إنا لتقتلنا العيون

ونرد ما طبع القيون

Indeed, eyes are what slay us,

yet we repel what the smiths have forged.

ولنا المعزة في الحروب

وفي الهوى ذل وهون

Ours is honor in warfare,

but in love, abasement and humiliation.

ولنا المكارم والصوارم

في ندى ووغي تدين

Ours are noble deeds and cutting swords

that hold sway in generosity and battle.

ولنا المعاني الغر ابكار

وللشعراء عون

Ours are radiant meanings, still untouched,

and poets have their aid.

وبنا قوافيها قوى

فيها لمنتقد كمين

Through us their rhymes gain strength;

within them an ambush lies for a critic.

وبنا تقاد إلى مقارعة

العدا الحرب الزبون

Through us is led into combat against

the foe the fierce and raging war.

ونوائب الأيام اعذبها

لأنفسنا المنون

Of the days' calamities, the sweetest

to our souls is death.

والصعب غير فراق من

تهواه في الدنيا يهون

Hardship, save parting from the one

you love, grows easy in this world.

ان الجزيرة لا عدا

جوديها الجود الهتون

Indeed, al-Jazira—may never pass over

its Judi the bounty that pours down.

خلقوا بها آبائي آساد

الشرى وهي العرين

My forefathers were born there, lions

of al-Shara, and it is their lair.

ولهم بها البيت المؤثل

في قواعده المكين

There they have the deep-rooted house,

firmly established in its foundations.

وبركنه المجد المتين

وظله الجد المبين

At its pillar stands steadfast glory,

and its shade is manifest good fortune.

وبهم لنا نسب على الدنيا

له شرف ودين

Through them ours is a lineage above this world,

possessing honor and faith.

ولو فدنا العرض المذل

وعندنا العرض المصون

For our guests, wealth is humbled [joined reading],

while with us honor is safeguarded.

ولضيفنا تعلو القدور

وتنحر الكوم الأمون

For our guest the cooking pots rise high,

and high-humped, sturdy she-camels are slaughtered.

لا تستقر على المهاد

لنا ضلوع لو جفون

On beds there find no rest

our ribs or eyelids [reading 'or'].

وهدونا فوق الجياد يرى

وان قلق الوضين

Our steadiness atop the steeds is seen,

even when the saddle-girth shifts uneasily.

ان الكرام إلى ظهور

الخيل تدفعها البطون

Indeed, the noble, to the backs

of horses, are driven by their bellies.

ونجابة النجباء اسرع

ما يشب بها الجنين

The nobility of the well-born is the earliest

thing with which the unborn child grows.

وإذا رأيت الحي تقصده

الركائب والظمون

If you see the settlement sought out by

riding camels and doubtfully pregnant she-camels,

وتجاهك البيت الرحيب

فناؤه السهل الحصين

and before you the spacious house,

its courtyard open and secure,

متشرع الجنبات طال

عموده الصلب الرزين

its sides spread wide, tall stands

its solid, steady pillar;

ولديه اغلمة تهش

لقاصديه وتستكين

beside it young lads who beam

at those who seek it, and bow humbly;

وبجانبيه صواهل

وهواجل حمر وجون

on either side neighing steeds

and swift she-camels, red and black;

ووراءه شوس تصول

وللذمار به تصون

behind it grim-eyed warriors who charge

and there keep their honor safe;

وبصدره الصامي عمادي

هجان لا هجين

at its head the deadly striker, my mainstay,

purebred, not of mixed stock—

فانزل على حكم الوفاء

فأنت مكلو أمين

then alight under the rule of good faith:

you are guarded and secure.

واحكم بما تختار في

أمواله وأنا الضمين

Dispose as you choose of

his wealth; I am the guarantor.

فجدوا به في أن تكون

مكانه كافه ونون

So strive through him, that there may be [wording uncertain]

in his place his kaf and nun.

وحمية الأكراد تأبى

أن يكون بهم ضنين

The pride of the Kurds refuses

to let a miser be among them.

قومي أولئك والقرين

لقومه نعم القرين

Those are my people; and a companion

to his people—what a fine companion!

وعشيرتي والأقربون

ومن يعيل ومن يعين

My clan and my close kin,

those in need and those who lend aid,

والأسرة الموفون

ما منهم يمينا من يمين

and the family, faithful to

every oath that comes from a right hand among them.

فلئن ترحل عنهم جدى

فقد ساءت ظنون

If, indeed, my good fortune has departed from them,

then suspicions have turned ill.

