تَذَكَّرتُ ما بَينَ العُذَيبِ وَبارِقِ

مَجَرَّ عَوالينا وَمَجرى السَوابِقِ

I remember what's between Al-‘Udhayb and Bāriq

I called to mind the lands 'twixt ‘Udhayb and Bāriq,

The passage of our camels and the course of the forerunners

Where our long lances trailed and noble coursers raced,

وَصُحبَةَ قَومٍ يَذبَحونَ قَنيصَهُم

بِفَضلَةِ ما قَد كَسَّروا في المَفارِقِ

And the company of people who sacrifice their shirts

And the fellowship of men who slaughter their quarry,

For the surplus of what they had broken in the departures

With shards of blades they shattered upon foemen’s crowns.

وَلَيلاً تَوَسَّدنا الثَوِيَّةَ تَحتَهُ

كَأَنَّ ثَراها عَنبَرٌ في المَرافِقِ

And a night we used the sand as a pillow underneath us

And a night we made Al-Thawiyya our pillow beneath the stars,

As if its down was amber in the accompaniments

As though its very dust were ambergris upon our arms.

بِلادٌ إِذا زارَ الحِسانَ بِغَيرِها

حَصا تُربِها ثَقَّبنَهُ لِلمَخانِقِ

A country, if Al-Hisān visits other than it

A land where, if the beauties roamed elsewhere,

It counts its soil, riddled for the stranglers

They would bore its pebbles to string as necklaces.

سَقَتني بِها القُطرُبُّلِيَّ مَليحَةٌ

عَلى كاذِبٍ مِن وَعدِها ضَوءُ صادِقِ

A beautiful red wine gave me to drink in it

There a fair maiden poured me the wine of Qutrubbul,

Over a liar, the light of the truthful is shining

Upon whose false promises a truthful radiance shines:

سُهادٌ لِأَجفانٍ وَشَمسٌ لِناظِرٍ

وَسُقمٌ لِأَبدانٍ وَمِسكٌ لِناشِقِ

Pillows for eyelids, and a sun for the onlooker

Sleeplessness for the eyelids, a sun to the beholder,

And sickness for bodies, and musk for the kisser

A fever for the body, and musk for him who breathes;

وَأَغيَدُ يَهوى نَفسَهُ كُلُّ عاقِلٍ

عَفيفٍ وَيَهوى جِسمَهُ كُلُّ فاسِقِ

And the chaste soul desires itself every reasonable person

And a slender youth whose soul the chaste man loves,

And the debauched body is desired by every immoral person

While the dissolute desires only his form;

أَديبٌ إِذا ما جَسَّ أَوتارَ مِزهَرٍ

بَلا كُلَّ سَمعٍ عَن سِواها بِعائِقِ

A literate, when he tunes the strings of Mihrzhar

A virtuoso, who, when he strikes the lute’s strings,

Without any hearing from anything else, distracted

Deafens all ears to any sound but his.

يُحَدِّثُ عَمّا بَينَ عادٍ وَبَينَهُ

وَصُدغاهُ في خَدَّي غُلامٍ مُراهِقِ

He talks about what's between ‘Ād and it

He recounts the tales of ages 'twixt ‘Ād and himself,

And its cheeks on the cheeks of an adolescent boy

Though his temples frame the cheeks of a tender lad.

وَما الحُسنُ في وَجهِ الفَتى شَرَفاً لَهُ

إِذا لَم يَكُن في فِعلِهِ وَالخَلائِقِ

Beauty on the face of a young man is no honor to him

Beauty in a youth’s face grants no true honor,

If it’s not in his actions and manners

If it dwell not also in his deeds and character.

وَما بَلَدُ الإِنسانِ غَيرُ المُوافِقِ

وَلا أَهلُهُ الأَدنَونَ غَيرُ الأَصادِقِ

A person’s home country is nothing but the agreeing one

Man’s true home is but where he finds accord,

And his family are none but the truthful ones

And his nearest kin are none but faithful friends.

وَجائِزَةٌ دَعوى المَحَبَّةِ وَالهَوى

وَإِن كانَ لا يَخفى كَلامُ المُنافِقِ

Professing love and passion is acceptable

Claims of love and passion may freely be made,

Even if the words of the hypocrite do not hide

Though the hypocrite’s speech is never truly hid.

