سُقها وَلَو ذَهَبَ السُّرى بِسَراتِها
كَم ذا تَرُدُّ النَفسَ عَن عَزَماتِها
Her lofty principles even if stripped of elegance
How often does the soul recoil from its resolves?
طالَ اِمتِراؤُكَ خَلفَ كُلِّ رَذِيَّةٍ
أَكدى لَدى الإِبساسِ مِن ثَفناتِها
Your procrastination has been too long behind every ignoble one,
More intense during adversity than its twinges
سَفَهاً لِرَأيِكَ إِن سُرِرتَ بِرَوضَةٍ
لِمُزنَّمِ العِدّانِ غَضُّ نَباتِها
How foolish your view if you are pleased with a meadow
Whose sprouting plants are diminished by a dissolute herder
أَوَلَيسَ جَهلاً أَن تُسيمَ بِمَرتَعٍ
أَكَلَت بِهِ المِعزى لُحومَ رُعاتِها
Is it not ignorance that you pasture in a land
Whose goats have eaten the flesh of its shepherds?
أَعرَبتَ حينَ دَعوتَ إِلّا أَنَّهُ
لا يَبلُغُ الأَمواتَ صَوتُ دُعاتِها
You supplicated properly when you called but
The dead cannot hear the voices of those who call them
فَاِنهَض وَسَلِّ الهَمَّ عَنكَ بِجَسرَةٍ
رَوحاتُها تُربى عَلى غَدَواتِها
So get up and distract yourself from anxiety briskly
Its brisk walks are nurtured by its maneuvers
وَاِرغَب بِنَفسِكَ أَن تُقيمَ بِبَلدَةٍ
عُصفورُها يَسطو بِشُهبِ بُزاتِها
And make your soul content to stay in a land
Whose sparrows can grasp the gray hair of hyenas
إِن يَرضَ قَومي الهونَ فيَّ فَطالَما
عَمداً أَهَنتُ النَفسَ في مَرضاتِها
If my people are pleased with my humiliation, indeed
I have often willfully humiliated myself to please them
كَم قَد غَدوتُ وَرُحتُ غَيرَ مَقَصِّرٍ
في لَمِّ فُرقَتِها وَجَمعِ شتاتِها
How often have I marched and roamed without ever being remiss
In gathering their fragments and uniting their remnants
وَلَكَم عَصَيتُ بِها العَذولَ وَلَم أُذِع
ما بانَ لِلأَعداءِ مِن عَوراتِها
And how often have I protected it from slanderers without divulging
What weaknesses of theirs became apparent to the enemy
حامَيتُ عَن أَعقابِها وَرَمَيتُ عَن
أَحسابِها وَسَهِرتُ في نَوباتِها
I have protected their posterity and thrown
Myself before their calculations and kept vigil during their watches
بَهراً لَها أَوَ ما دَرَت أَنّي الَّذي
يُدعى مَسَرَّتَها وَغَيظَ عِداتِها
Bewildered by them! Or have they not realized that I
Am the one called their delight and the wrath of their enemies?
