أيَا رَاكِباً إمَّا عَرَضْتَ فَبَلِّغَنْ
تَمِيماً وَهَذَا الْحَيَّ مِنْ غَطَفَانِ
O rider, if you pass by Tamim and this clan of Ghatafan
Why didn’t you remain steadfast in attaining the noble goal?
فَمَا لَكُمُ لَوْ لَمْ تَكُونُوا فَخَرْتُمُ
بإِدْرَاكِ مَسْعَاةِ الْكِرَامِ يدَانِ
I used to be like one with two legs, one sound
And one impaired, still in its infancy
وَكُنْتُ كَذِي رِجْلَيْنِ رِجْلِ سَوِيَّةٍ
وَرِجلٍ بهَا رَيْبٌ مِنَ الْحَدَثَانِ
As for the one that was paralyzed, I strengthened it
And as for the one that was sound, I strengthened Oman
فَأمَّا الَّتِي شُلَّتْ فَأزْدُ شَنُوءَةٍ
وَأَمَا التِي صَحًّتْ فأزْدُ عُمَانِ
Ibn Harb escaped while swimming, his provisions depleted
Bleating, defeated, while the spears lunged again and again
وَنَجَّى ابْنَ حَربٍ سابِحٌ ذُو عُلالَةٍ
أجَشُّ هزِيمٌ والرّمَاحُ دوَانِ
Riding crooked-legged horses as if
He were a shah of Persia at the height of his glory
مِنَ الاعْوَجِيّاتِ الطِّوَال كَأنَّهُ
عَلَى شَرَفِ التَّقْرِيبِ شَاهُ إيرَانِ
His expert hand wielding the blacksmith’s hammer
Relieving his camels’ distress with honey and date fruits
شَدِيدٌ عَلى فَأسِ اللِّحَام شَكِيمُهُ
يُفَرّجُ عَنْه الرَّبْوَ بِالْعَسَلاَنِ
As if there were a vicious hawk under his saddle
Attempting to reach its nest in full flight
كَأنَّ عُقَاباً كَاسِراً تَحْتَ سَرْجِهِ
تُحَاوِل قُرْبَ الْوَكُرِ بِالطَّيَرَانِ
Salim, the lion, Abil, the fiery, Shunj, the intrepid
Agab, the bushy-haired, exploring the plateau
سَلِيمُ الشَّظَا عَبْلُ الشَّوَى شَنِجُ النَّسَا
أقَبُّ الْحَشَا مُسْتَطْلِعُ الرَّدَيَانِ
When I said the summits of the lofty mountains bowed down to him
His legs and feet carried him up their slopes
إذا قُلْتُ أطْرَافُ الْعَوالِي يَنَلْنَهُ
مَرَتْه بِهِ السَّاقَانِ والقَدَمَانِ
So he became like the morning star at daybreak, as if
He and it were racing to enter the same hole
فأضْحَى ضُحى من ذِي صُبَاحٍ كأنَّهُ
وَإيَّاهُ رَامَا حُفْرَةً قَلِقَانِ
With mutual love, if they would reconcile
And cease their discord, since both are kings
بِوِدّهِما لَوْ أصْبَحَا وَتَرَامَيَا
بِتَرْكِ التَّعَادِي إذْ هُمَا مَلِكَانِ
When tested with deep water, you would see him
Like the coming violent storm with billowing waves
إذا ابْتَلَ بالمَاءِ الْحَمِيمِ رَأيْتَهُ
كَقَادِمَةِ الشُّؤْبُوبِ ذِي النَّفَيَانِ
As if the shoulders of his saddle and his bridle
When drenched were dyed with red and green paint
كأنَّ جَنَابَيْ سَرْجِهِ وَلِجَامِهِ
