خطَبْتَ المجدَ بالأسَلِ العَوالي
ففُزْتَ بوصْلِ أبكارِ المَعالي
You sought glory with lofty determination,
So you attained the pinnacle of grandeur.
وحاولْتَ العُلا فلذِذْتَ منها
بشهدٍ دونَه لسْعُ النِبالِ
You aspired for supremacy and savored its sweetness,
With a nectar beyond the reach of archers.
وجُزتَ إلى الثّنا لُجَجَ المَنايا
فخُضْتَ اليمّ في طلبِ اللآلي
Fate drew you to the pitfalls of mortality,
So you braved the seas in quest of the sublime.
وقارَعْتَ الخُطوبَ السودَ حتّى
أرَضْتَ جوامحَ النّوَبِ العُضالِ
You confronted adversities until you subdued
The beasts of formidable tribulations.
وأرْعَشْتَ القَنا حتّى ظننّا
نفَحْتَ بهنّ أرواحَ الصِلالِ
You shook the spears until we thought
You breathed life into the dormant blades.
وصافحْتَ الصِّفاحَ فلاحَ فيها
وُجوهُ الموتِ في صوَرِ النِّمالِ
You clasped the swords, as if unveiling in them
The face of death in the form of unsheathed steel.
حوَيْتَ المجدَ أجمعَهُ صَبيّاً
تحنّ هَوىً إلى الحربِ السِّجالِ
As a child, you encompassed all glory,
Yearning for the passion of armed combat.
تُكنّي بالقَريض عن المَواضي
بذِكرِ قِصارِ أيّامِ الوِصالِ
You hint at dwelling places with poetry,
Mentioning the short days of union.
وعن عَذْبِ القَنا بقُرونِ ليلى
فتنسِبُ في لياليها الطِوالِ
And the sweet nights with the willowy Laila,
Thus ascribing to her long nights.
فكم أقْرَحْتَ أكبادَ الأعادي
وكم أرْمَدْتَ أجفانَ النِّصالِ
How many enemy livers have you tormented,
And how many eyelids of archers stiffened!
وكم صبّحْتَ بالغاراتِ حيّاً
فأصبح ميّتَ الأطلالِ بالي
How often did you dawn alive with raids
Where the ruins awoke dead the next morn.
وأمسى والدِّيارُ معطّلاتٌ
من الفِتيان والبيضِ الحَوالي
With homes deserted of their youths and whites,
And every corner filled with wailing women.
وكم لكَ بالحُوَيْزةِ يومَ حربٍ
تَشيبُ لهولِه لِمَمُ اللّيالي
How many times at Al-Huwaiyzah, on days of war,
Did you turn the hair of night guards gray!
ويومٍ مثل يومِ الحشْرِ فيه
تَميدُ الرّاسياتُ منَ الجِبالِ
That day was like doomsday, with mountains
Swaying and nearly crumbling down.
به الأعلامُ كالآرام تَسْري
فتَشْتَبِه الرِّعانُ مع الرِّعالِ
The banners were swirling like a dust storm,
And the commoners mixed with the nobles.
مَهولٌ فيه نارُ الحِقدِ تغلي
مراجلُها بأفئِدَة الرِّجالِ
A dreadful fire of malice boiled within,
Its furnaces stoked by the hearts of men.
به اِجتمعَتْ بَنو لامٍ جميعاً
تُستِّرُ جانبَ الطّرفِ الشّمالي
The Banu Laam converged to take
Refuge on the left side of the valley.
ولاذوا بالحُصونِ فما اِستفادوا
نجاةً بالجِدارِ ولا الجِدالِ
They sought shelter in forts but gained no salvation,
Neither through walls nor negotiation.
غُواةٌ قامَ بينهُمُ غَويٌّ
يُمنّيهم بأنواعِ المُحالِ
A rebel rose among them, misleading
Them with schemes of sheer impossibility.
جزى نُعماكَ طُغياناً وكُفْراً
فحلّتْ فيه قارعةُ النّكالِ
He rewarded your favors with defiance and blasphemy,
Thus unleashing upon himself the strike of reckoning.