كَم زبيَةٍ حَفَرَت لَها يَدُ كاشِحٍ
يَبغي لَها الأَسواءَ في غَفَلاتِها
How many pits has the hand of a fierce attacker dug
Seeking to do them the utmost harm in their moments of oblivion
ما زِلتُ أَهدِمُ جالَها حَتّى غَدَت
أَبحاثُها تَنهارُ في مَهوَاتِها
I have not ceased demolishing their edifices until
Their constructions have collapsed into their abyss
مَهلاً بَني اللُؤَماءِ ثُمَّ تَبيَّنوا
سَبّاقَها السامي إِلى غاياتِها
Wait, O dissolute people, then become certain
Of its most noble horseman racing to its goals
إِنَّ العِتاقَ مِنَ الجِيادِ هِيَ الَّتي
تَجري الأُصولُ بِها عَلى عِلّاتِها
Indeed, the thoroughbreds are those
That transmit ancient glories through their lineage
لَيسَت كَوادِنها بِسَرجٍ مُذهَبٍ
تَجري وَلا بِحُجُولها وَشِيانها
Its riding beasts are not adorned with gold
That flows neither are they distinguished by their elegance and grace
قَومي سُراةُ رَبيعَةٍ وَمُلوكُها
وَإِذا نُسِبتُ وُجِدتُ مِن سَرَواتِها
My people are the cavalry of the Banu Rabīʿah
When my lineage is recounted I am found among their nobility
الطاعِنينَ الخَيلَ في لَبّاتِها
وَالضارِبينَ الصِيدَ في هاماتِها
Those who stab horses in their innermost being
And who strike wild beasts in their brain stems
وَلَرُبَّ لاحٍ قالَ لي وَجُفونُهُ
سَكرى إِلى الآماقِ مِن عَبَرَاتِها
And many a clear-sighted one has said to me while
Tears of sorrow flowed copiously from his eyelids:
هَوِّن فَقَومُكَ يا عَلِيُّ حَياتُها
كَمَماتِها وَمَماتُها كَحَياتِها
Make things easy for them - their lives
Are like their skulls and their skulls are like their lives
لَو كانَ فيها مِن هُمامٍ ماجِدٍ
لَم تُسقَ مُرَّ الضَّيمِ مِن راحاتِها
If only they possessed an ambitious spirit
They would not have tasted the bitterness of tranquility
سَلَبَتكَ ما خُوِّلتَهُ مِن نِعمَةٍ
وَرَماكَ مَن ناوَاكَ مِن مَرماتِها
They robbed you of the blessings you were granted
And those nurturing you pelted you with their shots
مُذ وارتِ الغَبراءُ شَخصَ مُحمَّدٍ
رَحَلَ العُلا وَالمَجدُ مِن أَبياتِها
Ever since the dust covered the person of Muḥammad
Glory and honor have disappeared from its abodes
أَوَ ما تَراها كَيفَ نامَ عَدُوُّها
أَمناً وَما قد نالَ مِن خَيراتِها
Or do you not see how their enemy
Sleeps safely and achieves the best of its fortunes?
وَتَرى أَقارِبَها وَأَهلَ وِدادِها
غَرَضَ البلا في صُبحِها وَبَياتِها
And you see their relatives and loved ones -
Misfortune has afflicted them morning and night
فَأَجَبتُ وَهوَ يَظُنُّ أَنَّ مَقالَتي
اليَومَ أَطويها عَلى بَلَلاتِها
So I responded while he supposed
My speech today would end with my sobbing
لا تَعجلَن وَاِربَع عَلَيَّ فَإِنَّني
لَبّاسُ أَقوامٍ عَلى حالاتِها
Do not be hasty and stomp on me - I
Am the attire of a people true to their states
أَهلُ التَمَلُّقِ باعَدَت ما بَينَنا
بِحُطامِها وَالزُورِ في خَلَواتِها
The fawning drove what was between us apart
With their rubbish and lies during their private sessions
بِأَقَلِّ حَظٍّ غادَرَت أَرحامَنا
جَذّاءَ بادِيَةَ الضَنا لِشكاتِها
With the minimum amount of fortune they abandoned
Our womb relations to the bare wilderness complaining of their misery
فَلأَرحَلَن عَنها رَحيلَ مُفارِقٍ
وَلَأَزجُرَنَّ النَّفسَ عَن لَفَتاتِها
So I shall depart from it a final separation
And restrain my soul from its allurements