ولطالما أبصرت من

عبثت بيسراه اليمين

I have so often seen someone

whose right hand toyed with his left.

ولقبلنا المأمون

دافع عن تخلفه الأمين

Before our time, al-Ma'mun

fought off al-Amin to avoid being left behind.

وسمعت بالأخوين كيف

تحكم الدهر الخؤون

I have heard of the two brothers: how

treacherous Time held sway,

حتى أباد أخ أخاه

وفيهما حلم رصين

until one brother destroyed his brother,

though both had firm forbearance.

والمرء منا في تأسيه

بيوسف يستعين

Each of us, in seeking consolation,

finds help in Joseph.

ولنا بقابيل وقتل أخيه

مظلوما يقين

Of Cain and the killing of his brother,

an unjustly slain victim, we have certainty.

وقرأت من صحف الحوادث

ما تشيب له القرون

I have read in the chronicles of events

what makes whole generations turn gray.

وعلمت ان الدهر قاس

العريكة لا يلين

I have learned that Time is harsh

in temper, and will not soften.

وبنوه لا تصفو وفي

تكوينهم ماء وطين

Its children do not grow pure, though in

their making are water and clay.

افنعتب الأيام فيما بيننا

ان عاث بين

Should we then reproach the days for what lies between us,

if estrangement wreaks havoc?

ويود لو هدأ السليم

بها ولو هجع الحزين

One wishes the snake-bitten would find calm

amid them, and the sorrowful would sleep.

ولنا بكل اسوة

وبكلنا الداء الدفين

In everyone we have a source of consolation,

and in every one of us lies the buried sickness.

ولكل ذي جفن قذى

ولكل ذي قلب شجون

Everyone with an eyelid has a mote;

everyone with a heart has sorrows.

وعلى ذوي القربى لنا

تقضى بمظلمة ديون

Our close kin owe us

debts paid with injustice.

كلا واني بالوفاء

وبالوداد لهم قمين

No! Indeed, for loyalty

and affection toward them I am well suited.

والحلم يصحبك الخدين

وان نأى عنك الخدين

Forbearance stays with you as a companion,

even when your companion goes far from you.

قسماً بمزجي العيس مطلبه

المشاعر والحجون

I swear by the driver of the pale camels, whose goal

is the sacred sites and al-Hajun:

تطفو على آل الهجير

ضحى كما تطفو السفين

they float upon the mirage of scorching heat

at midmorning, just as ships float.

ولقد تملكها النحول

سرى واخفاها الحنين

Leanness has indeed taken hold of them

through night travel, and yearning has made them vanish.

فكأنما البيداء وهي

بها تبين ولا تبين

It is as though the desert—while they

show within it, yet do not show—

طرس به اسطر يلوح

وكل حرف منه نون

were a page upon which lines gleam,

and each letter on it were a nun.

لو لم يكن سكنى بشهباء

العواصم والسكون

Were it not for my dwelling in Shahba, the Gray One

of al-Awasim, the Strongholds, and my repose,

وسمو جوشنها على

روض جناه الياسمين

and the height of its Jawshan above

a garden whose harvest is jasmine—

فكأنها ورياضها مخضرة

فيها الغصون

as though it, with its gardens green

with boughs,

وجه بدا خط العذار

به وجوشنها جبين

were a face showing the line of cheek-down

upon it, and its Jawshan the forehead—

وقويقها العذب المعين

وحسبك العذب المعين

and its sweet, flowing Quwayq—

sweet, flowing water is enough for you—

ينساب مثل الأيم

الا انه أيم لجين

gliding like a serpent,

but a serpent of silver;

وخلاص قلبي من يدي

آرامها ما لا يكون

and my heart's escape from the hands

of its gazelles being impossible;

والطرف من جور الزمان

عدا احبتنا سخين

and the eye, from Time's injustice,

apart from our loved ones, being hot with tears—

وافيت قومي والجزيرة

لا تماثلها الحصون

I would have come to my people and al-Jazira,

which no fortresses can rival,

وقطنت ارضهم وعند

جوارهم يرعى القطين

and settled in their land, where

under their protection the resident is tended,

ونضوت بالنعمى لباس

البؤس والنعمى تزين

and through blessing shed the garment

of misery—for blessing adorns.

فشدائد الدنيا وطيب

رخائها حين وحين

For this world's hardships and the sweetness

of its ease each have their season.