ذي المَعالي فَليَعلَوَن مَن تَعالى

هَكَذا هَكَذا وَإِلّا فَلالا

They exalt themselves, let them know who truly exalts

These are the heights of glory; let him ascend who seeks to rise,

Thus, thus or ask no more a question already answered

Thus, indeed thus, or else let it not be at all.

شَرَفٌ يَنطِحُ النُجومَ بِرَوقيـ

ـهِ وَعِزٌّ يُقَلقِلُ الأَجبالا

Nobility charges the stars with its lightning

A honor that thrusts against the stars with its horn, and a might that leaves mountains trembling,

And glory convulses mountains

Great is the standing of our foes, yet Sayf al-Dawla—Son of the Sword—stands greater still.

حالُ أَعدائِنا عَظيمٌ وَسَيفُ الـ

ـدَولَةِ اِبنُ السُيوفِ أَعظَمُ حالا

While our enemies' state is grandiose

Whenever they hastened a messenger to warn him, his steeds outstripped the very speed of warning,

And the state sword, son of swords, grander

They arrived, piercing the earth, bearing nothing upon their backs but iron and heroes.

كُلَّما أَعجَلوا النَذيرَ مَسيراً

أَعجَلَتهُ جِيادُهُ الإِعجالا

Whenever they hastened the warner’s journey

Their coats obscured, for the dust of war had woven upon them veils and heavy shrouds.

His steeds hastened all the more

Their chests and the high spears swore an oath to him: to plunge into terrors on his behalf,

فَأَتَتهُم خَوارِقَ الأَرضِ ما تَحـ

ـمِلُ إِلّا الحَديدَ وَالأَبطالا

There came to them miracles of earth

And to charge where the lance finds no room to turn, nor the steed a breadth to roam.

Bearing naught but iron and heroes

I blame not the son of Leo, King of the Romans, though what he desired was a sheer impossibility;

خافِياتِ الأَلوانِ قَد نَسَجَ النَقـ

ـعُ عَلَيها بَراقِعاً وَجِلالا

Veiled in every hue has fancy woven

He was vexed by a small structure built 'twixt his ears, and a builder who sought the heavens and attained them.

Raiment and glory upon them

Whenever he strove to raze it, the structure expanded, covering his brow and the nape of his neck.

حالَفَتهُ صُدورُها وَالعَوالي

لَتَخوضَنَّ دونَهُ الأَهوالا

Their chests swore and the loftiest peaks

He gathers the Romans, the Slavs, and the Bulgars there, while you gather their fated ends.

To plunge into perils for him

You meet them there amidst brown lances, as the parched rush to meet the cool waters.

وَلَتَمضِنَّ حَيثُ لا يَجِدُ الرُمـ

ـحُ مَداراً وَلا الحِصانُ مَجالا

And press on where neither lance finds range

They aimed to raze its wall but instead rebuilt it; they came to shorten it, yet it towered high.

Nor steed an open field

They dragged forth the stratagems of war, until they left them as a curse upon their own heads.

لا أَلومُ اِبنَ لاوُنٍ مَلِكَ الرو

مِ وَإِن كانَ ما تَمَنّى مُحالا

I blame not the King of Rome though

How often a matter befalls you where the doer is unpraised, yet the deed itself earns praise.

His hopes proved most improbable

And bows that shot at you, only to deflect the arrowheads back into the archers' own hearts.

أَقلَقَتهُ بَنِيَّةٌ بَينَ أُذنَيـ

ـهِ وَبانٍ بَغى السَماءَ فَنالا

Anxiety shook him amid his mind’s ears

They seized the roads to sever your messengers, yet that very severance became a summons for war.

When that who sought heaven got it

They are a surging sea of high waves, yet before your ocean, they turned to mere mirage.

كُلَّما رامَ حَطَّها اِتَّسَعَ البَنـ

ـيُ فَغَطّى جَبينَهُ وَالقَذالا

Whenever he tried seizing it, it widened

They did not depart without a fight, yet the slaughter you dealt sufficed to end the fray.

Encompassing his brow beneath a helm

And the blow from your hands that severed their necks, severed likewise their every hope.

يَجمَعُ الرومَ وَالصَقالِبَ وَالبُلـ

غَرَ فيها وَتَجمَعُ الآجالا

He rallies Rome, the Saqāliba and Bulghār

And the steadfastness they mastered of old, now taught the brave the art of flight.

