أَلَم تَعلَمي يا أُمَّ تَوبَةَ أَنَّني

عَلى حدثانِ الدَّهرِ غَيرُ بَليدِ

Did you not know, O mother of repentance, that I

Am quick to grasp the events of time, not dull

أَشُدُّ حَيازيمي لِكُلِّ كَريهَةٍ

وَأَنّي عَلى ما نابَ جِدُّ جَليدِ

I hold fast my reigns against all hated things

And for what has passed, I have a heart of ice

وَما تَرَكَ الكَذّابُ مِن جُلِّ مالِنا

وَلا الزرقُ مِن هَمدانَ غَيرَ شَريدِ

What the liar left of our possessions

And the raiders, save for a few scraps

أَفي الحَقِّ أَن يَجتاحَ مالِيَ كُلَّهُ

وَتَأَمنَ عِندي ضَيعَةُ ابنِ سَعيدِ

Is it just that he take all I own

While the estate of Ibn Sa'id rests secure with me?

فَإِن لَم أُصَبِّح شاكِراً بِكَتيبَةٍ

فَعالَجتُ بِالكَفَّينِ غِلَّ حَديدِ

So if I do not repay them with a regiment by morn

I will grip their iron bonds with my bare hands

هُمُ هَدَموا داري وَقادوا حَليلَتي

إِلى سِجنِهِم وَالمُسلِمونَ شُهودِي

They wrecked my home and led my wife

To their prison, with Muslims as my witness

وَهُم أَعجَلوها أَن تَشُدَّ خِمارَها

فَيا عَجَبا هَلِ الزَّمانُ مُقيدِي

And they rushed her to draw her veil

How strange, has time thus fettered me?

فَما أَنا بِاِبنِ الحُرِّ إِن لَم أَرُعهُمُ

بِخَيلٍ تَعادى بِالكُماةِ أسودِ

I am no son of the free man if I do not tend them

With horses that clash with black lances

وَما جَبُنَت خَيلي وَلَكِن حَمَلتُها

عَلى جَحفَلٍ ذي عُدَّةٍ وَعَديدِ

My horses did not flee, but I drove them

Against a mighty horde, fully equipped

وَقَد عَلِمَت خَيلي بِساباطَ أَنَّني

إِذا حيلَ دونَ الطَّعنِ غَيرُ عنودِ

My horses know that I, if blocked from the thrust

Will dodge behind the boulders and pretend

أكُرُّ وَراءَ المَحجرَينِ وَأَدَّعي

مَواريثَ آباءٍ لَنا وَجُدودِ

Ancestral inheritances are ours, long passed down

When our swords are done with one regiment

إِذا فَرَغَت أَسيافُنا مِن كَتيبَةٍ

نَبَذنا بِأُخرى في الصَّباحِ ركودِ

We fling another at dawn into lethargy

If they come out of a trance, my prayers and goading

وَإِن خَرَجوا مِن غَمرَةٍ رَدَّها لَهُم

دُعايَ وَتَحريضي لَهُم وَنَشيدِي

And cheering drive them back for me

I say to them, complete the ransom of my father

أَقولُ لَهم تِمُّوا فِدىً والِدي لَكُم

وَمالي جَميعاً طارِفي وَتَليدِي

And all I own, my kids and wife

I ransom them with my parents, and among them

أُفَدّيهِمُ بِالوالِدَينِ وَفيهِمُ

نَوافِذُ طَعنٍ مِثل حَرّ وقودِ

Are wounds like burning embers

You see the spatter amidst the striking of swords between them

تَرَى النَّضحَ مِن وَقعِ الأَسِنَّةِ بَينَهُم

جَسيداً بِلَبّاتٍ لَهُم وَخُدودِ

With cheeks streaming blood and reddened necks

It changed the hues of the swords between us

وَغَيَّرَ أَلوانَ الأَسِنَّةِ بَينَنا

بِأَحمَرَ مِن صَوبِ العُروقِ فَصيدِ

To red from the tributaries of veins, the quarry

They and we spun around, and spun were their souls

فَدارَت رَحانا وَاِستَدارَت رَحاهُمُ

وَكانَ جِلادٌ دونَ كُلِّ وَعيدِ

With every threat, a different executioner

And the people of Maqati' surrendered their souls

وَأَبسَلَ أَهلُ المَأقِطين نُفوسَهُم

مُضاربَةً إِذ طارَ كُلُّ شرودِ

As each fugitive took flight

They called me to what I loathe, so I answered them

دَعَوني إِلى مَكروهِها فَأَجَبتُهُم

وَما أَنا إِذ يَدعونَني بِبَعيدِ

I am no easy mark if they call from afar

I offer my dowry in the fray, then wheel around

أُقَدِّمُ مَهري في الوَغى ثُمَّ أَنتَحي

عَلى قَرَبوسِ السَّرجِ غَيرَ صدودِ

The straps of the saddle, never shy

When they threaten me with swords, I overwhelm them

إِذا ما اِتَّقوني بِالسُّيوفِ غَشيتُهُم

بِنَفسٍ لِما تَخشى النُفوسُ وَرودِ

With a spirit that fears not the plunge

I did not cast till the people fell in rapture

فَما رمتُ حَتّى صُرِّعَ القَومُ نَشوَةً

سُكارى وَما ذاقوا شَرابَ حُدودِ

Intoxicated, though they tasted no wine

But it was the sublime that fell between them

وَلَكِنَّ وَقعَ المشرَفِيَّةِ بَينَهُم

لِتُجهِزَ من يَدنو لِدارِ خُلودِ

To finish off whoever neared the abode of eternity

It was as if the heads of the armored men in the eve

كَأَنَّ رُؤوسَ الدَّارِعينَ عَشِيَّةً

مِنَ الحَنظَلِ المُلقى بِكُلِّ صَعيدِ

Were seeds of bitter colocynth strewn on the ground

So the clouds lifted from them and parted

فَأَقلَعَتِ الغَمّاءُ عَنهُم وَفُرِّجَت

وَنَحنُ بِها مِن كاتِمٍ وَشَهيدِ

While we remained both witness and judge