مَاضر جيران نجدٍ حينما بَعُدوا

مَاضر جيران نجدٍ حينما بَعُدوا

لو أنهم وجدوا مثلَ الذي أجدُ

لو أنهم وجدوا مثلَ الذي أجدُ

What harm would it have done Najd’s neighbors, when they went away,

What harm would it have done the neighbors of Najd, when they went far away,

if only they had felt the like of what I feel?

if they had felt the same as I feel?

ومَنْ اباح لهل الدمنتين دمي

ومَنْ اباح لهل الدمنتين دمي

مَا فيه لاَدية منهم ولاَ قوَد

مَا فيه لاَدية منهم ولاَ قوَد

And who gave the folk of the two deserted camps leave to spill my blood,

And who allowed the people of the two ruined camps to shed my blood,

with neither blood money nor vengeance owed by them?

with neither blood-money from them nor retribution for it?

قل للقصائد خفي واذملي وَخدي

قل للقصائد خفي واذملي وَخدي

مثلَ النجائب في القفر الذي يخدُ

مثلَ النجائب في القفر الذي يخدُ

Tell the odes: speed lightly on, press swiftly, race

Tell the poems: hasten, trot, and stride swiftly,

like noble she-camels coursing through the empty waste.

like noble she-camels striding through the wilderness.

قصى الحديثَ عن المنصور ما فعلَتْ

قصى الحديثَ عن المنصور ما فعلَتْ

جنودُه وعن القوم الذي حشدوا

جنودُه وعن القوم الذي حشدوا

Relate the tale of al-Manṣūr—what was done

Relate the tale of al-Mansur—what was done

by his soldiers—and of the host they mustered.

by his troops—and of the people who mustered.

لقيتَهم بجنودٍ لا عديد لها

لقيتَهم بجنودٍ لا عديد لها

وهم كذلك حند ما لهَا عددُ

وهم كذلك حند ما لهَا عددُ

I met them with troops beyond all reckoning,

You met them with troops beyond counting,

and they likewise had hosts without number.

and they too were an army without number.

فزلزل الرعبُ أيديهم وارجلَهم

فزلزل الرعبُ أيديهم وارجلَهم

حتّى السماء رأوها غيرَ ما عهدوا

حتّى السماء رأوها غيرَ ما عهدوا

Then terror made their hands and feet quake,

Then terror shook their hands and feet,

until even the sky looked unlike the sky they knew.

until they saw the sky unlike what they had known.

وَلُّوا كأن الذي يلقى بهم أسداً

وَلُّوا كأن الذي يلقى بهم أسداً

فعاد ثعلب قفرٍ ذلك الأسد

فعاد ثعلب قفرٍ ذلك الأسد

They turned and fled—as though whoever met them had met a lion;

They fled; he who went into battle with them had seemed a lion,

but that lion became a fox of the wilderness.

then that lion returned as a fox of the wilderness.

ومَنْ يلومُ أميراً فرَّ مِنْ مَلِكٍ

ومَنْ يلومُ أميراً فرَّ مِنْ مَلِكٍ

لا ذا كذاك ولا كالخِنْصِر والعَضُدُ

لا ذا كذاك ولا كالخِنْصِر والعَضُدُ

And who can blame a prince who fled before a king?

And who can blame an emir who fled from a king?

This one is not like that one, nor the little finger the upper arm.

This is not like that, nor is the little finger like the upper arm.

متشعر بعمامةٍ معقودة

متشعر بعمامةٍ معقودة

لو بعثرت مَلَتِ الفضاء خميرا

لو بعثرت مَلَتِ الفضاء خميرا

A poetaster in a tightly knotted turban—

A would-be poet in a knotted turban—

were it unwound, it would fill the open expanse like leavened dough.

if shaken out, it would fill the air with leaven.

وأبوك عطارٌ فما بال ابنه

وأبوك عطارٌ فما بال ابنه

يهدي الصِنان إلى الرجال بخورا

يهدي الصِنان إلى الرجال بخورا

Your father is a perfumer—what, then, ails his son,

And your father is a perfumer—why, then, does his son

that he offers men armpit-stench for incense?

offer men rank body odor as incense?