While the appointed times rally in it

They descended onto battlefields well-known to them, weeping for their uncles and kin.

وَتُوافِيهِمِ بِها في القَنا السُمـ

ـرِ كَما وافَتِ العِطاشُ الصِلالا

And meet them at the crimson canal

The wind drifts the hair of severed scalps amongst them, and scatters torn limbs upon their ranks,

As yearning meets the watering-places

Warning the living body against remaining there, showing it a grim likeness for every limb.

قَصَدوا هَدمَ سورِها فَبَنوهُ

وَأَتوا كَي يُقَصِّروهُ فَطالا

They set out to raze its wall, but built it

They felt the thrusts in their hearts in swift succession, before their eyes could even glimpse the spears.

And came to undermine it, so it heightened

And when cavalry sought to charge you, they saw the spear-shafts stretch as long as miles.

وَاِستَجَرّوا مَكايِدَ الحَربِ حَتّى

تَرَكوها لَها عَلَيهِم وَبالا

They ignited the stratagems of war until

Terror spread its right hand to their right, so they fled, and its left hand to their left.

Leaving them upon them a bane

Panic shakes hands that no longer know: do they wield swords, or bear chains?

رُبَّ أَمرٍ أَتاكَ لا تَحمَدُ الفُعـ

ـعالَ فيهِ وَتَحمَدُ الأَفعالا

Oft comes to you a thing whose happening

And faces terrified by your countenance, abandoning their beauty and grace to your glory.

You loathe, yet bless its consequences

For clear sight causes conjecture to vanish, and forces the will to change its course.

وَقِسِيٍّ رُميتَ عَنها فَرَدَّت

في قُلوبِ الرُماةِ عَنكَ النِصالا

And a blow you warded off only to hurl

When the coward is left alone in the land, only then does he seek the duel and the fray.

Back at the archers from you their arrows

They swore never to look upon you save with the heart, for eyes have long deceived men.

أَخَذوا الطُرقَ يَقطَعونَ بِها الرُسـ

ـلَ فَكانَ اِنقِطاعُها إِرسالا

They cut the routes to ambush envoys

What eye ever gazed upon you and held its gaze? What glance looked your way and returned?

But cutting them off became their sending

The accursed one doubts not that you will seize his host—does he then send armies as a mere gift?

وَهُمُ البَحرُ ذو الغَوارِبِ إِلّا

أَنَّهُ صارَ عِندَ بَحرِكَ آلا

They are the deep abundant with sails

What avails him who sets snares upon the earth, when his hope is to capture the crescent moon?

Save that at your deep it grew still

Before that fortress at the Pass, the Hill, and the River, stands a warrior who plunges in and cleaves apart.

ما مَضَوا لَم يُقاتِلوكَ وَلَكِنـ

ـنَ القِتالَ الَّذي كَفاكَ القِتالا

They marched not to fight you, but

He seized it by force from Fate and kings, building it as a beauty mark upon the cheek of Time.

‘Twas the battle that sufficed you against battle

So she walks with the strut of a bride in her pride, swaying over the ages in coquetry.

وَالَّذي قَطَّعَ الرِقابَ مِنَ الضَر

بِ بِكَفَّيكَ قَطَّعَ الآمالا

And what severed the heads with double-edged blades

He guarded her with spears straight of joint, against Time's tyranny and all sudden fears.

Severed aspirations with your hands

And blades that know the sacred from the profane, yet shed lawful blood until it ran dry,

وَالثَباتُ الَّذي أَجادوا قَديماً

عَلَّمَ الثابِتَينِ ذا الإِجفالا

While their famed unwavering stand

Amidst a legion of lions, grim in war, devouring both souls and amassed wealth.

Taught unwavering ones your solemn stride

For truly, the souls of men are but beasts of prey, hunting one another by force and by guile.

نَزَلوا في مَصارِعٍ عَرَفوها

يَندُبونَ الأَعمامَ وَالأَخوالا

They came down to death-beds they knew

He who has the power to take by force and conquest, will never seek his prize by begging.

Bemoaning uncles and in-laws

Every man who sets forth in pursuit of a need, yearns to be the conquering lion.

