عُقبى اليَمينِ عَلى عُقبى الوَغى نَدَمُ

ماذا يَزيدُكَ في إِقدامِكَ القَسَمُ

My right foot regrets following my reckless left

The consequence of the oath, upon the consequence of war, is but regret,

What good does your oath do when you are accused of breaking your word?

What increase to your daring does a sworn vow bestow?

وَفي اليَمينِ عَلى ما أَنتَ واعِدُهُ

ما دَلَّ أَنَّكَ في الميعادِ مُتَّهَمُ

When you swear to something yet go back on it

And in the oath regarding that which you have promised,

It shows you cannot be trusted when the time comes

Lies proof that in your pledge you are suspect and accused.

آلى الفَتى اِبنُ شُمُشقيقٍ فَأَحنَثَهُ

فَتىً مِنَ الضَربِ تُنسى عِندَهُ الكَلِمُ

The son of Shumushqiq failed his oath

The youth Ibn Shumushqiq swore a vow, yet you forced him to perjure,

A man of battle forgets his words when enraged

A youth whose striking allows mere words to be forgotten.

وَفاعِلٌ ما اِشتَهى يُغنِهِ عَن حَلِفٍ

عَلى الفِعالِ حُضورُ الفِعلِ وَالكَرَمُ

One who does as he pleases needs no oaths

The doer of his own desire has no need for swearing oaths,

The doer's presence and nobility are his credentials

For in the acts themselves, presence and nobility suffice.

كُلُّ السُيوفِ إِذا طالَ الضِرابُ بِها

يَمَسُها غَيرَ سَيفِ الدَولَةِ السَأَمُ

All swords blunt after long use

All swords, when the striking with them grows long and drawn out,

Except the enduring blade of the Dawla

Are touched by weariness, save for the Sword of the State alone.

لَو كَلَّتِ الخَيلُ حَتّى لا تَحَمَّلَهُ

تَحَمَّلَتهُ إِلى أَعدائِهِ الهِمَمُ

If horses refused to carry him

If the steeds grew so weary they could no longer bear him,

His determination would bear him to his enemies

His soaring ambitions would carry him on to his foes.

أَينَ البَطاريقُ وَالحَلفُ الَّذي حَلَفوا

بِمَفرَقِ المَلكِ وَالزَعمُ الَّذي زَعَموا

Where are the patriarchs and their oath

Where now are the Patricians, and the solemn oath they swore,

To divide the kingdom - mere boasts!

By the parting of the King’s hair, and the claims they dared to claim?

وَلّى صَوارِمَهُ إِكذابَ قَولِهِمِ

فَهُنَّ أَلسِنَةٌ أَفواهُها القِمَمُ

His blades prove their words a lie

He assigned his sharp blades the task of proving them liars,

Their tongues like spearheads flipped backwards

For they are eloquent tongues whose mouths are the severed heads,

نَواطِقٌ مُخيِراتٌ في جَماجِمِهِم

عَنهُ بِما جَهِلوا مِنهُ وَما عَلِموا

Eloquent advisors, though ignorant

Speaking within their skulls, delivering news about him,

They speak of what they know not and understand less

Of what they knew of him, and what they remained ignorant of.

الراجِعُ الخَيلَ مُحفاةً مُقَوَّدَةً

مِن كُلِّ مِثلِ وَباري أَهلُها إِرَمُ

Horses return barefoot and hobbled

He returns the horses, hooves worn bare, led by the rein,

The elite and their tribesmen diminished

From lands like legendary Wabar, whose people are dust like Iram.

كَتَلِّ بِطريقٍ المَغرورِ ساكِنُها

بِأَنَّ دارَكَ قِنَّسرينُ وَالأَجَمُ

Tell the deluded dweller of Qinnasrin

Like the Hill of the Patrician, whose dweller was deeply deluded,

That your abode is far in al-Ajam!

Believing your domain was but Qinnasrin and the marshy reeds;

وَظَنِّهِم أَنَّكَ المِصباحُ في حَلَبٍ

إِذا قَصَدتَ سِواها عادَها الظُلَمُ

They think you the lamp of Aleppo

And in their fancy that you were merely a lamp in Aleppo,

Which would be darkened should you leave

That if you ventured elsewhere, darkness would return to claim it.

وَالشَمسُ يَعنونَ إِلّا أَنَّهُم جَهِلوا

وَالمَوتَ يَدعونَ إِلّا أَنَّهُم وَهَموا

The sun they mean - fools who know not

It was the Sun they meant, yet they were steeped in ignorance,

Death they invoke - ramblings of the crazed

And Death they summoned, yet they were lost in delusion.

