سقيا لنهي حمامة وحفير — Jarir

سَقياً لِنِهيِ حَمامَةٍ وَحَفيرِ

بِسِجالِ مُرتَجِزِ الرَبابِ مَطيرِ

May rain water the pool of Hamama and Hafir,

With torrents from thundering, rain-laden cloudbanks.

سَقياً لِتِلكَ مَنازِلاً هَيَّجنَني

وَكَأَنَّ باقِيَهُنَّ وَحيُ زَبورِ

May rain water those dwellings that stirred my longing,

And their remnants seem like the writing of a book.

كَم قَد رَأَيتُ وَلَيسَ شَيءٌ باقِياً

مِن زائِرٍ طَرِفِ الهَوى وَمَزورِ

How many I have seen, though nothing remains,

Of visitors fickle in love, and those they visited.

لا تَفخَرَنَّ وَفي أَديمِ مُجاشِعٍ

حَلَمٌ فَلَيسَ سُيورُهُ بِسُيورِ

Do not boast: in Mujashiʿ's hide

Are hide-eating worms; its thongs are no true thongs.

أَبُنَيَّ شِعرَةَ لَم نَجِد لِمُجاشِعٍ

حِلماً يُوازِنُ ريشَةَ العُصفورِ

O little son of Shiʿra, we have found in Mujashiʿ no

Good sense to balance a sparrow's feather.

إِنّا لَنَعلَمُ ما غَدا لِمُجاشِعٍ

وَفدٌ وَما مَلَكوا وَثاقَ أَسيرِ

We know full well that never for Mujashiʿ went forth

A delegation, nor did they hold a captive's bonds.

ماذا رَجَوتَ مِنَ العُلالَةِ بَعدَما

نُقِضَت حِبالُكَ وَاِستَمَرَّ مَريري

What did you hope for from a last draught, after

Your ropes were unraveled and my twisted cord grew firm?

إِنَّ الفَرَزدَقَ حينَ يَدخُلُ مَسجِداً

رِجسٌ فَلَيسَ طَهورُهُ بِطَهورِ

Indeed, al-Farazdaq, when he enters a mosque,

Is filth; his cleansing water cannot cleanse.

إِنَّ الفَرَزدَقَ لا يُبالي مَحرَماً

وَدَمَ الهَدِيِّ بِأَذرُعٍ وَنُحورُ

Indeed, al-Farazdaq has no regard for anything sacred,

Nor the blood of sacrificial beasts on forelegs and throats.

رَهطُ الفَرَزدَقِ مِن نَصارى تَغلِبٍ

أَو يَدَّعي كَذِباً دَعاوَةَ زورِ

Al-Farazdaq's clan are among the Christians of Taghlib,

Or else he falsely makes a lying claim to descent.

حُجّوا الصَليبَ وَقَرِّبوا قُربانَكُم

وَخُذوا نَصيبَكُمُ مِنَ الخِنزيرِ

Make pilgrimage to the cross and present your offering,

And take your share of the swine.

إِنّي سَأُخبِرُ عَن بَلاءِ مُجاشِعٍ

مَن كانَ بِالنَخَباتِ غَيرَ خَبيرِ

Indeed, I shall tell of Mujashiʿ's deeds

To anyone unacquainted with al-Nakhabat.

أَخزى بَني وَقبانَ عُقرُ فَتاتِهِم

وَاِغتَرَّ جارُهُمُ بِحَبلِ غُرورُ

The price of their maiden's deflowering shamed the sons of Waqban,

And their protected neighbor was beguiled by a rope of deceit.

قالَ الزُبَيرُ وَأَسلَمَتهُ مُجاشِعٌ

لا خَيرَ في دَنِسِ الثِيابِ غَدورِ

Al-Zubayr said, when Mujashiʿ abandoned him:

“No good lies in a foul-clothed, treacherous man.”

يا شَبَّ قَد ذَكَرَت قُرَيشٌ غَدرَكُم

بَينَ المُحَصَّبِ مِن مِنىً وَثَبيرِ

O Shabb, Quraysh have spoken of your betrayal

Between al-Muhassab in Mina and Thabir.

وَغَدا الفَرَزدَقُ حينَ فارَقَ مِنقَراً

في غَيرِ عافِيَةٍ وَغَيرِ سُرورِ

And al-Farazdaq went forth, when he parted from Minqar,

With neither well-being nor joy.

خَزِيَ الفَرَزدَقُ بَعدَ وَقعَةِ سَبعَةٍ

كَالحِصنِ مِن وَلَدِ الأَشَدِّ ذُكورِ

Al-Farazdaq was disgraced after the battle of seven,

Fortress-like males of al-Ashadd's offspring.

