يَا أَيُّهَا الجاهِلُ ذُو التَنَزّي

لا تُوعِدَنِّي حَيَّةٌ بِالنَكْزِ

O ignorant one given to blaming others,

Do not threaten me, neither snake with a bite

ولا امْرُءٌ ذُو جَدَلٍ مِلَزِّ

دَعْنِي فَقَدْ يُقْرِعُ للأَضَزِّ

Nor a man prone to disputation and contention.

Leave me be, for he may get a rap for the slow-witted one,

صَكِّي حِجَاجَيْ رَأْسِهِ وَبَهْزِي

عَنِّي وَأَذْرابُ القَنَا ذِي اللَهْزِ

A knock on the pate of the disputatious fellow.

Keep away from me, refuge of the hissing adder,

أَنَا ابْنُ أَنْضادٍ إِلَيْها أُرْزِي

أَغْرِفُ مِنْ ذِي حَدَبٍ وَأُوْزِي

I am the son of Anzad, to whom I hurry

When the cooking pots are stirred,

إِلَى تَمِيمٍ وَتَمِيمٌ حِرْزِي

نَسْقِي العِدَى غَيْظاً طَوِيلَ الجأْزِ

To Tameem, and Tameem is my fortress,

I give the enemies a draught of long-chafing wrath,

يَلْقَى مُعَادِيهِمٍ عَذَابَ الشَرْزِ

أَنَا ابْنُ كُلِّ مُصْعَبٍ شُمَّخْزِ

They meet the punishment of burning pain,

I am the son of every honored, high-bred Mus'ab,

سامٍ عَلَى رَغْمِ العِدَى ضُمَّخْزِ

أُتْرِفْنَ يَشْدَخْنَ العِدَى بِالخَبْزِ

Exalted despite the hostility of the foe.

I spend freely, I distribute gifts to the enemy with breadcrumbs,

خَبْطاً بِأَخْفافٍ ثِقالِ اللَبْزِ

كُلُّ طِوالٍ سَلِبٍ وَوَهْزِ

Pounding them with nimble, heavy-striking hooves,

All the tall, plundering, audacious warriors,

دُلامِزٍ يُرْبِي عَلَى الدِلَمْزِ

يَبْتَلِعُ الهامَةَ قَبْلَ الضَفزِ

Ramming riders nurtured on ramming,

Who swallow the main body of warriors before the cavalry,

إِذَا الأُمُورُ أُولِعَتْ بِالشَخْزِ

وَالحَرْبُ عَسْراءُ اللِقاحِ المُغْزِي

When matters are stirred up with intoxication.

And war, hard to contend with, urging on

بِالمَشْرَفِيّاتِ وَطَعْنٍ وَخْزِ

وَالصَقْبِ مِنْ قاذِفَةٍ وَجَرْزِ

With lance-thrusts, stabbing, and piercing,

And the impact of the stones slung from the sling,

ما رامَنَا مِنْ ذي عَديدٍ مُبزِ

إِلّا وَقُمنا كَيدهُ بِالرِجزِ

We did not desire any numerous host,

Except that we foiled their scheme with poetry,

بِرَأْسِ دَمَّاغ رُؤُوسَ العِزِّ

يَأْبَى وَيَنْبُو مَتْنُهُ بِالهَمْزِ

With the foreheads and skulls of the glorious ones,

It refuses and its composition swells up with conceit,

تَرَى خُطُوبَ الحَدَثِ المِجَزِّ

يَزْلِلْنَ عَنْهُ غَيْرَ مُرْمَئِزِّ

You see the newly created conceits slipping off it, unadorned,

When the high-stepping, far-striding she-camels draw away from it,

إِذَا تَنَزَّى قاحِزاتُ القَحْزِ

عَنْهُ وَأَكْبَى وَاقِذاتُ الرَمْزِ

And the pregnant she-camels, heavy with young, turn away,

Pregnant, slowly plodding, dying a feeble death,

عَوَاثِراً مُوَّتْنَ مَوْتَ التَرْزِ

إِنَّ تَمِيماً رِزُّها ذُو رِزِّ

Verily, the glory of Tameem is lasting glory,

And victory belongs to the strongest,

وَالعِزَّةُ الغَلْبَاءُ لِلأَعَزِّ

تَسْمُو بِغَصّابِ العِدى مُبْتَزِّ

They rise above, rending the enemies with sharp claws

Taking no heed of censure and blame,

لا يَأْخُذُ التَأْفِيكُ وَالتَحَزِّي

فِينَا وَلا طَبْخُ العِدَى ذُو الأَزِّ

Nor the enemies' cooking up schemes.

