وَصَفتَ لَنا وَلَم نَرَهُ سِلاحاً

كَأَنَّكَ واصِفٌ وَقتَ النِزالِ

You described to us a weapon we had not seen,

As though you were describing the moment of assault.

وَأَنَّ البَيضَ صُفَّ عَلى دُروعٍ

فَشَوَّقَ مَن رَآهُ إِلى القِتالِ

And how white blades were arrayed against armor,

Stirring a longing for battle in those who beheld it.

فَلَو أَطفَأتَ نارَكَ تالَدَيهِ

قَرَأتَ الخَطَّ في سودِ اللَيالي

If you were to quench your fire beside its gleam,

You could read lines of script in the blackest of nights.

إِنِ اِستَحسَنتَ وَهوَ عَلى بِساطٍ

فَأَحسَنُ ما يَكونُ عَلى الرِجالِ

If you admired its beauty while resting on a rug,

It is fairest of all when borne by warriors.

وَإِنَّ بِها وَإِنَّ بِهِ لَنَقصاً

وَأَنتَ لَها النِهايَةُ في الكَمالِ

Yet in it, and in them, a deficiency remains,

And you are the ultimate summit of their perfection.

وَلَو لَحَظَ الدُمُستُقُ جانِبَيهِ

لَقَلَّبَ رَأيَهُ حالاً لِحالِ

Had the Domesticus but glanced upon its flanks,

He would have shifted his resolve from one state to another.