1. أنيخت لهم عند الطفوف ركاب

    وناداهم داعي القضا فأجابوا

    Riding camels were made to kneel for them at al-Tufuf;

    And fate's summoner called them, and they answered.

  2. ولما استطابوا من سما الحرب نقعها

    أثارته شيب منهم وشباب

    And when they savored the dust from the sky of war,

    Gray-haired men among them and youths stirred it up.

  3. يقودون للحرب العوان شوزباً

    لها بين أرجاء الفضاء هباب

    They lead lean steeds into renewed war,

    With a bounding gallop through the reaches of open space.

  4. تقل عليها من لوي فوارس

    شداد على وقع النصال صلاب

    They bear upon their backs horsemen of Lu'ayy,

    Stout against the blows of blades, unyielding.

  5. لقد شغفوا بالبيض وهي صوارم

    وفي نغم الشادين وهو ضراب

    Indeed, they were enamored of the white ones—keen swords—

    And of singers' melodies—really sword-blows.

  6. لهم حسب زاكي الفخار وهاشم

    لهم نسب لا عامر وكلاب

    Theirs is ancestral honor of pure renown, and Hashim

    Is their forebear, not Amir or Kilab.

  7. مواضٍ مواضٍ قد تحلوا بمثلها

    أسود لها زرق الأسنة غاب

    Keen blades, keen blades—with their like were adorned

    Lions whose thickets are the blue spearheads.

  8. ينيلون من قد نال منهم فلا يرى

    لهم بسوى الرقد العميم عقاب

    They requite whoever has harmed them, and none sees

    Any punishment from them but the all-engulfing sleep.

  9. وثابتٍ إلى نصر ابن بنت نبيها

    ضراغم غيل في الهياج غضاب

    And to aid the son of their Prophet's daughter rallied

    Lions of the thicket, furious in battle,

  10. هوىً لثواب اللَه منهم وطالما

    إلى كل ما فيه الإثابة ثابوا

    Out of their love for God's reward; how often

    They returned to all that brings recompense.

  11. إذا ظمئ الخطي في حومة الوغى

    فليس سوء ماء القلوب شارب

    When the Khatti spear grows thirsty in the thick of battle,

    It drinks nothing but the water of hearts.

  12. وإن جانب الهندي في الحرب غمده

    فما الغمد إلا هامة ورقاب

    And if the Indian blade leaves its sheath in battle,

    Its sheath is nothing but a head and necks.

  13. كأن قناهم وهي تخترق الكلى

    لها بين أفلاذ الضمير طلاب

    As though their spears, while piercing the kidneys,

    Had a quest among the fragments of the inner heart.

  14. إلى أن هووا فوق الثرى فتسنمت

    عليهم من المجد العريق قباب

    Until they fell upon the earth; then rose

    Above them domes of deep-rooted glory.

  15. بنفسي بدوراً بالنواويس أشرقت

    علاها وحاشاها الأفول فغابوا

    I would give my soul for full moons at al-Nawawis, where shone

    Their glory—far be setting from them—yet they vanished.

  16. وجاءت بنو حرب تخوف أصيداً

    من الموت ضلوا في السبيل فخابوا

    And the sons of Harb came to frighten a proud, unbowed man

    With death; they strayed from the path and failed.

  17. رأوا أنه يعطي الدنية خشية ال

    منية كلا إن ذاك سراب

    They thought he would accept humiliation for fear of

    Death—never! Indeed, that is a mirage.

  18. فديت الذي يستعطف القوم عتبه

    وكيف وهل يثني العتات عتاب

    I would ransom him whose reproach seeks the people's compassion;

    And how could it? Can reproach turn back the insolent?

  19. ويقرع بالوعظ الجميل مسامعاً

    وهل يسمع العجم الرعاع خطاب

    And he knocks upon ears with gracious counsel;

    And can the uncomprehending rabble hear an address?

  20. يناديهم هل من نصير فلم يكن

    سوى السمر والبيض الرقاق جواب

    He calls to them, 'Is there a helper?' Yet there was

    No answer but brown spears and slender white blades.

  21. فجر عليهم من كتائب عزمه

    كتائب حربٍ دونهن حراب

    So he drove against them, from the battalions of his resolve,

    Battalions of war, with lances before them.

  22. وأذكى لظى الهيجا عليهم وقد غدا

    على الشمس من نسج العجاج حجاب

    And he kindled battle's blaze against them, while there hung

    Over the sun a veil woven of swirling dust.

  23. وسامهم عضب الشبا فكأنهم

    فراش ومصقول الفريد شهاب

    And he assailed them with a keen-edged blade, as though they were

    Moths, while the polished, peerless blade was a shooting star.

  24. كأن لعينيه المواضي خرائد

    لها من دماء الدارعين خضاب

    As though, to his eyes, keen swords were bashful maidens,

    Whose dye was the blood of armored men.

  25. إلى أن دنا ما حتمته يد القضا

    وما خطه في العلمين كتاب

    Until what fate's hand decreed drew near,

    And what a book had inscribed among the worlds.

  26. فخر على وجه الثرى علة الورى

    فله خطب قدر عرا ومصاب

    Then the cause of all creation fell upon the face of the earth;

    So fate's calamity befell him, a grievous affliction.

  27. بنفسي عارٍ بالعراء وللعدى

    ذهاب على جثمانه وإياب

    My soul would ransom him, naked in the open, while his foes

    Come and go over his body.

  28. كرائمه للظالمين غينمةً

    وأمواله للناهبين نهاب

    His noble women were spoils for the oppressors,

    And his possessions were plunder for the pillagers.