قَلَّ في شَطِّ نَهرَوانَ اِغتِماضي
وَدَعاني هَوى العُيونِ المِراضِ
My passion diminished at the banks of the Euphrates,
And the love of eyes afflicted me.
فَتَطَرَّبتُ لِلهَوى ثُمَّ أَقصَر
تُ رِضاً بِالتُقى وَذو البِرِّ راضي
So I rejoiced in passion, then grew short
Of righteousness, while the righteous were pleased.
وَأَراني المَليكُ رُشدي وَقَد كُن
تُ أَخا عُنجُهِيَّةٍ وَاِعتِراضِ
The King showed me the right way when I was
A brother of ungainliness and waywardness,
غَيرَ ما ريبَةٍ سِوى رَيَّقِ الغِرْ
رَةِ ثُمَّ اِرعَوَيتُ عِندَ البَياضِ
Beyond any doubt except the groves of the sand dunes.
Then I rested at the expanses of whiteness.
لاتَ هَنا ذِكرى بُلَهنِيَةِ الدَه
رِ وَأَنّى ذِكرى السِنينَ المَواضي
No memories here of the bygone days of youth,
And how can there be memories of years long past?
فَاِذهَبوا ما إِلَيكُمُ خَفَضَ الحِل
مُ عِناني وَعُرِّيَت أَنقاضي
So be gone what bows my determination
And exposes my ruins.
وَذَهَلتُ الصَبا وَأَرشَدَني اللَ
هُ بِدَهرٍ ذي مِرَّةٍ وَاِنتِقاضِ
I lost my youth and Allah guided me
Through an age of bitterness and decay.
وَجَرى بِالَّذي أَخافُ مِنَ البَي
نِ لَعينٌ يُنوضُ كُلَّ مَناضِ
And what I fear of evil has come to pass-
An eye that awakes every slumberer.
صَيدَحِيُّ الضُحى كَأَنَّ نَساهُ
حينَ يَجتَثُّ رِجلَهُ في إِباضِ
At daybreak he is like one who forgets,
When he pulls out his foot in the sand drifts,
سَوفَ تُدنيكَ مِن لَميسَ سَبَنتا
ةٌ أَمارَت بِالبَولِ ماءَ الكِراضِ
You will be brought closer by a smooth rock
That indicated rainwater in the fragments.
أَضمَرتَتهُ عِشرينَ يَوماً وَنيلَت
حينَ نيلَت يَعارَةً في عِراضِ
You hid it for twenty days and attained it
When you attained a loan amid the barren land.
فَهيَ قَوداءُ نُفِّجَت عَضُداها
عَن زَحاليقِ صَفصَفٍ ذي دَحاضِ
She is hump-backed, her shoulders laid bare
By the rubbing of a rugged saddlecloth.
عَوسَرَ أَنِيَّةٌ إِذا اِنتَفَضَ الخِم
سُ نِطافَ الفَظيظِ أَيَّ اِنتِفاضِ
A she-ass difficult when the unkempt one rises,
What rising by the one full of piercing cries!
وَأَوَت بِلَّةُالكَظومِ إِلى الفَظْ
ظِ وَجالَت مَعاقِدُ الأَرباضِ
The mangy camel went to the broken land
And the camel-litters swayed.
مِثلُ عَيرِ الفَلاةِ شاخَسَ فاهُ
طولُ كَدمِ القَطا وَطولُ العِضاضِ
Like a beast of the desert, long of mouth
Like the arm of the wild cat and long of fang,
صُنتُعُ الحاجِبَينِ خَرَّطَهُ البَق
لُ بَدِيّاً قَبلَ اِستِكاكِ الرِياضِ
Whose joined eyebrows cut furrows
In the plain before the irrigation canals were dug.
فَهوَ خِلوُ الأَعصالِ إِلّا مِنَ الما
ءِ وَمَلهودِ بارِضٍ ذي اِنهِياضِ
So it is empty of vegetation except for water
And waved about in a barren land prone to decay.
وَيَظَلُّ المَلِيَّ يوفي عَلى القَر
نِ عَذوباً كَالحُرضَةِ المُستَفاضِ
And the salty ground continues being sweet
Like a well-watered meadow.
يَرعَمُ الشَمسَ أَن تَميل بِمِثل ال
جَبءِ جَأبٌ مُقَذَّفٌ بِالنِحاضِ
The sun disdains to incline with the likes
Of the idiot, an idiot pelted with dung.
وَخَوِيِّ سَهلٍ يُثيرُ بِهِ القَو
مُ رِباضاً لِلعَينِ بَعدَ رِباضِ
And the emptiness of a plain it disturbs,
In which the tribe raises a campsite after one decayed.
وَقِلاصاً لَم يَغذُهُنَّ غَبوقٌ
دائِماتِ النَجيمِ وَالإِنقاضِ
And huts that were not fed by continual rain
Everlasting, being taken down and rebuilt.
وَمَحاريجَ مِن سِعارٍ وَغينٍ
وَغَماليلِ مُدجَناتِ الغِياضِ
And caves of brushwood and rush
And bathing hollows made by hands long indicted to tillage.
