

    Then he turned away and climbed, seeking refuge, to the top of a rock

    whose summit rose high and whose foundations stood firm.

  27. فَقالَ أَلا فَاِستَمتِعوا في دِيارِكُم

    فَقَد جاءَكُم ذِكرٌ لَكُم وَمَواعِدُ

    Then he said: “Hear now: enjoy yourselves in your dwellings,

    for a warning has reached you, and promised times—

  28. ثَلاثَةَ أَيّامٍ مِنَ الدَهرِ لَم يَكُن

    لَهُنَّ بِتَصديقِ الَّذي قالَ رائِدُ

    three days of time.” There was

    no scout for those days to confirm what he had said.