لَكِنَّ لي بِالخَطِّ وَقفَةَ ساعَةٍ
بِمَحَلِّ سادَتِها وَدارِ حُماتِها
However, my path calls me for an instant
To where its masters dwell and the abode of its revered ladies
لِقَضاءِ عُذرٍ مِن مُلوكٍ لَحمُها
لَحمي وَأَخشى اللَّومَ إِن لَم آتِها
To fulfil an excuse from kings whose flesh
Is my flesh and I fear blame if I do not go to them
فَإِنِ اِلتَقَتني بِالعُقوقِ كَغَيرِها
فارَقتُها وَسَلِمتُ مِن لَوماتِها
For if they treat me with ingratitude like others
I will leave them and be safe from their blame
وَالأَرضُ واسِعَةُ الفَضاءِ لِمَسلَكي
أَنّى اِتَّجَهتُ وَلَستُ مِن سَقطاتِها
And the earth with its vast expanse is open to my course
Wherever I head and I am not one of its outcasts
وَرجايَ في فَضلِ النَدى اِبنِ مُحمَّدٍ
إِدراكُ ما في النَفسِ مِن حاجاتِها
And my hope is in the overflowing munificence of the son of Muḥammad
To attain what my soul desires of its needs
السابِقِ القَومَ الكِرامَ إلى العُلى
سَبقَ المُبَرِّز في مَدى حَلباتِها
The foremost of the noble folk to the lofty heights
Excelled in its racetrack by the outstanding among its racers
وَالواهِبِ الهَجَماتِ عَفواً وَاللُّها
في عامِها الأَحوى وَفي لَزباتِها
The forgiver of offenses in His most fevered time
And in fierce fights on the battlefield
وَالمُكرِمِ الجاراتِ عَن شَرِّ الخَنا
إِن دَبَّتِ النّوكى إِلى جارَاتِها
The one who honors neighbors against the evil of malice
Should it creep into their vicinity
وَالقائِدِ الجُردَ العِتاقَ إِلى الوَغى
يَخرُجنَ كَالعُقبانِ تَحتَ كماتِها
The leader who drives the vigorous steeds to battle
They emerge like eagles beneath their shields
وَالطاعِنِ الفُرسانَ كُلَّ مَريشَةٍ
مَخلوجَةٍ وَالخَيلَ في لَبّاتِها
The one who pierces the horsemen - every
Trained and conditioned horse in its prime
وَالخائِضِ الغَمَراتِ حَتّى يَنجَلي
بِحُسامِهِ ما ثارَ مِن هَبَواتِها
The one who wades through tribulations until
He cleanses with his sword what turbulences erupted from it
وَالسالِبِ المَلكَ المُعَظَّمَ تاجَهُ
وَمُذيقِهِ المَكرُوهَ مِن كاساتِها
The vanquisher who seizes protected kingship
And makes it taste the bitterness of his cups
وَالواصِلِ الرَّحِمَ الَّتي أَوصى بِها
ذُو العَرشِ في الآياتِ مِن سُوراتِها
The one who connects relations as He whose throne
Is above the heavens ordered in verses among the suras
يا اِبنَ الَّذي خَضَعت لَهُ وَتضاءلَت
شُوسُ الأُسودِ الغُلبُ في أَجماتِها
My prince whose rule
The arrogance of tyrants humbled during his rule
أَجرى نِزاراً كَيفَ شاءَ وَيَعرُباً
بِالكُرهِ مِن مُرّادِها وَعُتاتِها
He who flowed as he pleased whether willingly
Or reluctantly on their part with might and resolution
ما حارَبَتهُ قَبيلَةٌ إِلّا غَدَت
أَحياؤُها وَفداً عَلى أَمواتِها
No tribe fought him without becoming
Corpses their lives ransoms for their dead
وَكَتيبَةٍ رَعناءَ يَخشاها الرَدى
أَبكى فَوارِسَها عَلى ساداتِها
A wretched horde he fears whose recall
Makes their horsemen weep for their chiefs
يا سُوءَ حَظِّ بَني نِزارٍ بَعدَهُ
وَشَقاءَ حاضِرها وَشُؤمَ بُداتِها
Oh what misfortune for the Banū Nizār after him
And what ill-omened beginnings and miserable consequences!
مَن لِلمكارِمِ وَالصَوارِمِ وَالقَنا
وَالمُرمِلاتِ وَمَن لِفَكِّ عُناتِها
Who now for gallantry, weaponry, spears
Fine steeds, and undoing their entanglements?
