اليَومَ عَهدُكُمُ فَأَينَ المَوعِدُ

هَيهاتَ لَيسَ لِيَومِ عَهدِكُمُ غَدُ

Today you promised, so where is the promise?

Today is the day of your promise, but where is the tryst?

Alas, for the day of your promise there is no tomorrow

Alas, for the day of your promise has no tomorrow.

المَوتُ أَقرَبُ مِخلَباً مِن بَينِكُم

وَالعَيشُ أَبعَدُ مِنكُمُ لا تَبعُدوا

Death is closer in its grip than the space between you

Death’s talons are closer to me than your departure,

And life is further from you, do not go far

And life is further away than you; do not depart.

إِنَّ الَّتي سَفَكَت دَمي بِجُفونِها

لَم تَدرِ أَنَّ دَمي الَّذي تَتَقَلَّدُ

Indeed she who spilled my blood with her eyelids

She who has shed my blood with the glances of her eyes

Did not know that my blood she wears

Does not realize it is my blood she wears as an adornment.

قالَت وَقَد رَأَتِ اِصفِرارِيَ مَن بِهِ

وَتَنَهَّدَت فَأَجَيتُها المُتَنَهِّدُ

She said when she saw my yellowness, who is he

Seeing my pallor, she asked, "Who is this victim?"

And sighed, so I, the sighing, answered her

And she sighed; so I answered her, "I am the one sighing."

فَمَضَت وَقَد صَبَغَ الحَياءُ بَياضَها

لَوني كَما صَبَغَ اللُجَينَ العَسجَدُ

Then she left, and shyness dyed her whiteness

She turned away, and modesty dyed her pale cheeks

With my complexion, as indigo dyes the fingers blue

With my own color, as gold plates silver.

فَرَأَيتُ قَرنَ الشَمسِ في قَمَرِ الدُجى

مُتَأَوِّداً غُصنٌ بِهِ يَتَأَوَّدُ

So I saw the horn of the sun in the moonlight

I saw the sun’s disk rising within the moon of the night,

A branch with which it coquettes, coquetting too

Swaying gracefully upon a branch that bends with it.

عَدَوِيَّةٌ بَدَوِيَّةٌ مِن دونِها

سَلبُ النُفوسِ وَنارُ حَربٍ توقَدُ

Enmities of nomads, without these

A Bedouin maiden of 'Adi; standing between her and me

Are plunder of souls and a kindled fire of war

Are the taking of souls and the kindling of war’s fire,

وَهَواجِلٌ وَصَواهِلٌ وَمَناصِلٌ

وَذَوابِلٌ وَتَوَعُّدٌ وَتَهَدُّدُ

And yearnings and sufferings and partings

And vast wastelands, neighing steeds, and gleaming blades,

And unitings and threatenings and threatenings anew

And slender spears, dire warnings, and threats.

أَبلَت مَوَدَّتَها اللَيالي بَعدَنا

وَمَشى عَلَيها الدَهرُ وَهوَ مُقَيَّدُ

Her affection the nights wasted after us

The nights have worn down her affection since we parted,

And time went on, while it was fettered

And Time has trampled it, though Time itself is shackled.

بَرَّحتَ يا مَرَضَ الجُفونِ بِمُمرَضٍ

مَرِضَ الطَبيبُ لَهُ وَعيدَ العُوَّدُ

Farewell, oh sickness of eyelids with a nurse

O languid sickness of the eyelids, you have tormented a man already ill,

The doctor falls sick for it, and new is the old

For whom the physician fell sick and the visitors grew weary.

فَلَهُ بَنو عَبدِ العَزيزِ بنِ الرِضا

وَلِكُلِّ رَكبٍ عيسُهُم وَالفَدفَدُ

For it are the sons of Abdelaziz son of Arridha

His cure lies only with the sons of Abdul-Aziz ibn al-Rida,

And for every band their Jesus and their tadpole too

While other riders have but their camels and the barren waste.

مَن في الأَنامِ مِنَ الكِرامِ وَلا تَقُل

مَن فيكِ شَأمُ سِوى شُجاعٍ يُقصَدُ

Who among the people is generous, and say not

Who among mankind is truly noble? Do not ask,

Who among you is proud but the valiant man you seek

"Who in Syria?" save Shuja', the one sought by all.

أَعطى فَقُلتُ لِجودِهِ ما يُقتَنى

وَسَطا فَقُلتُ لِسَيفِهِ ما يولَدُ

He gave so I said of his generosity, what can be gained

He gave, and I asked his generosity, "Is anything left to keep?"