إذا ابْتَلَّ ثَوْبا مَاتِحٍ خَضِلاَنِ
Or henna, as if his horse blanket
Was recently embellished with paint
مِنَ الوُرْدِ أوْ أحْوَى كَأنَ سَرَاتَهُ
بُعَيْدَ جَلاءِ ضُرّجَتْ بِدِهَانِ
May he reward him for the favor he had shown
When he was not disgraced at the royal court
جَزاهُ بِنُعْمَى كَانَ قَدَّمَهَا لَهُ
وَكَانَ لَدَى الاسْطَبْلِ غَيْرَ مُهَانِ
Shrewd, decisive, deliberate and quick
Like the black hyena, devourer of marrow and fat
مِكَرٌّ مِفَرٌّ مُدْبِرٌ مَعاً
كَتِيسِ ظِبَاءِ الْحُلَّبِ الْغَذَوَانِ
We did not kill donkeys, pigs, or mules
Except on the day of the battle of Awan
كَأنَّ بِمَنْهَى سَرْجِهِ وَقَطَاتِهِ
مَلاَعِبَ وِلدانِ عَلى صَفَوَانِ
Nor were the Quraysh and Aamir tribe slain
Buried at Siffin until the arbitrators ruled
حَسِبْتُمْ طِعَانَ الأشَعَرِينَ وَمَذْحِج
وَهَمْدَمَانَ أكْلَ الزبْدِ بالصّرَفَانِ
We overwhelmed them at the battle of Harir with a
Violent Yemeni army like the torrents of ‘Iran
فَمَا قُتِلَتْ عَكٌّ وَلَخْمٌ وَحِمْيَرٌ
وَعْيلاَنُ إلاَّ يَوْمَ حَرْبِ عَوَانِ
So the people of Sham raised the banners
Above which is the word of God, the best recitation
وَمَا دُفِنَتْ قَتْلَى قُرَيشٍ وَعَامِرٍ
بِصِفّينَ حَتَّى حُكِّمَ الْحَكَمَانِ
And called: “O son of the Prophet's uncle ‘Ali
Do you not fear the destruction of the two weighty ones?”
غَشِيْنَاهُمُ يَوْمَ الْهَرِيرِ بِعُصْبَةٍ
يَمَانِيَّةٍ كالسَّيْلِ سَيْلِ عِرَانِ
“Who will remain for our children and wives
And who will protect our sanctity, O youths?”
فأصْبَحَ أهْلُ الشَّامِ قد رَفَعُوا الْقَنَا
عَلَيْهَا كِتَابُ اللهِ خَيْرُ قُرَانِ
I weep for Ubayd when he stoops with his chest
The morning after battle, when the two mountains collided
وَنَادَوْا عَلِيَّا يا ابْنَ عَمّ مُحَمَّدٍ
أمَا تَتَّقِي أنْ يَهْلِكَ الثَّقَلاَنِ
And we continued to weep for Dhi’l Kila and Hawshab
Whenever the two moons were mentioned
فَمَنْ للذَّرَارِي بَعْدَها ونِسَائِنَا
وَمَنْ لِلْحَرِيمِ أيُّهَا الْفَتَيَانِ
And Malik, Laljlaj, Sakhr and the young man
Muhammad, for whom the two seas overflowed
أبَكِّي عُبَيْداً إذْ يَنُوءُ بِصَدْرِهِ
غَدَاةَ الْوَغَى يَوْمَ التَقَى الْجَبَلانِ
So do not let your confusion lead you astray
And He has given you glad tidings of His victory in Paradise
وَبِتْنَا نُبَكِّي ذَا الكُلاَعِ وَحَوْشَبَا
إذا مَا أنَى أنْ يُذْكَرَ الْقَمَرَانِ
The cavalry of Hamdan never stopped trampling them
Chestnut and others, their origins unclear
وَمَالِكَ واللَّجْلاَجَ والصَّخْرَ والفَتَى
مُحَمَّداً قَدْ دَلَّتْ لَهُ الصَّدَفَانِ