رَجَفَت لِمَهلَكِهِ البِلادُ وَزُلزِلَت
وَغَدا مناخُ الذُلِّ في حُجراتِها
The countries quaked from his death and crumbled -
The climate of humiliation took hold of their lodgings
إِن نَبكِ مَصرَعَهُ أَسىً فَلَقد بَكَت
جَزعاً عَلَيهِ الجِنُّ مِن سَتراتِها
If you mourn his death in agony, indeed
The jinn wept bitterly from their hiding places over him
وَيَحقُّ أَن يَبكي عَلَيهِ بِحُرقَةٍ
وَحشُ الفَلا وَالطَيرُ في ركُناتِها
And rightfully the beasts of prey and the birds
In the wilds should weep for him in torment
كانَت بِهِ البَحرَينُ جَنَّة مَأرِبٍ
أَيّامَ بَهجَتِها وَطيب حَياتِها
Through him the two seas were like the gardens of Maʾrib
During the days of its joy and the goodness of its life
حَتّى إِذا ما التُربُ وارى شَخصَهُ
أَبدَت يَدُ الأَيّامِ عَن سَوآتِها
Until when the soil covered his person
The hand of time exposed its deficiencies
تَبّاً لِدُنيا كُلَّما وَهَبَت ثَنَت
فَاِستَرجَعَت مِنّا نَفيسَ هِباتِها
Curse upon a world that whenever it bestows, it folds back
And takes back from us the finest of its gifts
يا فَضلُ يا مَن لا تَزالُ جِيادُهُ
وَطءُ الأُنوفِ الشُمِّ مِن عاداتِها
My gracious lord whose steeds persist
Trampling the elevated noses of enemies habitually
أَنتَ الَّذي ما زالَ سَيفُكَ في الوَغى
يُردي العِدا وَيَكُفُّ مِن جَهلاتِها
You whose sword in battle continuously
Repels the enemy and restrains the ignorant ones among them
أَشبَهتَ والدَكَ الهُمامَ وَإِنَّما
عُرِفت بَنو الآسادِ مِن أَصواتِها
You resemble your magnanimous father - indeed
The Banū Asad are known by their voices
شَيَّدت دَولَةَ آلِ فَضلٍ بَعدَما
خَرَّت قَواعِدُها عَلى آلاتِها
You established the dynastic rule of the Āl Faḍl after
Its foundations crumbled because of their burdens
عَلَتِ النُجومَ بُرُوجُها فَكَأَنّما
عَقَدت أَكاليلاً عَلى شُرُفاتِها
Its constellations ascended as though
Crowns were placed over their pavilions
وَقَرَعتَ آنافَ العِدا فَتَقاصَرَت
أَطماعُها وَكَفَفتَ مِن سَطَواتِها
And you beat back the snouts of enemies so
Their ambitions were cut short and you curbed their transgressions
وَحَميتَ دارَ أَبيكَ مِنكَ بِهِمَّةٍ
الجودُ وَالإِقدامُ مِن هاماتِها
And you protected the house of your father with an ardor -
Munificence and daring are among its instincts
مِن بَعدِ ما جَمَعَت عَقيلٌ كَيدَها
بِالرَأيِ مِن عُقّالِها وَغُواتِها
After ʿAqīl had gathered its cunning
Through opinion from its schemers and reckless ones
وَدَعَت بِأَهلِ السِّيبِ فَاِبتَدأَت بِها
مِن شَطِّ دِجلتِها وَشَطِّ فُراتِها
And she called the captives so it began with them
From the shore of its Tigris and the shore of its Euphrates
تَتلو المُعَلّى حَيثُ سارَ وَإِنَّهُ
لَلفارِسُ الوَلّاجُ في غَمَراتِها
Succeeding the Sublime wherever He marched - indeed
He is the intrepid knight wading into its turbulence
فَتَكَنَّفت أَهلُ القَطيفِ بِخَيلِها
وَرِماحِها وَقسِيِّها وَرُماتِها
So the people of Al-Qaṭīf armed themselves with
Their steeds, their spears, their bows, and their archers
فَصَبَرتَ صَبرَ الأَكرَمينَ وَلَم نَخِم
عَن زَحفِها يَوماً وَلا غاراتِها
You remained steadfast with the patience of the most generous
We never flinched from its march or raids
تَتلو لِواءَكَ مِن رَبيعةَ عُصبَةٌ
