نسالمُ هذا الدهرَ وهو لنا حَرْبُ

ونعتُبُ والأيامُ شيمَتُها العَتْبُ

We make peace with this life though it wages war against us,

And we complain though complaining is the nature of days.

ونَخطُبُ صُلحَ النَّائباتِ ولم يزَل

لأنفسِنا من خَطْبِها أبداً خَطْبُ

We seek to make peace with misfortunes, yet our own souls

Have never ceased from making complaints.

تَهُمُّ بنا أفراسُها وسيوفُها

فلا هذه تَكبو ولا هذه تَنبو

Its steeds and swords threaten us,

Yet neither can prevail nor these withdraw.

وكنا نعُدُّ المَشرفيَّةَ والقَنا

حصوناً إذا هزَّت مضاربَها الحربُ

We thought lofty homes and spear straight

Were like fortresses when shaken by war.

فلما مَضى المِقدارُ قلَّ غناؤها

فلم يمضِ حَدٌّ من ظُباها ولا غَرْبُ

But when fate passed its decree their chanting was little;

Neither their zebras nor their onagers crossed the limit.

تبلَّدَ هذا الدهرُ فيما نرومُه

على أنَّه فيما نحاذرُه نَدْبُ

This life has been clad in the mail of that which we attempt against it

While it is naked to that which we fear and avoid.

فسَيْرُ الذي يرجوه سَيْرُ مُقيَّدٍ

وسيرُ الذي يَخشى غوائلَه وَثْبُ

The course of what one hopes for is the course of a led beast,

And the course of what one fears its onslaughts is a wolf's leap.

إذا فاجأتْنا الحادثاتُ بمصرَعٍ

فليس سِوى الجَنْبِ الكريمِ لنا جَنْبُ

When misfortunes surprise us with death and destruction,

We have no equal but the noble side of death.

فعَزِّ الأميرَ التَّغِلِبيَّ ورهطَه

بمن غَرَبَتْ عنه الغَطارفَةُ الغُلْبُ

So help the prince Taghlib and his folk

Whom the overpowering fate has abandoned!

بسِّيدَةٍ عمَّت صنَائِعُها الوَرَى

فأعربَ عن معروفِها العُجْمُ والعُرْبُ

With a mistress whose works the lands universally witness

So that non-Arabs and Arabs tell of her favor,

ومُشرِفَةِ الأفعالِ لم يَحوِ مثَلها

إذا عُدِّدَ النِّسوانُ شرقٌ ولا غَربُ

The most noble of women in deeds, one whose like

Whether the women of East or West be counted, exists not.

تَساوَتْ قلوبُ الناسِ في الحُزْنِ إذ ثَوَتْ

كأنَّ قلوبَ الناسِ في موتِها قَلْبُ

Men's hearts were alike in sadness when she died

As though the hearts of men at her death were one heart.

وكانَتْ سهولُ الأرضِ دونَ هِضابِها

فلما حَواها السَّهلُ ذَلَّ له الصَّعبُ

The flat lands of earth as well as its rough parts

Were confounded when the former received her.

فإن كانَ فيمن غَيَّبَ التُّرْبُ تِربُها

فمريمُ من دونِ النساءِ لها تِربُ

If those whom the earth covers have a tomb,

Then Mary's is apart from other women's.

وطُوبى لماءِ المُزنِ لو أنَّ ظهرَها

لرَيَّقِه ما فاضَ رَيِّقُه السَّكبُ

Happy the water of Muzn! Would that her belly

Were for its draft when it flows full without check!

وأقسِمُ لو زادَتْ على المِسكِ تُربةٌ

لزادَ على المِسكِ الذكيِّ بها التُّربُ

I swear were a handful of earth added to musk

The musk for it would be the sweeter of the two.

فضائلُ يُنفِذنَ الثَّناءَ كأنما

ثَناءُ ذواتِ الفضلِ من حُسنِها ثَلْبُ

Her virtues make praise penetration as though

The praises of the virtuous were because of their fairness, booty.

لقد جاورَت من قومِ يُونُسَ مَعْشراً

أحبَّت بروحٍ لا يجاورُه كَرْبُ

She dwelt among a people of Jonah's folk a group

Who loved with a soul untouched by sorrow.

