أَلَم تَهتَج فَتَدَّكِرَ الوِصالا
وَحَبلاً كانَ مُتَّصِلاً فَزالا
Did you not stir, then reminisce about our union,
Though we were joined by an unsevered bond now severed?
بَلى فَالدَمعُ مِنكَ لَهُ اِنسِجامٌ
كَماءِ المُزنِ يَنسَجِلُ اِنسِجالا
Yes, tears from you are harmoniously aligned,
As pouring rain conjoins in steady streams.
فَدَع عَنكَ أَدكارَكَ آلَ سُعدى
فَنَحنُ الأَكثَرونَ حَصىً وَمالا
Leave off your brooding, O House of Sa’da!
Though we are greater in number and wealth.
وَنَحنُ المالِكونَ الناسَ قَسراً
نَسومُهُم المَذّلَّةَ وَالنَكالا
For we subjugate people by force,
Degrading and punishing them.
وَنورِدُهُم حِياضَ الخَسفِ ذُلّاً
وَما نَألوهُمُ إِلّا خَبالا
We drive them, disgraced, to abysses of ignominy,
Inflicting nothing on them but dishonor.
وَطِئنا الأَشعَرينَ بِعِزِّ قَيسٍ
فَيالَكِ وَطأَةً لَن تُستَقالا
We trampled the Ash'arites with Qays’ might.
Oh, a trampling not soon undone!
وَهذا خالِدٌ أَمسى أَسيراً
أَلا مَنَعوهُ إِن كانوا رِجالا
And this is Khalid, now prisoner,
Did they not defend him if they were men?
عَظيمُهُمُ وَسَيِّدُهُم قَديماً
جَعَلنا المُخزِياتِ لَهُ ظِلالا
Once great and chief among them,
We made humiliations his shade.
فَلَو كانَت قَبائِلَ ذاتَ عِزٍّ
لَما ذَهَبَت صَنائِعُهُ ضَلالا
Had their tribes possessed any glory,
His arts had not gone astray.
وَلا تَرَكوهُ مَسلوباً أَسيراً
يُسامِرُ مِن سَلاسِلِنا الثِقالا
Nor left him plundered and captive
To converse with our heavy chains.
وَكِندَةُ وَالسَكونُ فَما اِستَقالوا
وَلا بَرِحَت خُيولُهُم الرِحالا
Kindah and Sakun did not stand their ground,
Their horses never stopped roaming.
بِها سُمنا البَرِيَّةِ كُلَّ خَسفٍ
وَهَدَّمنا السُهولَةَ وَالجِبالا
With them we fattened the steppe’s every hollow
And razed the easy plains and hills.
وَلكِنَّ الوَقائِعَ ضَعضَعَتهُم
وَجَذَّتهُم وَرَدَّتهُم شِلالا
But events convulsed and shook them,
Washing and hurling them like torrents.
فَما زالوا لَنا أَبداً عَبيداً
نَسومُهُمُ المَذَلَّةَ وَالسَفالا
They remain our slaves forever,
Degraded and debased by us.
شَدَدنا مُلكَنا بِبَني نِزارٍ
وَقَوَّمنا بِهِم مَن كانَ مالا
With Banu Nizarr we bolstered our rule
And propped up, through them, all who owned wealth.
فَأَصبَحتُ الغَداةَ عَلَيَّ تاجٌ
لِمُلكِ الناسِ ما يَبغي اِنتِقالا
So at dawn, I found myself crowned
King of all that seek to change rule.
