عرفت الدار بعد بلى الخيام — Jarir

عَرَفتُ الدارَ بَعدَ بَلى الخِيامِ

سُقيتَ نِجاءَ مُرتَجِزٍ رُكامِ

I recognized the dwelling after the tents had decayed.

May you be watered by the heavy rain of a thundering, piled-up cloud.

كَأَنَّ أَخا اليَهودِ يَخُطُّ وَحياً

بِكافٍ في مَنازِلِها وَلامِ

As though a man of the Jews were inscribing a script

With a kaf and a lam among its dwelling-sites.

وَقاطَعتُ الغَوانِيَ بَعدَ وَصلٍ

فَقَد نَزَعَ الغَيورُ عَنِ اِتِّهامي

And I parted from the beauties after intimacy,

For the jealous man has ceased accusing me.

تَنازَعنا بِجِدَّتِها حِبالاً

فَنينَ بِلىً وَصِرنَ إِلى رِمامِ

We tugged at bonds while they were fresh;

They wore away with age and turned to tatters.

وَقَد خُبِّرتُهُنَّ يَقُلنَ فانٍ

فَلا يَنظُرنَ مِن خَلَلِ القِرامِ

And I have been told they say, 'He is worn out,'

So they do not peer through gaps in the curtain.

وَقَد أَقصَرتُ عَن طَلَبِ الغَواني

وَقَد آذَنَّ حَبلِيَ بِاِنصِرامِ

And I have ceased pursuing beautiful women,

And they have announced the severing of my bond.

إِذا حَدَّثتُهُنَّ هَزِئنَ مِنّي

وَلا يَغشَينَ رَحلي في المَنامِ

Whenever I speak to them, they mock me,

Nor do they visit my camp in dreams.

لَقَد نَزَلَ الفَرَزدَقُ دارَ سَعدٍ

لَيالِيَ لا يَعِفُّ وَلا يُحامي

Indeed, al-Farazdaq lodged in the dwelling of Sa'd,

For nights, neither chaste nor protective.

إِذا ما رُمتَ وَيلَ أَبيكَ سَعداً

لَقيتَ صِيالَ مُقرَمَةٍ سَوامِ

If you set your sights on Sa'd—woe to your father!—

You meet the charge of prized breeding camels at pasture.

وَهُم جَرَّوا بَناتِ أَبيكَ غَصباً

وَما تَرَكوا لِجارِكَ مِن ذِمامِ

And they dragged away your father's daughters by force,

And left your neighbor no protection.

وَإِنَّكَ لَو سَأَلتَ بِنا بَحيراً

وَأَصحابَ المَجَبَّةِ عَن عِصامِ

And if you were to ask Bahir about us,

And the men of al-Majabba about 'Isam,

وَذا الجَدَّينِ أَزهَقَتِ العَوالي

وَكُلُّ مُقَلِّصٍ قَلِقِ الحِزامِ

And Dhu al-Jaddayn was slain by the spearheads

And by every lean steed with its girth shifting.

رَجَعنَ بِهانِئٍ وَأَصَبنَ بِشراً

وَيَومُ الصَمدِ يَومُ لَهىً عِظامِ

They returned with Hani' and struck Bishr,

And the day of al-Samad was a day of mighty spoils.

وَعاوٍ قَد تَعَرَّضَ لي مُتاحٍ

فَدَقَّ جَبينَهُ حَجَرُ المُرامي

And a howler, delivered by fate, confronted me,

So the stone-thrower's rock crushed his forehead.

ضَغا الشُعَراءُ حينَ رَأوا مُدِلّاً

إِذا اِمتَدَّ الأَعِنَّةُ ذا اِعتِزامِ

The poets howled when they saw a self-assured man,

Firm in resolve whenever the reins stretched taut.

فَلَمّا قَتَّلَ الشُعَراءَ غَمّاً

أَضَرَّ بِهِم وَأَمسَكَ بِالكِظامِ

So when he had slain the poets with anguish,

He harried them and gripped them by the throat.