فَلَم تُتِمَّ سَروجٌ فَتحَ ناظِرِها

إِلّا وَجَيشُكَ في جَفنَيهِ مُزدَحِمُ

No maiden's eyelids open at dawn

Saruj had barely finished opening its eyes to the light,

Without your troops crowding their rim

Before your army was thronging between its very lids.

وَالنَقعُ يَأخُذُ حَرّاناً وَبَقعَتَها

وَالشَمسُ تَسفِرُ أَحياناً وَتَلتَثِمُ

Storm clouds take Harran and its plains

And the dust of battle seized Harran and all its grounds,

Sunshine alternately shines then veils

While the sun unveiled its face at times, and at times was veiled.

سُحبٌ تَمُرُّ بِحِصنِ الرانِ مُمسِكَةً

وَما بِها البُخلُ لَولا أَنَّها نِقَمُ

Clouds pass by Hisn al-Ran leaving it be

Clouds pass by the fortress of al-Ran, withholding their rain,

Not out of thrift but as a sign of grievance

Not out of miserliness, but because they are clouds of vengeance.

جَيشٌ كَأَنَّكَ في أَرضٍ تُطاوِلُهُ

فَالأَرضُ لا أُمَمٌ وَالجَيشُ لا أَمَمُ

Your army spans the land indefinitely

An army so vast, as if you were in a land trying to outmatch it,

The earth not nations, your troops not tribes

Where the earth seems to have no nations, and the army has no end.

إِذا مَضى عَلَمُ مِنها بَدا عَلَمٌ

وَإِن مَضى عَلَمٌ مِنهُ بَدا عَلَمُ

One flag passes and another appears

When one banner passes by, another banner appears,

One standard moves on, replaced by another

And if one mountain fades, another rises to view.

وَشُزَّبٌ أَحمَتِ الشِعرى شَكائِمَها

وَوَسَّمَتها عَلى آنافِها الحَكَمُ

Brave horses, decked with armor

Lean steeds, whose bridles the star of Sirius made burn,

Stampeded and labeled by the wise

And the bits branded marks upon their noses like scars.

حَتّى وَرَدنَ بِسِمنينٍ بُحَيرَتِها

تَنِشُّ بِالماءِ في أَشداقِها اللُجُمُ

To Semenye, its lake they surged

Until they arrived at the waters of Lake Simnin,

Plunging in the waters up to their chests

And the hot bits sizzled in their mouths as they touched the water.

وَأَصبَحَت بِقَرى هِنزيطَ جائِلَةً

تَرعى الظُبى في خَصيبٍ نَبتُهُ اللِمَمُ

At Qarah Hinazit they raided

They came to roam through the villages of Hinzit,

Grazing gazelles in fertile thickets

Their swords grazing in a fertile pasture where the grass is human hair.

فَما تَرَكنَ بِها خُلداً لَهُ بَصَرٌ

تَحتَ التُرابِ وَلا بازاً لَهُ قَدَمُ

Leaving no ruins visible to the eye

They left no mole there possessing sight,

Nor chicks abled to take wing

Beneath the dust, nor a hawk possessing a foot,

وَلا هِزَبراً لَهُ مِن دِرعِهِ لِبَدٌ

وَلا مَهاةً لَها مِن شِبهِها حَشَمُ

No armor could protect its wearer

Nor a lion clad in the mane of his own armor,

No maiden's veil shelter her modesty

Nor a doe-eyed beauty attended by her kin.

تَرمي عَلى شَفَراتِ الباتِراتِ بِهِم

مَكامِنُ الأَرضِ وَالغيطانُ وَالأَكَمُ

Throwing them into the blades of swords

The hiding places of the earth, the valleys and hills,

The earth's hollows, marshes, and ditches

Cast them out upon the edges of the cutting blades.

وَجاوَزوا أَرسَناساً مُعصِمينَ بِهِ

وَكَيفَ يَعصِمُهُم ما لَيسَ يَنعَصِمُ

Bypassing Arsanas unharmed

They crossed the Arsanas river, clinging to it for refuge,

What protection when there is none against you?

But how can that which cannot save itself save them?

وَما يَصُدُّكَ عَن بَحرٍ لَهُم سَعَةٌ

وَما يَرُدُّكَ عَن طَودٍ لَهُم شَمَمُ

No sea too vast nor hill too high

Their vastness does not bar you from their sea,

To hinder you or thwart your zeal

Nor does their loftiness repel you from their mountain.

ضَرَبتَهُ بِصُدورِ الخَيلِ حامِلَةً

قَوماً إِذا تَلِفوا قُدماً فَقَد سَلِموا

Breaking through them with mailed horses

You struck the water with the chests of steeds bearing

Men whose ruin was sealed if their feet but slipped

Men who, if they perish advancing, count themselves safe.