So they stood up three times, while the birds
Ate from them, leaving only half their faces
فَلاَ تَبْعُُوا لَقَّاكُمْ اللهُ حَيْرَةً
وَبَشَّرَكُمْ مِنْ نَصْرِهِ بِجِنَانِ
The low-born sons of slave women did not expect
Any noble, easy going Yemeni youth
وَمَا زَالَ مِنْ هَمْدَانَ خَيْلٌ تَدُوسُهُمْ
سِمَانٌ وَأُخْرَى غَيْرُ جِدّ سِمَانِ
Whoever sees our two cavalry meet at dawn would say
Two mountains, Jailan and Jailan, collide
فَقَامُوا ثَلاثاً يأكُلُ الطيْرُ مِنْهُمُ
عَلَى غَيْرِ نَصْفِ والأنُوف دَوَانِ
As if they were two fires inside a coal-black darkness
With no wood, blazing till dawn
وَمَا ظَنَّ أوْلاَد الإمَاء بَنُو استْهَا
بِكُلّ فَتّى رِخْوِ النِّجَادِ يَمَانِ
A lightning-like stallion stained with blood
Whose direction is revealed by a flash lighting the horizons
فَمَنْ يَرَى خَيْلَيْنَا غَدَاةً تَلاقَيَا
يَقُلْ جَبَلاَ جَيْلاَنَ يَنْتَطِحَانِ
It gives generously when it gallops and flows gracefully when it glides
Wearing a coat no fleas can penetrate
كَأنَّهُمَا نَارَانِ في جَوْفِ غَمْرَةٍ
بِلاَ حَطَبٍ حَدَّ الضحَى تَقِدَانِ
We killed and spared lives, and not everything you see
Results from the power of the scatterer who enjoys basil
وَعَارِضَةٍ برَّاقَةٍ صَوْبُهَا دَمٌ
تَكَشَّفَ عَنْ بَرْقٍ لَهَا الأفُقَانِ
The Thaqif tribe fled, so God scattered them
To the Mount of Olives and the Tar Hills
تَجُودُ إذَا جَادَتْ وَتَجْلَو إذَا انْجَلتْ
بِلُبْسٍ وَلاَ يَحْمَى لَهَا كَرَبَانِ
It was as if I saw them throwing off their clothes
In panic and fear, chased away
قَتَلْنَا وَأبْقَيْنَا وَمَا كُل مَا تَرَى
بِكَفّ المُذَرّي يأكُلُ الرَّحَيَانِ
Oh what sorrow that I could not witness them
To bite their flesh with my teeth
وَفَرَّتْ ثَقِيفٌ فَرَّق اللهُ جَمْعَها
إلى جَبَلِ الزَّيْتُونِ والْقَطَرَانِ
As for the Bani Nasr tribe, their refugees fled
To the Salatan marshes and the Ajlan valley
كَأنِّي أرَاهُمْ يَطْرَحُونَ ثِيَابَهُمْ
مِنَ الرَّوْعِ والْخَيْلاَنِ يطَّرِدَانِ
The Tamim tribe fled them, Sa’d and Rabab
To where the sour and the jujube trees grow
فَيَا حَزَناً ألاَّ أكُونَ شَهِدتُهُمْ
فأدْهُنَ مِنْ شَحْمِ العبيد سِنَاني
The Bani Widd tribe stubbornly resisted the banners
To Abil in humiliation and disgrace
وأَمَّا بَنُو نَصْرٍ فَفَرَّ شَرِيدُهُمْ
إلى الصَّلَتَانِ الخُورِ والعَجلاَنِ
وَفَرَّتْ تَمِيمٌ سَعْدُها وَرَبَابُهَا
إلى حَيْثُ يَضْفُو الْحِمْضُ والشَّبَهَانِ
وَصَدَّتْ بَنُو وِدّ صُدُوداً عَنِ القَنَا
إلى آبِلٍ فِي ذِلَّةٍ وَهَوَانِ