بِرَأيِ مَنِ اِنقادَت عُقَيلٌ إِلى الرَدى

وَإِشماتِ مَخلوقٍ وَإِسخاطِ خالِقِ

By the opinion of those whom ‘Uqayl inclined to misguidance

By whose counsel was ‘Uqayl led to their doom,

And the gloating of a creature and the wrath of the Creator

To the joy of foes and the wrath of the Creator?

أَرادوا عَلِيّاً بِالَّذي يُعجِزُ الوَرى

وَيوسِعُ قَتلَ الجَحفَلِ المُتَضايِقِ

They wanted Ali what makes the creation helpless

They sought to vanquish Ali with impossible odds,

And facilitates killing the distressed and tight crowd

He who lays waste to the crowded, swarming host.

فَما بَسَطوا كَفّاً إِلى غَيرِ قاطِعٍ

وَلا حَمَلوا رَأساً إِلى غَيرِ فالِقِ

So they have not stretched out a palm to other than a cutter

They reached out their hands only to the severing blade,

And they have not carried a head to other than a splitter

And bore their heads only to the cleaving stroke.

لَقَد أَقدَموا لَو صادَفوا غَيرَ آخِذٍ

وَقَد هَرَبوا لَو صادَفوا غَيرَ لاحِقِ

They would have attacked if they had met other than a griper

They would have advanced, had they met one who spares,

And they would have fled if they had met other than a chaser

And they would have fled, had they met one who lags.

وَلَمّا كَسا كَعباً ثِياباً طَغَوا بِها

رَمى كُلَّ ثَوبٍ مِن سِنانٍ بِخارِقِ

And when Ka‘b clothed the elevated places with clothes, they rebelled with them

When he clothed the tribe of Ka‘b in robes that bred their pride,

Every garment threw an arrow from the quivers

He pierced every robe with the thrust of his spear.

وَلَمّا سَقى الغَيثَ الَّذي كَفَروا بِهِ

سَقى غَيرَهُ في غَيرِ تِلكَ البَوارِقِ

And when the rain they had disbelieved in quenched their thirst

And when he poured the rain of bounty they denied,

It quenched others in other than those lightnings

He poured a different draught from different lightning-clouds.

وَما يوجِعُ الحِرمانُ مِن كَفِّ حارِمٍ

كَما يوجِعُ الحِرمانُ مِن كَفِّ رازِقِ

Deprivation does not hurt from the palm of a depriver

To be denied by a miser brings little pain,

Like the hurt from deprivation from the palm of a sustainer

But the denial of a generous hand strikes deep.

أَتاهُم بِها حَشوَ العَجاجَةِ وَالقَنا

سَنابِكُها تَحشو بُطونَ الحَمالِقِ

He brought them the contents of snakes and canes

He came upon them amidst the dust and lances,

Whose baskets contain the insides of female serpents

With steeds whose hooves fill the very eyes of men.

عَوابِسَ حَلّى يابِسُ الماءِ حُزمَها

فَهُنَّ عَلى أَوساطِها كَالمَناطِقِ

Frowning faces, the dry one beautified its bundles

Grim-faced mares, adorned with dried sweat on their girths,

So they are, in their middles, like tied

Circling their bellies like belts of salt.

فَلَيتَ أَبا الهَيجا يَرى خَلفَ تَدمُرٍ

طِوالَ العَوالي في طِوالِ السَمالِقِ

If only Abul-Hayjā sees, behind Tadmur

Would that Abū al-Hayjā could see beyond Palmyra,

The elevated places in the elevated sand dunes

The long spears traversing the endless wastes,

وَسَوقَ عَليٍّ مِن مَعَدٍّ وَغَيرِها

قَبائِلَ لا تُعطي القُفِيَّ لِسائِقِ

And Ali’s driving of Ma‘ad and others

And Ali driving the tribes of Ma‘add and the rest,

Tribes that do not give the carrier to the driver

Tribes that never before bowed their necks to a drover.