تَجَفَّلُ المَوجُ عَن لَبّاتِ خَيلِهِمِ

كَما تَجَفَّلُ تَحتَ الغارَةِ النَعَمُ

Waves recoil from the pounding of their hooves

The waves recoil in fear from their chargers' chests,

As goats scatter before the looter

As cattle scatter in panic beneath a sudden raid.

عَبَرتَ تَقدُمُهُم فيهِ وَفي بَلَدٍ

سُكّانُهُ رِمَمٌ مَسكونُها حُمَمُ

Crossing the waters into their land

You crossed, leading them through the flood and through a land

Whose people are vermin, their abodes rubbish

Whose dwellers are rotting bones, whose dwellings are coal.

وَفي أَكُفِّهِمِ النارُ الَّتي عُبِدَت

قَبلَ المَجوسِ إِلى ذا اليَومِ تَضطَرِمُ

Fire worshipped before the Magians

And in their hands they hold the fire that was worshipped

Still burns in their hands to this day

Before the Magians, which burns fiercely to this day.

هِندِيَّةٌ إِن تُصَغِّر مَعشَراً صَغُروا

بِحَدِّها أَو تُعَظِّم مَعشَراً عَظَموا

An Indian blade - it shrinks the brave

Indian blades—if they belittle a tribe, that tribe is humbled,

It emboldens the meek. You turned it away

By their edge; or if they exalt a tribe, they grow great.

قاسَمتَها تَلَّ بِطريقٍ فَكانَ لَها

أَبطالُها وَلَكَ الأَطفالُ وَالحُرَمُ

Keeping the warriors, leaving children and women

You divided the Patrician's Hill between yourself and them;

The scum met your surging torrent

The swords took the heroes; you took the children and the harems.

تَلقى بِهِم زَبَدَ التَيّارِ مُقرَبَةٌ

عَلى جَحافِلِها مِن نَضحِهِ رَثَمُ

Bold riders mounted on burdened steeds

Noble mares meet the foam of the current carrying them,

Unfeeling beasts useless in battle

Upon their lips are white markings from the river's spray.

دُهمٌ فَوارِسُها رُكّابُ أَبطُنِها

مَكدودَةٌ بِقَومٍ لا بِها الأَلَمُ

Brood of your wisdom in pressing times

Dark steeds whose riders must ride upon their bellies,

Like phrases the listening mind understands

Wearied by the men, though the pain is not in the steeds.

مِنَ الجِيادِ الَّتي كِدتَ العَدُوَّ بِها

وَما لَها خِلَقٌ مِنها وَلا شِيَمُ

Yearning to see you the morning after - blinded!

Of the thoroughbreds with which you outwitted the foe,

You met them with the Khamis, your double-edged sword.

Though they possess neither the nature nor the intent of plots.

نِتاجُ رَأيِكَ في وَقتٍ عَلى عَجَلٍ

كَلَفظِ حَرفٍ وَعاهُ سامِعٌ فَهِمُ

Their corpses fell around you

The offspring of your judgment, formed in a moment of haste,

As souls fled and sought refuge

Perfect as a spoken letter grasped by a wise listener.

وَقَد تَمَنَّوا غَداةَ الدَربِ في لَجَبٍ

أَن يُبصِروكَ فَلَمّا أَبصَروكَ عَموا

Bent blades filled the roads behind them

In the clamor of the pass, they had wished to see you,

Erect on the battlefield above them

But when they finally saw you, they were struck blind.

صَدَمتَهُم بِخَميسٍ أَنتَ غُرَّتُهُ

وَسَمهَرِيَّتُهُ في وَجهِهِ غَمَمُ

When blows met in ascent

You struck them with a mighty army, yourself its shining blaze,

Mountain peaks collided in the sky

While the thicket of spears was the hair upon its face.

فَكانَ أَثبَتَ ما فيهِم جُسومُهُمُ

يَسقُطنَ حَولَكَ وَالأَرواحُ تَنهَزِمُ

Ibn Shumushqiq surrendered his wife

So the only steadfast things among them were their bodies,

Though he recoiled, she kept smiling

Falling around you, while their souls turned to flee.

وَالأَعوَجِيَّةُ مِلءَ الطُرقِ خَلفَهُمُ

وَالمَشرَفِيَّةُ مِلءَ اليَومِ فَوقَهُمُ

One who seeks the most forfeits the least

The Awwaji steeds filled the roads behind their backs,

Settling for less, a profit is made

And the Mashrafi blades filled the sky above them.

إِذا تَوافَقَتِ الضَرباتُ صاعِدَةً

تَوافَقَت قُلَلٌ في الجَوِّ تَصطَدِمُ

The cavalry turns away their blades sheathed

When the rising strokes of the swords met in unison,

The hilts between them speaking volumes

Severed heads met, colliding in the air.