فقد بردَت تلك المضاجعُ منهم

فأشرقَ ذاك النُّورُ فيها فما يخبو

So those resting places were cooled by them.

And that light rose in them, nor does it set.

فللهِ ما ضَمَّ الثَّرى من عَفافِها

وما حَجَبْتها من طهارتِها الحُجُبُ

By God whatever earth covers of her chastity,

And whatever veils concealed of her purity!

لَئِن كان وادي الحُصنِ رحباً لقد ثوى

بعَرصَتِه المعروفُ والنائلُ الرَّحبُ

Though Wadi l-Hisn be wide, yet its meadow sufficed

For the noted man of plenty, the obtainer of breadth.

وإن عَذُبَتْ رَيَّاه أو طابَ نَشرُه

فقد مَلَّ في بطحائها الكرَمُ العَذْبُ

And if its running water is fresh or its flowery places blossom,

Still bounty has always filled its hollows and inch by inch its herbage.

عَجِبْتُ له أنّي تضمَّنَ مثلَها

ولا كِبَرٌ يَعروه ذاك ولا عُجْبُ

I am amazed that one like her should be confined in it

With no arrogance or pride, neither in him nor in it.

ولو عَلِمَت بطحاؤُّه ما تضمَّنَت

تطاولَتِ البطحاءُ وافتخرَ الشَّعبُ

Had its meadows known whom they confined

They would have aspired, and its paths boasted.

تُذالُ مصوناتُ الدموعِ إزاءَها

وتَمشي حُفاةً حولَها الرَّجْلُ والرَّكْبُ

Guarded women are degraded before her

And bare legs and feet walk around her.

فلا زالَ رَطْبُ الرَّوضِ من رَيِّقِ النَّدى

كأنَّ النَّدى من فوقِه الُّلؤلُّؤ الرَّطْبُ

Never does the meadow's moisture cease from the dripping dew,

As though the dripping upon it were implanted pearls.

أبا تغلِبٌ صبراً وما زلتَ صابراً

إذا زَلَّ حَزمٌ ثابتٌ أو هَفا لُبُّ

O Taghlib, show patience, and you have always been patient,

When a firm knot or plaited tress comes loose.

فقد أعقبَتْ منكم أُسودَ شجاعةٍ

وكم مُعقبٍ في الناسِ ليسَ له عُقْبُ

For from you has issued lions of valor,

And how many promisers among men have no tomorrow!

وأنتم جَنابُ المكرُماتِ ولم يكن

لتهفو رواسيها وإن عَظُمَ الخَطْبُ

You are the lofty palm trees of bounty,

Nor have their bases quaked however great the disaster.

فكلُّ حياً للجودِ أنتم سَحابُه

وكلُّ رحىً للحربِ أنتم لها قُطبُ

Every live rain cloud has you for its pourers,

And every mill of war has you for its pivot.

ولو أنه غيرُ الحمامِ صَببتُم

عليه سَحاباً قَطْرُهُ الطَّعنُ والضَّربُ

Had it been other than the pigeons you poured down on them

A cloud whose drippings were piercing and striking.

أرى أرضَكم أضحتْ سماءً بعزِّكم

فأنتم لها الأقمارُ والأنجمُ الشُّهبُ

I see your land has become a heaven through your glory.

So you are its suns, its moons, and its shooting stars.

تموتُ عِداكم قبلَ سَلِّ سيوفِكم

ويَفنيهِمُ من قبلِ حَربِكمُ الرُّعبُ

Your enemies die before your swords flash.

And fear of you destroys them before your war.

وكيفَ تنالُ الحربُ منكم وإنما

بأمركم تمضي العواملُ والضَّربُ

How should war afflict you when it is by your command

That fates advance and striking goes forward?

إذا أنتَ كاتبتَ العِدا مُثِّلت لها

ظُباكَ فنابت عن كتائِبك الكُتْبُ

When you register the foe as booty,

Your horses are likened to them, so the registering fails.

دعانا الأميرُ التغلبيُّ إلى النَّدى

فنحن له شَرْبُ النَّدى وهو الشُّربُ

The Taghlibi prince summoned us to the dew,

And we are the drinking of it while he is the drink.