And if the foes' legions, fully armed,

وَإِنْ حَبَتْ أَوْشازُ كُلِّ وَشْزِ

بِعَدَدٍ ذِي عُدَّةٍ وَرِكْزِ

Were to unite in numbers and preparation,

Then if you see me today, O mother of determination,

فَإِنْ تَرَيْنِي اليَوْمَ أُمَّ حَمْزِ

قارَبْتُ بَيْنَ عَنَقِي وَجَمْزِ

Brought close to my slaughter and defeat,

After the loss of my reckless, vain youth,

مِنْ بَعْدِ تَقْماصِ الشَباب الأَبْزِ

فِي ظِلِّ عَصْرَيْ باطِلِي وَلَمْزِي

In the shadow of my idle maturity and folly,

Then every excellent or paltry beginning

فَكُلُّ بَدْءٍ صالِحٍ أَوْ نِقْزِ

لاقٍ حِمام الأَجَلِ المُجْتَزِّ

Meets the pigeons of fate, the eagles of destiny,

Like arrows aimed at the fixed target,

وَرامِياتِ القَدَرِ المُعْتَزِّ

كَالنَبْلِ نَحْوَ الغَرَضِ المُرْتَزِّ

That one day will smash the boulders of affliction,

When care and blame disobeyed me,

يَكْسِرْنَ يَوْماً صَخْرَةَ الضِرِزِّ

لَمَّا عَصَانِي الهَمُّ وَالتَعَزِّي

I lifted my tent-pegs and the ropes of the tent-cloth

Onto the mountain passes of lofty Julal,

عالَيْت أَنْسَاعِي وَكُور الغَرْزِ

عَلَى حَزابِيٍّ جلالٍ وَجْزِ

Or pitched camp at the smooth plain of Nuz,

How often it passed over the gorge and the crevasse

أَوْ بشَكَى وَخْدَ الظَلِيمِ النَزِّ

كَمْ جاوَزَتْ مِنْ حَدَبٍ وَفَرْزِ

And turned away from the stony ground and the crag,

And the watchman who kept vigil atop the goat-hair tent,

وَنَكَّبَتْ مِنْ جُوءَةٍ وَضَمْزِ

وَإِرَمٍ أَحْرَسَ فَوْقَ عَنْزِ

And the barren land and the watering-place with little herbage,

Surrounded by a tract of swaying sand,

وَجَدْبِ أَرْضٍ وَمُناخٍ شَأْزِ

حُفَّ بِرَمْلٍ مُرْجَحِنِّ العِجْزِ

And a descent where horned animals leap:

A herd of mountain goats and gazelles,

وَمَسْقِطٍ بِهِ ذَواتُ القَفْزِ

أَوَاشِرٌ مِنْ أَرَزٍ وَنَفْزِ

When the early morning pasturage flows into the plain,

You would think them pieces of clothing of soft leather,

إِذَا جَرَى رَيْعُ الضُحَى فِي المُعْزِ

حَسِبْتَ بِيضاً مِنْ ثِيابِ القِهْزِ

Or scraps of a garment or a coat

That a browser of every kind of foliage dons,

أَوْ قِطَعاً مِنْ سَرَقٍ أَوْ قَزِّ

يَجْتابُها قامِسُ كُلِّ نَشْزِ

And travel is to us an unsteady staggering,

I converse with successive nights, distressed and weary,

وَالسَيْرُ زَعْزاعٌ بِنَا مُنَزِّ

ناجِي التَوالِي مُجْرَهِدُّ الحَفْزِ

Yet he defied me and came close to provoking me,

Had I no hope in a generous man of judgment,

فَقَدْ عَصَى أَوْ كَادَ مُسْتَفِزِّي

لَوْلا رَجاءٌ مِنْ كَرِيمٍ وَجْزِ

He would pardon you his pardon before your slaughter,

His resolute intention has no deceit,

يُعْفِيكَ عافِيهِ وَقَبْلَ النَحْزِ

سَجْلاهُ غَرَّافانِ قَبْلَ النَهْزِ

If he resolves on a grave matter,

He distances it from blame and inability,

ما فِي اعْتِزامِ رَأْيِهِ مِنْ غَمْزِ

إِذَا حَدَا أَمْراً شَدِيدَ الجَلْزِ

So praise the noble scion of glorious ancestry,

His munificence will pardon you before your ruin.

باعَدَهُ مِنْ لاَمَةٍ وَعَجْزِ

فَامْدَحْ كَرِيمَ المُنْتَمَى وَالحِجْزِ

He has a leaning that trembles when moved,

He plunges into hardship for the destitute,

يُعْفِيكَ مِنْهُ الجُودُ قَبْلَ الحَزِّ

ذَا مَيْعَةٍ يَهْتَزُّ عِنْدَ الهَزِّ

When all withhold good, each one stingy,

Then that one is a miser, dejected in calamity,

يَقْتَحِمُ الدِّقَّةَ لِلأَمَزِّ

إِذَا أَقَلَّ الخَيْرَ كُلُّ لِحْزِ

And a beetle walking in mire,

Who has no fear of ruin with that treasure,

فَذَاكَ بَخّالٌ أَرُوزُ الأَرْزِ

وَكُرَّزٌ يَمْشِي بَطِينَ الكُرْزِ

And everyone dissenting and hoarding,

Whether shaggy-haired or curly-locked,

لا يَحْذَرُ الكَيَّ بِذَاكَ الكَنْزِ

وَكُلُّ مِخْلافٍ وَمُكْلَئِزِّ

As if he were cast of iron,

Not the cloud's shower reviving the parched land.

أَجْرَدَ أَوْ جَعْدِ اليَدَيْنِ جِبْزِ

كَأَنَّما جُمِّعَ مِنْ فِلِزِّ

The eulogist knew you would reward

His eulogy without disgracing him,

ما ذُو النَدَى المُنْدِي بِمُشْمَئِزِّ

قَدْ عَلِمَ المادِحُ أَنْ سَتَجْزِي

So I picked from the best of every kind,

The choicest, noblest steeds,

بِمَدْحِهِ مَجْدَكَ غَيْرَ المُخْزِي

فَاخْتَرْتُ مِنْ جَيِّدِ كُلِّ طَرْزِ

And my eulogy, when glory vies,

Will remain and be more enduring than noble steeds.

جَيِّدَةَ القَدِّ جِيادَ الخَرْزِ

وَمِدْحَتِي يَوْمَ تَغَالِي البَزِّ

أَبْقَى وَأَغْلَا مِنْ جِيَادِ الخَزِّ