تَخشى الأُسودُ الغُلبُ مِن صَولاتِها
The standards of your ancestor Rabīʿah - a group
Feared by the arrogance of tyranny because of its assaults
بِأَكُفِّها بِيضٌ بِها ضَرَبَ العِدا
آباؤُها الماضونَ عَن أُمّاتِها
With its white swords with which
Their forefathers who passed struck the enemy mothers
كَم جَدَّلَت بِحُدُودِها مِن مائِقٍ
مُتَمَرِّدٍ وَالخَيلُ في جَولاتِها
How often it contended over its borders
Against a transgressor whose horses were on raids
تَبكي قَواتِل مَن قَتَلنَ وَلَيسَ مِن
قَوَدٍ يُقادُ وَمَن لَها بِدِياتِها
Crying over those we killed with no
Retribution to lead nor wergild for them
نِعمَ الحُماةُ إِذا الكُماةُ تَسانَدَت
لِيَبينَ أَحماها عَلى راياتِها
What fine defenders when defenders cooperate
So the protected would know who protected its banners
تَرَكَت نِساءَ السِّيبِ تَبكي حَسرَةً
لِوُلاتها وَتُطيلُ مِن وَيلاتِها
It left the women of captives crying bitterly
For their newborns prolonging their wailing
إِيهاً عِمادَ الدينِ يَقظَةَ ماجِدٍ
فَذَوو مَكارِمِها وَذُو يَقظاتِها
Alas pillar of the faith and wakefulness of the glorious
Thus are the abodes of its gallantry and its vigilance
أَوَ ما تَرى الرَّحِمَ المَضيمَةَ تَشتَكي
قَد ضاقَتِ الأَحشاءُ عَن زَفَراتِها
Can you not see the oppressed womb complaining -
The bowels can no longer contain its groans
وَالماجِدُ الأَحسابِ بَرٌّ واصِلٌ
وَاللُّؤمُ في أَجلافِها وَجُفاتِها
While the honorable genealogy is righteous, caring
And protecting and the wicked are empty and rude
وَأُعيذُ مَجدَكَ أَن يَقولوا باخِلٌ
وَأبوكَ مُحيي بالِياتِ رُفاتِها
And I seek refuge for your glory from them saying you are stingy
While your father enlivens the forgotten bones of its dead
فَذَرِ التَغافُلَ فَالتَغافُلُ كُلُّهُ
لُؤمٌ وَكُلُّ الجودِ في هَبّاتِها
So abandon indifference - indifference is
Entirely base while all generosity is in its gifts
وَاِعلَم بِأَنَّ اليَومَ آخِرُ وَقفَةٍ
وَالنَّفسُ تائِقَةٌ إِلى مَرقاتِها
And know that today is the last stance
And the soul yearns unto its relief
وَحَوائِجُ المَوتى إِلى أَكفانِها
وَحوائِجُ الأَحيا إِلى أَقواتِها
The dead have need for their shrouds
And the living have need for their livelihoods
وَالمَرءُ في الدُنيا حَديثٌ سائِرٌ
تَقضي الرِفاقُ بِهِ مَدى أَوقاتِها
And man in this world is continually travelling
His companions fulfil during their appointed times
فَاِختَر لِنَفسِكَ ما يُقالُ ضُحى غَدٍ
إِذ تُطلَبُ الأَخبارُ عِندَ رُواتِها
So choose for yourself what will be said tomorrow morning
When the reports about it are sought from its narrators
فَأَما وَأَعلامِ المُحصَّبِ مِن مِنىً
وَمواقِفِ الرُكبانِ في عَرَفاتِها
As for the standards of those assuming ihram from Mina
And the stance of riders in ʿArafāt
لَولا أَواصِرُنا وَبُعدُ حَمِيَّتي
لَتَعَرَّفَتني حِميَرٌ بِسَراتِها
Were it not for our ties and the distance of my zeal
Donkeys would recognize me by my voice
وَأَقولُ إِنَّ الأُسدَ إِن هِيَ أُحرِجَت
خَرَجَت إِلى الأَصحارِ مِن غاباتِها
And I say that when lions are frustrated
They emerge into the plains from their forests
وَالغبنُ يُوطي الحُرَّ كُلَّ عَظِيمَةٍ
وَيُفتِّشُ الحُلماءِ عَن إِحناتِها
Injustice blankets the free and examines
The forbearing among them for their failings