And was just so I said of his sword, what can be born

He struck, and I asked his sword, "Will any be born hereafter?"

وَتَحَيَّرَت فيهِ الصِفاتُ لِأَنَّها

أَلفَت طَرائِقَهُ عَلَيها تَبعُدُ

And his qualities were perplexed, for they

Descriptions are bewildered by him, for they find

Were used to his ways which from him withdrew

His nature lies far beyond their reach.

في كُلِّ مُعتَرَكٍ كُلىً مَفرِيَّةٌ

يَذمُمنَ مِنهُ ما الأَسِنَّةُ تَحمَدُ

In every battlefield, destinations fleeing

In every battlefield lie severed vitals,

From it the tongues praise what they laud

Cursing in him what the spearheads praise.

نِقَمٌ عَلى نِقَمِ الزَمانِ يَصُبُّها

نِعَمٌ عَلى النِعَمِ الَّتي لا تُجحَدُ

Regrets over the regrets of time he pours them out

He pours vengeance upon the vengeances of Time,

Blessings over blessings which cannot be denied

And heaps favors upon favors that cannot be denied.

في شانِهِ وَلِسانِهِ وَبَنانِهِ

وَجَنانِهِ عَجَبٌ لِمَن يَتَفَقَّدُ

In his lineage, his tongue, his offspring

In his bearing, his tongue, and his fingertips,

And his soul wonders abound for who examines

And his heart, lies a wonder for the observer.

أَسَدٌ دَمُ الأَسَدِ الهِزَبرِ خِضابُهُ

مَوتٌ فَريصُ المَوتِ مِنهُ تُرعَدُ

A lion whose adornment is the blood of lions

A lion whose dye is the blood of other lions,

Death of which death itself is afraid

A death that makes Death itself tremble in fear.

ما مَنبِجٌ مُذ غِبتَ إِلّا مُقلَةٌ

سَهِدَت وَوَجهُكَ نَومُها وَالإِثمِدُ

No sound in Mambij since you left

Since you left, Manbij is but a sleepless eye,

It slumbered, and your face is its sleep and pillar

Watching for your face, which is its slumber and its kohl.

فَاللَيلُ حينَ قَدِمتَ فيها أَبيَضٌ

وَالصُبحُ مُنذُ رَحَلتَ عَنها أَسوَدُ

So the night when you arrived in it was white

The night became white when you arrived within it,

And the dawn since you left it is black

And the morning turned black the moment you departed.

ما زِلتَ تَدنو وَهيَ تَعلو عِزَّةً

حَتّى تَوارى في ثَراها الفَرقَدُ

You drew near while it rose in glory

You drew near, and she rose in glory,

Until it hid in its burial mound the flea

Until the highest stars were hidden beneath her soil.

أَرضٌ لَها شَرَفٌ سِواها مِثلُها

لَو كانَ مِثلُكَ في سِواها يُوجَدُ

A land of noble lineage, none other like it

A land of honor—others might equal her,

If your equal in other than it could be found

Only if one like you could be found in them.

أَبدى العُداةُ بِكَ السُرورَ كَأَنَّهُم

فَرِحوا وَعِندَهُمُ المُقيمُ المُقعِدُ

The enemies showed your absence happiness as though

The enemies feigned joy at your presence, as if

They rejoiced, and with them the resident sits

They rejoiced, while a crippling calamity sat among them.

قَطَّعتَهُم حَسَداً أَراهُم ما بِهِم

فَتَقَطَّعوا حَسَداً لِمَن لا يَحسُدُ

You cut them in hatred, I saw them with what they have

You tore them apart with envy, showing them their own state,

So they were cut in hatred of whom envy flees

So they were consumed by envy for one who envies no one.

حَتّى اِنثَنوا وَلَوَ أَنَّ حَرَّ قُلوبِهِم

في قَلبِ هاجِرَةٍ لَذابَ الجَلمَدُ

Until they bowed down, and if the heat of their hearts

Until they retreated; and had the heat of their hearts

In the heart of a pregnant woman was, the ice would melt

Been placed in the midday sun, solid rock would have melted.

نَظَرَ العُلوجُ فَلَم يَرَوا مَن حَولَهُم

لَمّا رَأَوكَ وَقيلَ هَذا السَيِّدُ

The arrogant looked but did not see around them

The foreign hordes looked, but saw not their own kin,

A thing when they saw you, and it was said: this is the master

When they beheld you and heard, "This is the Master."

بَقِيَت جُموعُهُمُ كَأَنَّكَ كُلُّها

وَبَقيتَ بَينَهُمُ كَأَنَّكَ مُفرَدُ

Their crowds remained as though you were all of them

Their multitudes stood still, as if you were the whole,

And you remained among them as though you were alone

And you stood among them, singular and matchless.