قُشَيرٌ وَبَلعَجلانِ فيها خَفِيَّةٌ

كَراءَينِ في أَلفاظِ أَلثَغَ ناطِقِ

Destitute and Bal‘ajlān among which is something hidden

Qushayr and Bal‘ajlān are lost within the throng,

Like the views in the wordings of the slurred speaker

Like the elusive 'R' on a lisper's tongue.

تُخَلِّيهِمِ النِسوانُ غَيرَ فَوارِكٍ

وَهُم خَلَّوِ النِسوانَ غَيرَ طَوالِقِ

The women separate them without isolators

Their women leave them, yet not out of hate,

And they separated the women without divorcers

And they leave their wives, yet not through divorce.

يُفَرِّقُ ما بَينَ الكُماةِ وَبَينَها

بِضَربٍ يُسَلّي حَرُّهُ كُلَّ عاشِقِ

A strike that comforts its heat every lover separates what’s between the reserve and it

What parts the warriors from their beloveds

The cavalry came until no small bird flies

Is a blow whose burning heat makes lovers forget.

أَتى الظُعنَ حَتّى ما تَطيرُ رَشاشَةٌ

مِنَ الخَيلِ إِلّا في نُحورِ العَواتِقِ

From the horses except in the abdomens of the old ladies

He overtook the litters, till no drop of blood could fly

With every wilderness, its land denies the human

From the horses, save onto the maidens' throats.

بِكُلِّ فَلاةٍ تُنكِرُ الإِنسَ أَرضُها

ظَعائِنُ حُمرُ الحَليِ حُمرُ الأَيانِقِ

Grayish red snakes, red sand grouse

In every wilderness where the earth knows no man,

And an accursed, sword-like, quarter-like one

Are litters of red gems borne by red she-camels.

وَمَلمومَةٌ سَيفِيَّةٌ رَبَعِيَّةٌ

يَصيحُ الحَصى فيها صِياحَ اللَقالِقِ

In which the pebbles scream like the crested larks

A compact legion of Sayf, vast as the spring rain,

Far are its edges from the cane roots

Wherein pebbles cry out like the clatter of storks.

بَعيدَةُ أَطرافِ القَنا مِن أُصولِهِ

قَريبَةُ بَينَ البيضِ غُبرُ اليَلامِقِ

Close is the distance between the eggs and the ashes of nitre

Where spear-points are far removed from their hafts,

His generosity sufficed it from looting

And dusty mail-coats crowd close to white blades.

نَهاها وَأَغناها عَنِ النَهبِ جودُهُ

فَما تَبتَغي إِلّا حُماةَ الحَقائِقِ

So it only seeks the protectors of the truths

His bounty forbade them plunder, making them rich,

The bedouins fancied it a fence of luxury

So they seek naught but the guardians of honor.

تَوَهَّمَها الأَعرابُ سَورَةَ مُترَفٍ

تُذَكِّرُهُ البَيداءُ ظِلَّ السُرادِقِ

The desert reminds it of the shade of the canopy

The Bedouins deemed it a soft prince's assault,

So you reminded them of water an hour when

Whom the desert would remind of pavilion shade.

فَذَكَّرتَهُم بِالماءِ ساعَةَ غَبَّرَت

سَماوَةُ كَلبٍ في أُنوفِ الحَزائِقِ

The thirst of a dog flared up in the noses of the fleers

But you reminded them of water when dust turned gray

And they used to frighten kings that the Bedouins appeared

The Samāwa desert in the nostrils of their herds.

وَكانوا يَروعونَ المُلوكَ بِأَن بَدَوا

وَأَن نَبَتَت في الماءِ نَبتَ الغَلافِقِ

And plants have grown in the water, the plants of Ghulāfiq

They used to terrify kings merely by appearing,

So they raged against you, more rightly guided in the wilderness than its stars

Thriving by the water like spreading moss.

فَهاجوكَ أَهدى في الفَلا مِن نُجومِهِ

وَأَبدى بُيوتاً مِن أَداحي النَقانِقِ

And more lasting, of the houses, than the sand dunes

They roused you, who are deeper versed in the wastes than the stars,

And more patient over its water holes than its mirages

And whose tents are more visible than ostrich nests.