تَحمِلُ الريحُ بَينَهُم شَعَرَ الها

مِ وَتَذري عَلَيهِمِ الأَوصالا

The winds conveying amidst them dishevelled hair

And strewing over them limbs

تُنذِرُ الجِسمَ أَن يُقيمَ لَدَيها

وَتُريهِ لِكُلِّ عُضوٍ مِثالا

Warning the body to present itself

And showing it for each member an instance

أَبصَرُا الطَعنَ في القُلوبِ دِراكاً

قَبلَ أَن يُبصِروا الرِماحَ خَيالا

They espied the stab in hearts as a foretaste

Ere they glimpsed the shadowed lances

وَإِذا حاوَلَت طِعانَكَ خَيلٌ

أَبصَرَت أَذرُعَ القَنا أَميالا

And when horsemen assay your stabbing,

They glimpse the lances’ arms outstretched for miles

بَسَطَ الرُعبَ في اليَمينِ يَميناً

فَتَوَلّوا وَفي الشِمالِ شِمالا

Panic spreads its right to the right

So they flee while to the left, the left

يَنفُضُ الرَوعُ أَيدِياً لَيسَ تَدري

أَسُيوفاً حَمَلنَ أَم أَغلالا

Panic shakes hands that know not

Whether swords they carried or shackles

وَوُجوهاً أَخافَها مِنكَ وَجهٌ

تَرَكَت حُسنَها لَهُ وَالجَمالا

And faces it frightened with a face

That left them its beauty and charm

وَالعِيانُ الجَلِيُّ يُحدِثُ لِلظَنـ

ـنِ زَوالاً وَلِلمُرادِ اِنتِقالا

While the evident facts engage fancy

In decline and inclination in transition

وَإِذا ما خَلا الجَبانُ بِأَرضٍ

طَلَبَ الطَعنَ وَحدَهُ وَالنِزالا

And if the craven possessed a land

He sought the stab of the lone duel

أَقسَموا لا رَؤوكَ إِلّا بِقَلبٍ

طالَما غَرَّتِ العُيونُ الرِجالا

They swore they never saw you but at heart

Though eyes oft seduced men

أَيُّ عَينٍ تَأَمَّلَتكَ فَلاقَتـ

ـكَ وَطَرفٍ رَنا إِلَيكَ فَآلا

What eye gazed on you and met

You while what eyelash delighted in you and swerved?

ما يَشُكُّ اللَعينَ في أَخذِكَ الجَيـ

ـشَ فَهَل يَبعَثُ الجُيوشَ نَوالا

No damned fool doubts your taking the troops

Can he marshal the squadrons then?

ما لِمَن يَنصِبُ الحَبائِلَ في الأَر

ضِ وَمَرجاهُ أَن يَصيدَ الهِلالا

No use for him who plants ropes in earth

Hoping to ensnare the new crescent

إِنَّ دونَ الَّتي عَلى الدَربِ وَالأَحـ

ـدَبِ وَالنَهرِ مِخلَطاً مِزيالا

Beneath her who is upon the trail, hillside and river

Jumbled lie rock-slide and ruin

غَصَبَ الدَهرَ وَالمُلوكَ عَلَيها

فَبَناها في وَجنَةِ الدَهرِ خالا

Fate and kings she dominated

And built in fate’s dimple in seclusion

فَهيَ تَمشي مَشيَ العَروسِ اِختِيالاً

وَتَثَنّى عَلى الزَمانِ دَلالا

So she walked the walk of the coy bride

And leaned upon time as her darling

وَحَماها بِكُلِّ مُطَّرِدِ الأَكـ

ـعُبِ جورَ الزَمانِ وَالأَوجالا

While he guarded her from each roving outcast—

Time’s tyranny and towering columns

وَظُبىً تَعرِفُ الحَرامَ مِنَ الحِلـ

ـلِ فَقَد أَفنَتِ الدِماءَ حَلالا

She’s a doe who knows sacrilege from sanction

For she wasted the lawful blood

في خَميسٍ مِنَ الأُسودِ بَئيسٍ

يَفتَرِسنَ النُفوسَ وَالأَموالا

On a bleak and ominous Thursday

That made away with souls and wealth

إِنَّما أَنفُسُ الأَنيسِ سِباعٌ

يَتَفارَسنَ جَهرَةً وَاِغتِيالا

The souls of the amiable are but predators

Jousting openly and furtively

مَن أَطاقَ اِلتِماسَ شَيءٍ غِلاباً

وَاِغتِصاباً لَم يَلتَمِسهُ سُؤالا

Who could seek something by wrest

And seizure without asking?

كُلُّ غادٍ لِحاجَةٍ يَتَمَنّى

أَن يَكونَ الغَضَنفَرَ الرِئبالا