أَهلاً وَسَهلاً بِكَ مِن رَسولِ
جِئتَ بِما يَشفي مِنَ الغَليلِ
Welcome—glad welcome to you as a messenger!
You have brought what heals the burning thirst,
بِجُملَةٍ تُغني عَن التَفصيلِ
بِرَأسِ إِسحقَ بنِ إِسمعيلِ
In one compact report that makes detail needless:
The head of Ishaq ibn Ismail,
قَهراً بِلا خَتلٍ وَلا تَطويلِ
جاوَزَ نَهرَ الكُرِّ بِالخُيولِ
Taken by force, without guile or delay.
He crossed the Kurr River with the cavalry,
تَردي بِفِتيانٍ كَأُسدِ الغيلِ
مُعَوَّداتٍ طَلَبَ الذُحولِ
Racing with young warriors like lions of the thicket,
Horses inured to pursuing blood vengeance,
خُزرِ العُيونِ طَيِّبي النُصولِ
شُعثٌ عَلى شُعثٍ مِن الفُحولِ
Narrow-eyed, with excellent blades,
Tousle-haired, mounted on gaunt stallions—
جَيشٌ يَلُفُّ الحَزنَ بِالسُهولِ
كَأَنَّهُ مُعتَلِجُ السُيولِ
An army enveloping rough country and plains,
As though it were floodwaters surging into one another.
يَسوسُهُ كَهلٌ مِن الكُهولِ
لا يَنثَني لِلصَعبِ وَالذَلولِ
A seasoned man among seasoned men commands it,
Turning aside for neither hardship nor ease,
عَلى أَغَرَّ واضِحِ الحُجولِ
حَتّى إِذا أَصحَرَ لِلمَخذولِ
On a horse with a white blaze and gleaming stockings.
Then, when he came into the open against the forsaken foe,
ناجَزَهُ بِصارِمٍ صَقيلِ
ضَرباً طِلَحفاً لَيسَ بِالقَليلِ
He engaged him with a burnished sword,
Dealing crushing blows, by no means few,
وَمَنجَنيقٍ مِثلِ حَلقِ الفيلِ
تَرفَضُّ عَن خُرطومِهِ الطَويلِ
And with a mangonel like an elephant’s throat,
From whose long trunk burst and scattered
صَواعِقٌ مِن حَجَرِ السِجّيلِ
تَترُكُ كَيدَ القَومِ في تَضليلِ
Thunderbolts—stones of sijjīl—
Sending the enemy’s stratagem astray.
ما كانَ إِلّا مِثلُ رَجعِ القيلِ
حَتّى اِنجَلَت عَن حِزبِهِ المَفلولِ
It was no more than the echo of a word,
Until the field cleared, revealing his shattered host,
وَعَن نِساءٍ حُسَّرٍ ذُهولِ
صَوارِخٍ يَعثُرنَ في الذُيولِ
And bareheaded women, stunned,
Shrieking and stumbling over their trailing hems,
ثَواكِلِ الأَولادِ وَالبُعولِ
لا وَالَّذي يُعرَفُ بِالعُقولِ
Bereft of children and husbands.
No—by Him apprehended through the intellect,
مِن غَيرِ تَحديدٍ وَلا تَمثيلِ
ما قامَ لِلَّهِ وَلِلرَسولِ
Without delimitation or comparison—
No one has arisen for God and the Messenger,
بِالدينِ وَالدُنيا وَبِالتَنزيلِ
خَليفَةٌ كَجَعفَرَ المَأمولِ
For religion, the world, and Revelation,
As caliph, like Ja‘far, the hoped-for one.