أَمَّت هُنَيدَةُ خِزيَةً لِمُجاشِعٍ

إِذ أَولَمَت لَهُمُ بِشَرِّ جَزورِ

Hunayda sought disgrace for Mujashiʿ,

When she held a feast for them with the worst slaughtered camel.

رَكِبَت رَبابُكُمُ بَعيراً دارِساً

في السوقِ أَفضَحَ راكِبٍ وَبَعيرِ

Your Rabab rode a worn-out camel,

In the market—the most scandalous rider and camel.

وَدَعَت غَمامَةُ بِالوُقَيطِ مُجاشِعاً

فَوُجِدتَ يا وَقبانُ غَيرَ غَيورِ

And Ghamama called Mujashiʿ at al-Wuqayt,

So you, O Waqban, proved to have no jealousy for your honor.

كَذَبَ الفَرَزدَقُ لَن يُجارِيَ عامِراً

يَومَ الرِهانِ بِمُقرِفٍ مَبهورِ

Al-Farazdaq lied; he will never keep pace with ʿAmir

On race day, on a low-bred, winded horse.

فَاِنهَ الفَرَزدَقَ أَن يَعيبَ فَوارِساً

حَمَلوا أَباهُ عَلى أَزَبَّ نَفورِ

So forbid al-Farazdaq to disparage horsemen

Who set his father on a shaggy, skittish mount.

وَلَقَد جَهِلتَ بِشَتمِ قَيسٍ بَعدَما

ذَهَبوا بِريشِ جَناحِكَ المَكسورِ

And you acted foolishly in reviling Qays, after

They carried off the feathers of your broken wing.

قَيسٌ وَجَدُّ أَبيكَ في أَكيارِهِ

قُوّادُ كُلِّ كَتيبَةٍ جُمهورِ

Qays—while your great-grandfather is at his bellows—

Are commanders of every mighty battalion.

لَن تُدرِكوا غَطَفانَ لَو أَجرَيتُمُ

يا اِبنَ القُيونِ وَلا بَني مَنصورِ

You will never catch Ghatafan, even if you race,

O son of smiths—nor the sons of Mansur.

فَخَروا عَلَيكَ بِكُلِّ سامٍ مُعلِمٍ

فَاِفخَر بِصاحِبِ كَلبَتَينِ وَكيرِ

They outboasted you with every lofty, battle-marked warrior;

So boast of the owner of tongs and bellows.

كَم أَنجَبوا بِخَليفَةٍ وَخَليفَةٍ

وَأَميرِ صائِفَتَينِ وَاِبنِ أَميرِ

How often they produced noble offspring—caliph after caliph,

And a commander of two summer campaigns, and a commander's son.

وَلَدَ الحَواصِنُ في قُرَيشٍ مِنهُمُ

يا رُبَّ مَكرُمَةٍ وَلَدنَ وَخيرِ

Chaste women from among them bore children in Quraysh;

Oh, how much honor and goodness they bore!

فَضَلوا بِيَومِ مَكارِمِ مَعلومَةٍ

يَومٍ أَغَرَّ مُحَجَّلٍ مَشهورِ

They surpassed others with a day of well-known noble deeds,

A white-blazed, white-footed, celebrated day.

قَيسٌ تَبيتُ عَلى الثُغورِ جِيادُهُم

وَتَبيتُ عِندَ صَواحِبِ الماخورِ

Qays's steeds spend the night on the frontiers,

While you spend the night with the women of the brothel.

هَل تَذكُرونَ بَلاءَكُم يَومَ الصَفا

أَو تَذكُرونَ فَوارِسَ المَأمورِ

Do you remember your deeds on the day of al-Safa,

Or do you remember the horsemen of al-Maʾmur?

أَو دُختَنوسَ غَداةَ جُزَّ قُرونُها

وَدَعَت بِدَعوَةِ ذِلَّةٍ وَثُبورِ

Or Dukhtanus, on the morning her braids were shorn,

And she cried a cry of humiliation and ruin?

خانَ القُيونُ وَقَدَّموا يَومَ الصَفا

وِرداً فَغُوَّرَ أَسوَأَ التَغويرِ

The smiths betrayed and sent forward, on the day of al-Safa,

A watering-party, driven down in the worst of descents.

وَسَما لَقيطٌ يَومَ ذاكَ لِعامِرٍ

فَاِستَنزَلوهُ بِلَهذَمٍ مَطرورِ

And Laqit rose that day to face ʿAmir,

So they brought him down with a broad, sharpened spear.