وَأَصبَرَ عَن أَمواهِهِ مِن ضِبابِهِ

وَآلَفَ مِنها مُقلَةً لِلوَدائِقِ

And tamer, of it, taming for the affectionates

More patient of thirst than the lizards of the rock,

It used to be noise from the stallions it left

With an eye more attuned to the shimmering mirage.

وَكانَ هَديراً مِن فُحولٍ تَرَكتَها

مُهَلَّبَةَ الأَذنابِ خُرسَ الشَقاشِقِ

With torn tails, deaf battered vipers

There was a roaring of stallions, which you left

So they did not deprive your horses, from running, of rest

With tails docked and bellows silenced.

فَما حَرَموا بِالرَكضِ خَيلَكَ راحَةً

وَلَكِن كَفاها البَرُّ قَطعَ الشَواهِقِ

Rather, the expanse sufficed it, cutting through the towering

By fleeing, they denied your horses no rest;

Nor did they distracted the concentration of the hard-hearted with their hearts

The land itself, crossing high peaks, was trial enough.

وَلا شَغَلوا صُمَّ القَنا بِقُلوبِهِم

عَنِ الرِكزِ لَكِن عَن قُلوبِ الدَماسِقِ

Rather from the hearts of the harsh

They did not busy your hard spears with their hearts

Did they not fear the distortion that distorts the enemies

From finding rest, but kept them from the hearts of champions.

أَلَم يَحذَروا مَسخَ الَّذي يَمسَخُ العِدا

وَيَجعَلُ أَيدي الأُسدِ أَيدي الخَرانِقِ

And makes, of the hands of lions, the hands of sinners

Did they not fear the wrath of him who transforms foes,

And they have seen it in others and maybe

And turns the paws of lions into the paws of hares?

وَقَد عايَنوهُ في سِواهُم وَرُبَّما

أَرى مارِقاً في الحَربِ مَصرَعَ مارِقِ

I would see a deviant’s death in war, the death of a deviant

They had witnessed him dealing with others,

It has been accustomed that its horses do not break the seeds

For often the fate of one rebel warns the next.

تَعَوَّدَ أَن لا تَقضَمَ الحَبَّ خَيلُهُ

إِذا الهامُ لَم تَرفَع جُنوبَ العَلائِقِ

When the zeal does not raise the litters of the howdahs

His steeds are wont to taste no grain,

And the returning horses only return, their water

Save when skulls prop up their fodder-bags.

وَلا تَرِدَ الغُدرانَ إِلّا وَماؤُها

مِنَ الدَمِ كَالرَيحانِ تَحتَ الشَقائِقِ

Being from blood like basil under chicory

Nor do they drink from pools, unless the draught

If Nimr’s delegation came, it would be more right-guided than them

Is red with blood, like basil beneath anemones.

لَوَفدُ نُمَيرٍ كانَ أَرشَدَ مِنهُمُ

وَقَد طَرَدوا الأَظعانَ طَردَ الوَسائِقِ

And they had expelled the humiliation, expelling the drivers

The delegation of Numayr was wiser than they,

They prepared spears of submission, so they stabbed with them

When they drove the women's litters like stolen herds.

أَعَدّوا رِماحاً مِن خُضوعٍ فَطاعَنوا

بِها الجَيشَ حَتّى رَدَّ غَربَ الفَيالِقِ

The army until it pushed back the empty wilderness

They prepared lances of submission, and thrust

So I did not see anyone shooting arrows but a fighter

At the army with humility, turning back the legions' edge.

فَلَم أَرَ أَرمى مِنهُ غَيرَ مُخاتِلٍ

وَأَسرى إِلى الأَعداءِ غَيرَ مُسارِقِ

And captives to the enemies other than looters

I have seen none strike truer, without guile,

The catapults’ bones strikes its palm’s

Nor march by night against the foe so openly.

تُصيبُ المَجانيقُ العِظامُ بِكَفِّهِ

دَقائِقَ قَد أَعيَت قِسِيَّ البَنادِقِ

Tiny pieces that have made the shiverers of spears tired

The mighty catapults, directed by his hand,

Strike marks too fine for the pellet-bow to hit.