لَهفانَ يَستَوبي بِكَ الغَضَبَ الوَرى

لَو لَم يُنَهنِهكَ الحِجى وَالسُؤدُدُ

Two ferocious lions appeased by you is the land’s wrath

The world seeks protection from your wrath in your forbearance,

If not for your forbearance and natural calm

Were it not that wisdom and nobility restrain you.

كُن حَيثُ شِئتَ تَسِر إِلَيكَ رِكابُنا

فَالأَرضُ واحِدَةٌ وَأَنتَ الأَوحَدُ

Wherever you may be, our steeds race to you

Be where you will, our mounts shall journey to you;

For the earth is one, and you are the only one

For the earth is but one, and you are the One.

وَصُنِ الحُسامَ وَلا تُذِلهُ فَإِنَّهُ

يَشكو يَمينَكَ وَالجَماجِمُ تَشهَدُ

Guard well the sword, and do not debase it, for it

Sheathe your sword, do not demean it further,

Complains of your right hand, and the skulls bear witness

For it complains of your heavy hand, as the skulls testify.

يَبِسَ النَجيعُ عَلَيهِ وَهوَ مُجَرَّدٌ

مِن غِمدِهِ وَكَأَنَّما هُوَ مُغمَدُ

The sheath dried upon it, while it was bare

The blood has dried upon it while unsheathed,

Of its scabbard, as though it were sheathed

Yet so coated in gore, it seems still in its scabbard.

رَيّانَ لَو قَذَفَ الَّذي أَسقَيتَهُ

لَجَرى مِنَ المُهَجاتِ بَحرٌ مُزبِدُ

A pouring rain, if what you quenched with it

Sated; were it to spew forth what you fed it,

Were cast forth, from the insides a foaming sea would burst

A foaming sea of life-blood would rush forth.

ما شارَكَتهُ مَنِيَّةٌ في مُهجَةٍ

إِلّا وَشَفرَتُهُ عَلى يَدِها يَدُ

No death blow in an inside but its blade

Death never claimed a soul alongside it,

Was upon its hand, while it was thrust

But that your blade’s edge guided Death's own hand.

إِنَّ الرَزايا وَالعَطايا وَالقَنا

حُلَفاءُ طَيٍّ غَوَّروا أَو أَنجَدوا

Indeed gifts, grants, and spear

Truly, calamities, bounties, and spears

Are comrades of a casting that hit true or gave aid

Are the sworn allies of Tayy’, wherever they roam.

صِح يا لَجُلهُمَةٍ تُجِبكَ وَإِنَّما

أَشفارُ عَينِكَ ذابِلٌ وَمُهَنَّدُ

Awaken, Oh lightning strike that answers you, though

Cry out "O Julhumah!" and they will answer,

The rims of your eye are withering and bent

Yet your true answer lies in the spear and the sword.

مِن كُلِّ أَكبَرَ مِن جِبالِ تِهامَةٍ

قَلباً وَمِن جَودِ الغَوادي أَجوَدُ

Greater than the mountains of Tihama in heart

Men greater in heart than the mountains of Tihama,

And more generous than the valleys in generosity

And more bountiful than the morning rains.

يَلقاكَ مُرتَدِياً بِأَحمَرَ مِن دَمٍ

ذَهَبَت بِخُضرَتِهِ الطُلى وَالأَكبُدُ

It meets you donning red from blood

Meeting you cloaked in the crimson of blood,

Whose green the alkali and bile removed

Whose original hue was lost in severed necks and livers.

حَتّى يُشارَ إِلَيكَ ذا مَولاهُمُ

وَهُمُ المَوالي وَالخَليقَةُ أَعبُدُ

Until it is pointed to, this their patron

Until men point to you, saying, "There is their Lord,"

And they the loyal ones, and creation more enslaved

For they are the masters, and all others but slaves.

أَنّى يَكونُ أَبا البَرِيَّةِ آدَمٌ

وَأَبوكَ وَالثَقلانِ أَنتَ مُحَمَّدُ

How can Adam be father of mankind

How can Adam be the father of all creation,

While your father and the two weighty ones are you, Muhammad

When your father is Muhammad, and you are the world entire?

يَفنى الكَلامُ وَلا يُحيطُ بِوَصفِكُم

أَيُحيطُ ما يَفنى بِما لا يَنفَدُ

Speech ends and cannot encompass describing you

Words are exhausted before they capture your essence;

Can what ends encompass what never depletes?

Can the transient ever encompass the infinite?