قَتَلتُ التَغلِبِيَّ وَطاحَ قِردٌ

هَوى بَينَ الحَوالِقِ وَالحَوامي

I killed the Taghlibi, and a monkey tumbled,

Plunging between towering peaks and sheltering heights.

وَلِاِبنِ البارِقِيَّ قُدِرتُ حَتفاً

وَأَقصَدتُ البَعيثَ بِسَهمِ رامي

And I was ordained as death for Ibn al-Bariqi,

And struck al-Ba'ith dead with an archer's arrow.

وَأَطلَعتُ القَصائِدَ طَودَ سَلمى

وَصَدَّعَ صاحِبَي شُعَبى اِنتِقامي

And I sent the odes up Mount Salma,

And my vengeance shattered the two companions of Shu'ba.

أَلَسنا نَحنُ قَد عَلِمَت مَعَدٌّ

نَمُدُّ مَقادَةَ اللَجِبِ اللُهامِ

Are we not the ones—Ma'add knows well—

Who lead the clamorous, mighty host?

نُقيمُ عَلى ثُغورِ بَني تَميمٍ

وَنَصدَعُ بَيضَةَ المَلِكِ الهُمامِ

We hold the frontiers of the sons of Tamim,

And split the valiant king's helmet.

وَكُنتُم تَأمَنونَ إِذا أَقَمنا

وَإِن نَظعَن فَمالَكَ مِن مَقامِ

And you felt safe whenever we stayed,

But if we move away, you have nowhere to remain.

وَنَحنُ الذائِدونَ إِذا جَبُنتُم

عَنِ السَبيِ المُصَبِّحِ وَالسَوامِ

And we are the defenders when you turn coward,

Of captives driven at dawn and grazing herds.

تُفَدّينا نِساؤُكُم إِذا ما

رَقَصنَ وَقَد رَفَعنَ عَنِ الخِدامِ

Your women pledge themselves as ransom for us whenever

They hurry, having lifted their skirts above their anklets.

تَنوطونَ العِلابَ وَلَم تَعُدّوا

لِيَومِ الرَوعِ صَلصَلَةَ اللِجامِ

You hang up milking-bowls, but have not prepared

For the clatter of bridles on the day of terror.

وَيَومَ الشِيَّطَينِ حُبارَياتٌ

وَأَشرَدُ بِالوَقيطِ مِنَ النَعامِ

And on the day of al-Shiyyatayn, you were bustards,

And at al-Waqit, more prone to flee than ostriches.

وَنازَلنا اِبنَ كَبشَةَ قَد عَلِمتُم

وَذا القَرنَينِ وَاِبنَ أَبي قَطامِ

And we fought Ibn Kabsha, as you well know,

And Dhu al-Qarnayn and Ibn Abi Qatam.

وَساقَ اِبنَي هُجَيمَةَ يَومَ غَولٍ

إِلى أَسيافِنا قَدَرُ الحِمامِ

And on the day of Ghawl, the two sons of Hujayma were driven

To our swords by the decree of death.

وَلِلهِرماسِ قَد تَرَكوا مِجَرّاً

لِطَيرٍ يَعتَفينَ دَمَ الَحامِ

And for al-Hirmas they left a trail of dragging,

For birds to seek the defender's blood.

فَقَتَّلنا جَبابِرَةً مُلوكاً

وَأَطلَقنا المُلوكَ عَلى اِحتِكامِ

So we slaughtered tyrants who were kings,

And freed kings on terms of our choosing.

سَتَخزى ما حَيِيتَ وَلا يُحَيّا

إِذا ما مِتَّ قَبرُكَ بِالسَلامِ

You will be disgraced as long as you live, and none will greet

Your grave with peace when you die.

وَلو مُتنا لَشَدَّ عَلَيكَ قَبري

بِسُمومٍ مَضارِبُهُ حُسامِ

And even if we died, my grave would attack you

With venom whose striking edges are keen blades.

وَإِن صَدى المِقَرَّ بِهِ مُقيمٌ

يُنادي الذُلَّ بَعدَ كَرى النِيامِ

And the death-owl of the one laid there remains,

Crying disgrace after the sleepers have sunk in slumber.

