أيا عَيْنُ بَكّي تَوْبَةَ بن حُمَيِّرِ

بسَحٍّ كَفَيْضِ الجَدْوَلِ المُتَفَجّرِ

O eye, weep for Tubba son of Humayyir

With copious tears like a gushing stream

لِتَبْكِ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ خَفَاجَةٍ نِسْوَةٌ

بماءِ شُؤُونِ العَبْرَةِ المُتَحَدِّرِ

So that some ladies may weep for him

With flowing tears of sorrow

سَمِعْنَ بِهَيْجا أزهَقَتْ فَذَكَرْنَهُ

ولا يَبْعَثُ الأَحْزانَ مِثْلُ التّذَكُّرِ

They heard his passionate cry and it reminded them

For nothing evokes sorrow like remembrance

كأنَّ فَتى الفِتْيانِ تَوْبَةَ لَمْ يَسِرْ

بِنَجْدٍ ولَمْ يَطْلُعْ مَعَ المُتَغَوِّرِ

It was as if the finest of young men, Tubba, had not traveled

Through Najd or rode out at dawn

ولَمْ يَرِدِ الماءَ السِّدامَ إذا بَدا

سَنا الصُّبْح في بادِي الجَواشي مُوَّرِ

He did not fetch sweet water when it appeared

Beautiful in the morning in the sandy wilderness

ولَمْ يَغْلِبِ الخَصْمَ الضِّجاجَ ويَمْلأ

الجِفانَ سَدِيفاً يَوْمَ نَكْباءَ صَرْصَرِ

He did not defeat his clamorous opponent and fill

The leather buckets on the day of great turmoil

ولَمْ يَعْلُ بالجُرْدِ الجِيادِ يَقُودُها

بسُرَّةَ بَيْنَ الأَشْمَساتِ فأَيْصُرِ

He did not know horses with armor that he led

Joyfully between encampments, so skillful

وصَحْراءَ مَوْماةٍ يَحارُ بها القَطا

قَطَعْتَ عَلى هَوْلِ الجِنانِ بِمِنْسَرِ

And a barren desert where he lost his way

You crossed the awe of ghosts with a caravan

يَقُودُونَ قُبّاً كالسَّراحِينِ لاحَها

سُراهُمْ وسَيْرُ الرّاكِبِ المُتَهَجِّرِ

They lead a group like sprinters, made radiant

By their departure and the travel of the estranged rider

فَلَمَّا بَدَتْ أَرْضُ العَدُوِّ سَقَيْتَها

مُجاجَ بَقِيّاتِ المَزادِ المُقَيَّرِ

So when the enemy's land appeared, you watered it

With pure, filtered remains of the treasured stocks

ولَمّا أَهابُوا بالنِّهابِ حَوَيْتَها

بخاظِي البَضِيعِ كَرُّهُ غَيْرُ أَعْسَرِ

And when they recoiled in alarm, you surrounded them

With the guard's sword - its blow made no weaker

مُمَرٍّ كَكَرِّ الأنْدَرِيّ مُثابِرٍ

إذا ما وَنَيْنَ مُهَلِبِ الشَدِّ مُحْضِرِ

Insistent as the striking of stone on flint

When the kindling of war's blaze brought strife

فألْوَتْ بأعْناقٍ طِوالٍ وَراعَها

صَلاصِلُ بِيضٍ سابغٍ وسَنَوَّرِ

So they submitted with long necks, and it frightened them -

Fair chains, thick and interlinked

أَلَمْ تَرَ أنَّ العَبْدَ يَقْتُلُ رَبَّهُ

فَيَظْهَرُ جَدُّ العبدِ مِنْ غَيْرِ مَظْهَرِ

Do you not see that the slave kills his lord

Yet the slave's zeal appears without pretense?

قَتَلْتُمْ فَتىً لا يُسْقِطُ الرَّوْعُ رُمْحَهُ

إذا الخَيْلُ جالَتْ في قناً مُتَكَسِّرِ

You killed a man whose spear would not fall

When the horses plunged into the breaking fray

فَيا تَوْبَ للهَيْجا ويا تَوْبَ للنَّدى

ويا تَوْبَ لِلْمُسْتَنْبحِ المُتَنَوِّرِ

So alas for the passion and alas for the dew

And alas for the polished sword!

أَلا رُبَّ مَكْرُوبٍ أَجَبْتَ ونائِلٍ

بَذَلْتَ ومَعْرُوفٍ لَدَيْكَ ومُنْكَرِ

Oh how many afflicted you have answered and seekers

You have given to, and good and evil you have known

فأحْرَزْتَ مِنْهُ ما أَرَدْتَ بقُدْرَةٍ

وسَطْوَةِ جبّارٍ وإقدامِ قَسْوَرِ

Thus you attained what you wanted by force

And the might of an obstinate, fierce tyrant