ومُذ خَيَّمتُ بِالخَضراءِ دَارا

وَزنتُ بِشِسعِ نَعلِي تَاجَ دارا

Since I pitched my tent in the green oasis

And donned the crown with my sandal straps

تَوَهَّمتُ السَّمَاءَ بِهَا مَحَلِّي

لأَنِّي لِلنُّجومِ أَقَمتُ جَارا

I fancied the sky as my abode

For I made the stars my neighbors

لإِخوَانٍ إِذَا فَكَّرتُ فِيهِم

رَأَيتُ كِبَارَ إخوَانِي صِغَارَا

When I think of my brethren

I see my elder brothers as smaller

كَأَنَّ اللَّهَ قَد سَبَكَ المَعَالِي

فَخَلَّصَ مَجدَهُم مِنهَا نُضَارَا

As if God had forged greatness

And extracted their glory anew

وَما قَالوا لها الخَضرَاءَ إِلا

لأَن كَانَت لأنجُمِهِم مَدَارَا

And they only called it “the Green”

Because it was the orbit of their stars

وَمَنزِلُنَا بِأَزرَقَ كَوثرِيٍّ

بِمَنزِل أَزرَقٍ مَا إِن يُجَارَا

While our abode in the Azrāq oasis

Cannot rival the abode of Azrāq

لَبِسنَا لِلغَدِيرِ بِهِ دُرُوعاً

وَجَرَّدنَا جَدَاوِلَهُ شِفَارَا

We donned its pond with armors

And bared its streams to thirst

بِيَومٍ لَو رَمَى الكُسَعِي فِيهِ

رَأى مِن قَوسِهِ سرّاً تَوَارَى

On a day when, had Al-Kusa’i shot

His bow would have missed its mark

وَرَوضٍ رَاقَ مَنظَرُهُ وَإِلا

فَلِم خَلَعَ الحَمامُ بِهِ العِذارا

In a garden, pretty was its sight

Else why did the doves there shed their plumage?

وَقَامَ عَلَى مَنَابِرِهِ خَطِيباً

فَحَرَّكَ لِلغُصونِ بِهِ حُوَارَا

And on its pulpits stood an orator

who stirred the boughs to discourse

وَطارَحَهَا فَأَصغَت سَامِعَاتٍ

وَهَزَّت مِن مَعَاطِفِهَا حَيَارَى

Which listened rapt and shook

from their mantles, shyer

فَإن مَرَّ النَّسِيمُ بِهِ عَلِيلاً

تَكَلَّفَتِ القِيَامَ لَهُ سُكَارَى

Should the breeze pass by, frail

The trees strive to stand, drunk

وَطَودٍ لَو تُزاحِمُ مَنكِبَاهُ

نِظَامَ النَّجمِ لانتَثَرَ انتِثَارَا

With a bulk, if its shoulders vied

It would toss the order of stars into chaos

سَمَا فَتَشَوَّقَت زهرُ الدَّرَارِي

إِلَيهِ فَنَكَّسَ الرَّأسَ احتِقَارَا

The flowers of wild pear bloomed

Yearning for it, so it bowed its head in disdain

وَقَد شَمَخَ الوَقَارُ بِهِ وَلَكِن

وَقَارُ ذَوِيهِ عَلَّمَهُ الوَقَارَا

Though it rose with dignity

The dignity of its family taught it composure

أَولائِكَ مَعشَرٌ قَهَرُوا الليَالِي

وَرَدُّوهَا لِحُكمِهِم اضطِرَارَا

That band subdued the nights

And bent them by force to their rule

وَقَامَ بِعبءِ مَجدِهِمُ اضطِلاعاً

فَأَنجَدَ فِي العَلاءِ كَمَا أَغَارَا

And bore the burden of their glory

So it rose to the sublime as they did

أَبو عَمرو بنِ حَسُّون الَّذِي لا

تَشُقُّ النِّيِّرَاتُ لَهُ غُبَارَا

Abu ‘Amr ibn Hassoun

Whom the banners do not cloak in dust

فَتىً فِي السِّنِّ كَهلٌ فِي المَعَالِي

صَغِيرٌ زَيَّفَ النَّاسَ الكِبَارَا

A lad in years, aged in feats

A child who disguised the elders as small

وَلا عَجَب بِسُؤدَدِهِ صَغِيراً

فَإِنَّ الخَيلَ أَنجَبَتِ المِهَارَا

No wonder at his precocity

When horses sire racers

وَإِنَّ السَّهمَ وَهوَ أَدَقُّ شَيءٍ

يَفُوتُ الرُّمحَ سَبقاً وَابتِدَارَا

And the arrow, subtlest of things

Overtakes the spear, outstripping it