نصاحبُ أياماً له عَدَوِيَّةً

محاسنُ أيامِ الشبابِ لها صَحْبُ

We share days whose virginity is enmity to him

While the company of the days of youth is joy.

هو الغيثُ نال الخافقَينِ نوالُه

إلى أن تساوَى عندَه البُعْدُ والقُرْبُ

He is a rain whose attainment has reached the lofty horizon

Until remoteness and nearness were equally balanced for him.

يزورُ النَّدى زُوَّارَه متواتراً

عليهم وزُوّارُ الحَيا أبداً غِبُّ

He visits the dew's visitors repeatedly

While they enjoy life, but his visitors never fail.

أأعداءَه كفُّوا فإنَّ نصيبَكم

إذا رمتُمُ إدراكَ غايتِه النَّصْبُ

Let his enemies refrain, for your share,

If you aim for his goal, is fatigue.

وليس على البحر الذي راح زاخرا

ملام إذا لم ترو ورادها القلب

No blame lies on a sea that went heavily laden

If the wishers of its shores drew no sweet water.

وهل يستوي عذْبُ المياهِ ومِلحُها

وهل يتكافا الخِصبُ في الأرضِ والجَدبُ

Can the sweetness of water equal its brine?

Can fertility in earth rival barrenness?

فإن عَجِزَ الأقوامُ أو بانَ نقصُهم

فليس لمن بانَتْ فضيلتُه ذَنبُ

If people are impotent or their flaws appear,

No blame lies with him whose merit shows.

رأيتُكَ طِبّاً للقريضِ ولم يكن

ليَنظِمَه إلا الخبيرُ به الطِّبُّ

I saw you as unripe for poetry, and none

Could compose it but one skilled, one ripe.

ولا بدَّ أن أشكو إليك ظُلامةً

وغارةَ مِغوارٍ سجيَّتُه الغَضْبُ

I needs must complain to you of darkness

And a raid of raiders whose nature is wrath,

تخيَّلَ شِعري أنه قَومُ صالحٍ

هلاكاً وأن الخالديَّ له السَّقْبُ

Who fancies my poetry a people of Salih

Promised destruction with the Eternal overthrowing it.

رعَى بين أعطانٍ له ومَسارحٍ

ولم تَرْعَ فيهنَّ العِشارُ ولا النُّجبُ

It pastured amid meadows belonging to it

Where neither the tithe collector nor nobles pastured.

وكان رياضاً غضَّةً فتكدَّرَتْ

موارِدُها واصفرَّ في تُربها العُشبُ

It was blossoming orchards that grew turbid.

Their watering places turned yellow, and the grass in its soil faded.

يُسَاقُ إلى الهُجْنِ المَقَارِفِ حَلْيُهُ

وَتُسْلَبُهُ الغُرُّ المحجَّلةُ القُبُّ

Their fine clothes were driven to the fowler's snares,

And their jewels were stripped off by the cheating cheats.

غُصِبْتُ على ديباجِه وعُقودِه

فديباجُه غَصبٌ وجوهرُه نَهبُ

I am robbed of its silver cloth and necklaces.

Its cloth is a swindle, and its pearls are plunder.

وأبكارُها شَتَّى أذيلَ مَصونُها

وريعَت عَذارها كما رُوِّع السِّربُ

Its untouched virginity is widely spent,

And its secluded places of refuge were startled like antelopes.

يعرِّيكُمُ من عَصبِه وبُرودِه

عصائبَ شَتَّى لا يَليقُ بها الغَصبُ

Baring you of loincloth and cloak,

Things unworthy of being stripped by force.

فإن رِيعَ سِربي أو تُمرِّدَ دونَه

ولم يُنجِني منه الحمايةُ والذَّبُّ

If my antelope flock rebels or evades its duty

And warding it off avails me naught,

فعندي هِناءٌ للعدوِّ يُهِينُه

إذا اختلفتْ منه خلائقُه الجُربُ

I have here a humiliation of the foe that degrades him

When his traits of character become diverse.

فكنتُ إذا ما قلتُ شِعْراً حدَت به

حُداةُ المطايا أو تغنَّت به الشَّربُ

So that whenever I uttered poetry,

The pencils of the mounted warriors creaked, or the camels sang.