مُلبَساتِ القَتامِ يُمسي عَلَيها
مِثلُ ساجي دَواجِنِ الحَرّاضِ
Clad in darkness they retire at night
Like the nesting places of wild bustards.
فَتَرى الكُدرَ في مَناكِبِها الغُب
رِ رَذايا مِن بَعدِ طولِ اِنقِضاضِ
Thus you see the sediment on their shoulders,
Flakes from long accumulation and downfall.
كَبَقايا الثُوى نُبِذنَ مِنَ الصَي
فِ جُنوحاً بِالجَرِّ ذي الرَضراضِ
Like remnants of adobe, cast away
From the sheepfold, broken pieces with cracks.
أَو كَمَجلوحِ جِعثِنِ بَلَّةُ القَط
ر فَأَضحى مُوَدِّسَ الأَعراضِ
Or like a wounded carcass, the mangy
Camel has become consecrated ground.
قَد تَجاوَزتُها بِهَضّاءَ كَالجَنَّ
ةِ يُخفونَ بَعضَ قَرعِ الوِفاضِ
I have avoided them in favor of a garden
Whose keepers conceal some of its overflowing produce.
إِنَّنا مَعثَرٌ شَمائِلُنا الصَب
رُ إِذا الخَوفُ مالَ بِالأَحفاضِ
We are a people whose nature is forbearance
When fear touches those who attack in haste.
نُصُرٌ لِلذَليلِ في نَدوَةِ الحَي
يِ مَرائيبُ لِلثَأى المُنهاضِ
A help to the lowly in the time of distress,
Dreaded by those who roam afar.
لَم يَفُتنا بِالوِترِ قَومٌ وَلِلضَي
مِ رِجالٌ يَرضَونَ بِالإِغماضِ
No people withheld their full measure from us,
Nor men who are content with pretended blindness.
فيهِمُ سَطوَةٌ إِذا الحِلمُ لَم يُق
بَل وَفيهِم تَجاوُزٌ وَتَغاضي
Among them are violence, if patience is not shown,
And among them are pardoning and overlooking.
مَن يَرُم جَمعَهُم يَجدهُم مَراجي
حَ حُماةً لِلعُزَّلِ الأَحراضِ
Whoever seeks to confront them will find them
Protectors of the weak from every aggressor.
طَيِّبي أَنفُسٍ إِذا رَهِبوا الغا
رَةَ نَمشي إِلى الحُتوفِ القَواضي
Good-natured folk when they dread
Transgression, we walk to judges of renown.
فَسَلِ الناسَ إِن جَهِلتَ وَإِن شِئ
تَ فبَينَنا وَبَينَكَ قاضي
So ask the people, if you do not know,
And if you wish, between us stands a judge.
هَل عَدَتنا ظَعينَةٌ تَطلُبُ العَزْ
زمِنَ الناسِ في الخُطوبِ المَواضي
Have you deemed us a hostile tribe,
Seeking glory from men in times of distress?
كَم عَدُوٍّ لَنا قُراسِيَةِ العِزْ
زِ تَرَكنا لَحماً عَلى أَوفاضِ
How many a foe, hardy and bold,
Whom we left as flesh on hooked poles!
وَجَلَبنا إِلَيهِمُ الخَيلَ فَاِقتي
ضَ حِماهُم وَالحَربُ ذاتُ اِقتِياضِ
And we brought the horses back to them
When war, devourer of mankind, was kindled among them,
بِجِلادٍ يَفري الشُؤونَ وَطَعنٍ
مِثلِ إيزاغِ شامِذاتِ المَخاضِ
With courage which makes disasters recoil
And a thrust like the blow of a mare in labor,
ذي فُروغٍ يَظَلُّ مِن زَبَدِ الجَو
فِ عَلَيهِ كَثامِرِ الحُمّاضِ
Flashing, with the spittle continuing
On it like the fruit of myrobalan.
نَقَبَت عَنهُمُ الحُروبُ فَذاقوا
بَأسَ مُستَأصِلِ العِدى مُبتاضِ
War tried them, so they tasted
The might of one who exterminates foes without relenting,
كُلُّ مُستَأنِسٍ إِلى المَوتِ قَد خا
ضَ إِلَيهِ بِالسَيفِ كُلَّ مَخاضِ
Every one devoted to death was laid low
By the sword, like the labor of every child bearing.
لا يَني يُخمِضُ العُدُوَّ وَذو الخُلْ
لَ ةِ يُشفى صَداهُ بِالإِحماضِ
It does not refrain from destroying the foe
And the base one is cured by shedding his blood.
حينَ طابَت شَرائِعُ المَوتِ وَالمَو
تُ مِراراً يَكونُ عَذبَ الحِياضِ
When the laws of death were made pleasant
And death was made often delectably sweet.
بِاللَواتي لَم يَترِكنَ عَقاقاً
وَالمَذاكي يَنهَضنَ أَيَّ اِنتِهاضِ
By the blades which left no limb unsevered
And the deadly strokes rising with any rising.
تِلكَ أَحسابُنا إِذا اِحتَتَنَ الخَص
لُ وَمُدَّ المَدى مَدى الأَغراضِ
Such are our ways when the fight grows hot
And the period of inveterate hate grows long.