سَقى جَدَثَ الزُبَيرِ وَلا سَقاهُم

بَعيجُ الوَدقِ مُنهَمِرُ الغَمامِ

May al-Zubayr's grave, but not theirs, be watered

By bursting rain and torrents from the clouds.

لِأَعظَمِ غَدرَةٍ نَفَشوا لِحاهُم

غَداةَ العِرقِ أَسفَلَ مِن سَنامِ

For the greatest treachery they fluffed out their beards,

On the morning at al-'Irq, below Sanam.

تَلومُكُمُ العُصاةُ وَآلُ حَربٍ

وَرَهطُ مُحَمَّدٍ وَبَنو هِشامِ

The rebels reproach you, and the house of Harb,

And Muhammad's kin and the sons of Hisham.

وَلو نَزَلَ الزُبَيرُ بِنا لَجَلّى

زِيادُ فَوارِسي رَهَجَ القَتامِ

Had al-Zubayr lodged among us, they would have dispersed—

My many horsemen—the swirling haze of dust.

لَخافوا أَن تَلومَهُمُ قُرَيشٌ

فَرَدّوا الخَيلَ دامِيَةَ الكِلامِ

They would have feared that Quraysh would reproach them,

And driven the horses back with bleeding wounds.

وَخالي اِبنُ الأَشَدِّ سَما بِسَعدٍ

فَجاوَزَ يَومَ ثَيتَلَ وَهوَ سامي

And my maternal uncle, Ibn al-Ashadd, raised Sa'd high,

Then passed beyond on the day of Thaytal, still rising.

فَأَورَدَهُم مُسَلَّحَتَي تِياسٍ

حَظيظٌ بِالرَياسَةِ وَالغِنامِ

Then he brought them to the two garrisons of Tiyas,

Fortunate in leadership and spoils.

قُفَيرَةُ وَهيَ أَلأَمُ أُمُّ قَومٍ

تَوَفّى في الفَرَزدَقِ سَبعَ آمِ

Qufayra, the vilest mother of a people,

Completes seven slave-women in al-Farazdaq's ancestry.

بَدا شِبهُ الزُبابَةِ في بَنيها

وَعِرقٌ مِن قُفَيرَةَ غَيرُ نامي

The shrew's likeness appeared in her sons,

And an unflourishing strain from Qufayra.

فَإِنَّ مُجاشِعاً فَتَعَرَّفوهُم

بَنو جَوخى وَخَجخَجَ وَالقِذامِ

For Mujashi'—recognize them well—

Are the sons of Jawkha, Khajkhaj, and al-Qidham.

وَأُمُّهُمُ خَضافِ تَدارَكَتهُم

بِذَحلٍ في القُلوبِ وَفي العِظامِ

And their mother Khadaf overtook them

With a blood-grudge in their hearts and bones.

مَتى تَأتِ الرُصافَةَ تَخزَ فيها

كَخِزيِكَ في المَواسِمِ كُلَّ عامِ

Whenever you come to al-Rusafa, you are disgraced there,

As you are at the seasonal gatherings every year.

تَلَفَّتُ وَهيَ تَحتَكَ يا اِبنَ قَينٍ

إِلى الكيرَينَ وَالفَأسِ الكَهامِ

She looks back, beneath you, O son of a smith,

Toward the two bellows and the blunt axe.

تُفَدِّي عامَ بيعَ لَها جُبَيرٌ

وَتَزعُمُ أَنَّ ذَلِكَ خَيرُ عامِ

She would ransom the year when Jubayr was sold to her,

And claims that it was the best year.

وَلَم تُدرِك بِقَتلِ أَبيكَ فيهِم

وَلا بِعَريشِ أُمِّكُمُ الحُطامِ

And you gained nothing through your father's killing among them,

Nor through your mother's ramshackle hut.

لَقَد رَحَلَ اِبنُ شِعرَةَ نابَ سَوءٍ

تَعَضُّ عَلى المَوارِكِ وَالزِمامِ

Ibn Shi'ra has indeed saddled a vicious old she-camel,

Biting at the saddle's thigh-rests and the rein.