أَتانا رَسولٌ مِن رُقَيَّةَ ناصِحٌ

بِأَنَّ قَطينَ اللَهِ بَعدَكَ سُيِّرا

A trustworthy messenger came to us from Ruqayya,

with news that, after you, God’s folk had been driven away.

فَسارَ بِها حَيٌّ كِرامٌ أَعِزَّةٌ

وَخَيرٌ إِذا ما يُبتَغى غَيرُ أَعسَرا

A noble and mighty clan journeyed away with her,

generous—when goodness was sought, never hard to reach.

فَلِلَّهِ عَينا مَن رَأى مِثلَ قَومِها

غَداةَ غَدَوا كانوا أَعَقَّ وَأَفجَرا

How blessed the eyes of one who saw the like of her people

on the morning they departed—they proved the most disloyal and most wicked,

وَأَقطَعَ لِلأَرحامِ لَم يَرقُبوا بِها

مِنَ اللَهِ إِلّا يَومَ ذاكَ وَأَيصَرا

the quickest to sever ties of kinship; concerning her they honored

neither a bond from God that day nor a covenant.

وَأَكثَرَ مِنهُم سَيِّداً غَيرَ مُفحَمٍ

أَغَرَّ نَقِيّاً أَصلَعَ الرَأسِ أَزهَرا

And no people had more chiefs than they—chiefs never at a loss for words,

bright-faced and pure, bald-headed and radiant;

وَأَحسَنَ مِنهُم مَوكِباً حينَ أَعرَضوا

وَخِدراً عَلى مِثلِ المَهاةِ مُخَدَّرا

nor any a finer cavalcade than theirs when they came into view,

nor a more secluded lady, borne aloft like an oryx doe, close-veiled.

تَقولُ لِمَن يَحدو بِها حينَ جاوَزوا

بِها قُرُحَ الوادي وَأَجبالَ خَيبَرا

She said to the man driving her onward, when they had passed

with her beyond Quruh al-Wadi and the mountains of Khaybar:

قِفوا بِيَ أَنظُر نَحوَ قَومِيَ نَظرَةً

فَلَم يَقِفِ الحادي بِها وَتَغَشمَرا

“Stop with me, all of you; let me look once toward my people.”

But the camel-driver would not stop for her and bore brutally on.

فَواحَزَنا إِذ فارَقونا وَجاوَزوا

سِوى قَومِهِم أَعلى حَماةَ وَشَيزَرا

Ah, what grief when they parted from us and passed beyond,

away from their people, toward Upper Hamah and Shayzar—

بِلاداً تَغولُ الناسَ لَم يولَدوا بِها

وَقَد غَنِيَت مِنهُم مَعاناً وَمَحضَرا

into lands that swallow people who were not born in them,

though through them those lands had flourished, in dwelling and settled life.

لَيالِيَ قَومي صالِحٌ ذاتُ بَينِهِم

يَسوسونَ أَحلاماً وَإِرثاً مُؤَزَّرا

Those were the nights when harmony among my people was sound,

when they governed with mature judgment and a strongly buttressed inheritance.

فَلِلَّهِ عَينا مَن رَأى مِن مُفارِقٍ

يُفارِقُ طَوعاً أَو غَريباً مُسَيَّرا

How blessed the eyes of anyone who saw, among those parting—

whether one leaving willingly or a stranger driven away—

شَبيهاً بِذاكَ الحَيِّ حينَ تَحَمَّلوا

يَلُفّونَ أَسقاطاً وَسَبياً مُوَفَّرا

the like of that clan when they loaded up to depart,

gathering waifs around them and captives in abundance,

وَسوقَ عُدولٍ أُعجِلوا عَن مَناهُمُ

رِجالاً وَنِسواناً يُزَجَّينَ حُسَّرا

and driving upright people, hurried away from all they desired—

men and women, prodded onward bareheaded.