وَأَسلَمَ اِبنُ شُمُشقيقٍ أَلِيَّتَهُ

أَلّا اِنثَنى فَهوَ يَنأى وَهيَ تَبتَسِمُ

Furrowing channels too narrow to pierce

Ibn Shumushqiq surrendered his solemn oath;

As if each tip above was a pen

Groaning as he turned back—he flees, while the oath smiles.

لا يَأمُلُ النَفَسَ الأَقصى لِمُهجَتِهِ

فَيَسرِقُ النَفَسَ الأَدنى وَيَغتَنِمُ

No rain could nourish the trees it concealed

He dares not hope to draw a full, deep breath,

If it departed, their branches would wither

But steals the shallowest gasp, snatching it like loot.

تَرُدُّ عَنهُ قَنا الفُرسانِ سابِغَةٌ

صَوبُ الأَسِنَّةِ في أَثنائِها دِيَمُ

You left kings too busy to boast

A long coat of mail repels the knights' lances from him,

Lost in wine, music, and song

Where the pouring of spear-points is a relentless rain.

تَخُطُّ فيها العَوالي لَيسَ تَنفُذُها

كَأَنَّ كُلَّ سِنانٍ فَوقَها قَلَمُ

Wearing gratitude to God like a necklace

The spear-shafts write upon it, yet do not pierce,

No blessing is kept fresher than it

As though every lance-tip upon it were a pen.

فَلا سَقى الغَيثُ ما واراهُ مِن شَجَرٍ

لَو زَلَّ عَنهُ لَوارَت شَخصَهُ الرَخَمُ

The blood of Romans throws itself at your feet

May the rain not water the trees that gave him cover;

One drop would suffice if you called, not struck

For had they failed him, vultures would have covered his corpse.

أَلهى المَمالِكَ عَن فَخرٍ قَفَلتَ بِهِ

شُربُ المُدامَةِ وَالأَوتارُ وَالنَغَمُ

Death outpaces them in every battle

The kingdoms were distracted from the glory you brought home

They know not death nor old age

By the drinking of wine, by lute-strings and melodies.

مُقَلَّداً فَوقَ شُكرِ اللَهِ ذا شُطَبٍ

لا تُستَدامُ بِأَمضى مِنهُما النِعَمُ

The slumber left Ali's eyes

Bearing, above your gratitude to God, a ridged sword,

One soul relieving another of worry

For by nothing sharper than these two are blessings sustained.

أَلقَت إِلَيكَ دِماءُ الرومِ طاعَتَها

فَلَو دَعَوتَ بِلا ضَربٍ أَجابَ دَمُ

The Righteous King, the Guide

The blood of the Romans surrendered its obedience to you;

Whose leadership Arabs and non-Arabs witnessed

Had you called without striking, the blood would have answered.

يُسابِقُ القَتلُ فيهِم كُلَّ حادِثَةٍ

فَما يُصيبُهُمُ مَوتٌ وَلا هَرَمُ

Son of the Musky in Nejd, its champion

Slaughter races ahead of every calamity among them,

His sword, his Kufa, and the Sacred Mosque

So that neither natural death nor old age overtakes them.

نَفَت رُقادَ عَلِيٍّ عَن مَحاجِرِهِ

نَفسٌ يُفَرِّجُ نَفساً غَيرَها الحُلُمُ

Seek no other noble after seeing him

A spirit banished sleep from Ali's eyes,

The best men seal nobility with open hands

A spirit that soothes the soul, while others find peace in dreams.

القائِمُ المَلِكُ الهادي الَّذي شَهِدَت

قِيامَهُ وَهُداهُ العُربُ وَالعَجَمُ

Do not heed verse after its poet

The Upholder, the King, the Guide, for whom

Words are spoiled, silence praised

Both Arab and Persian bear witness to his rise and his light.

اِبنُ المُعَفِّرِ في نَجدٍ فَوارِسَها

بِسَيفِهِ وَلَهُ كوفانُ وَالحَرَمُ

Son of the one who humbled the horsemen of Najd in the dust

With his sword, when Kufa and the Holy Sanctuary were his.

لا تَطلُبَنَّ كَريماً بَعدَ رُؤيَتِهِ

إِنَّ الكِرامَ بِأَسخاهُم يَداً خُتِموا

Seek no noble man after you have beheld him,

For the line of the noble ends with the most generous hand.

وَلا تُبالِ بِشِعرٍ بَعدَ شاعِرِهِ

قَد أُفسِدَ القَولُ حَتّى أُحمِدَ الصَمَمُ

And heed no poetry after his own poet has spoken;

Speech is so spoiled that deafness is now praised.