تخيّلَ سحرَ باطلِه لديهمْ
وأوهمَهُم بحيّاتِ الحِبالِ
He pretended his illusion was truth to them
And deluded them with mirages like snakes.
فجِئْتَ ببيّناتِ الحقِّ حتّى
تهدّم ما بَنوهُ على الجِبالِ
You then brought clear proofs until
You demolished what they built on the hills.
تَرومُ رُماتُهم غيّاً وغَدراً
تُصيبُ عُلاكَ في سَهْمِ اِغتيالِ
Their arrows secretly targeted you with betrayal,
Seeking to strike you down with assassination.
أمَا علِموا بأنّك يا عليٌّ
لَباري قوسها يومَ النِّزالِ
Do they not know that you, O Ali,
Are an impregnable fortress on the day of battle?
تناءَوْا بالدّيارِ فكنتُ أسري
إليهم بالخُيولِ من الخَيالِ
They settled around the lands, so I marched against them
With regiments of imaginary cavalry.
ملأتَ الرُّحبَ حولهمُ جُيوشاً
تُكاثرُ عدَّ حبّاتِ الرّمالِ
You filled the expanse around them with armies
As numerous as the grains of sand.
إلى عقَباتِها العِقبانُ تأوي
وتمدَحُ في ضراغِمِها السّعالي
Ravens flocked to their hindquarters,
Cawing within their multitudes.
كتائِبُ للحَديدِ بها وَميضٌ
تمرُّ عليكَ كالسُّحُبِ الثِّقالِ
Your battalions brandished flashes of iron
Passing you like heavy clouds.
ولمّا لم تجِدْ للصُّلْحِ وجهاً
ولا للعَفْوِ عنهُم والنّوالِ
When you found no way to reconcile or pardon them,
You bombarded them with meteors of equal brilliance.
قذَفْتَهُمُ بشُهْبٍ من حديدٍ
وأقْمارٍ سَواءٍ في الكَمالِ
Missiles from your sons surrounded them, within which
Were stars from the line of uncles and cousins.
بُدورٌ من بَنيك تحفُّ فيها
نجومٌ من بَني عمٍّ وخالِ
Generations tracing back to the Chosen One,
With kinship ties maintaining their connection.
سُلالاتٌ إلى المُختار تُعزى
وأرْحامٌ به ذاتُ اِتّصالِ
They quenched the thirst of pride from their father
And grandfathers, the utmost honorable virtues.
رَوَوْا سندَ المفاخِر عن أبيهم
وعن أجدادِهم شرفَ الخِصالِ
Their actions and faces were equally perfect,
Complete in beauty and grace.
فِعالهُمُ وأوجُهُهُم سَواءٌ
تَمامٌ بالجميلِ وبالجمالِ
You placed them before you upon engagement
As vanguards of the armies while you followed.
جعلتَهُم أمامكَ في التّلاقي
مقدّمةَ الجُيوشِ وأنت تالِ
Thus you guaranteed their frontlines while they guaranteed yours
From behind, before the clashes began.
فكنتَ كفيلَ أظهُرِهم وكانوا
لك الكُفَلاءَ من قُبُلِ النِّزالِ
Whenever the wicked fled, you held fast
Until the deserters returned to combat.
إذا جفلَ الخميسُ ثَبتّ حتّى
يعودَ الهاربونَ إلى القِتالِ
O Glory of Ali, it was as if you were with us
On the day the misguided hordes converged.
كأنّك يا عليَّ المجدِ فِينا
سميُّكَ يومَ أحزابِ الضّلالِ
You charged the enemy, while your sons advanced,
Until the wide battlefield grew narrow through their masses.
حمَلْتَ على العِدا وبنوكَ صالوا
فضاقَ بجيشهمْ رَحْبُ المَجالِ
They were like fierce hunting birds,
Pouncing like swooping eagles.
وكانوا كالجوارِحِ كاسراتٍ
فولّوا مثلَ نافِرةِ الرّئالِ
To escape the flames, they fled to the shore,
Where the water boiled from the blazing heat.
وعن نارِ الظُّبا للشّطِّ فرّوا
فكانَ الماءُ من نارِ الوَبالِ
They saw death was bitter with the sword,
So they tasted death's sweet draught.
رأوا أنّ الرّدى بالسّيفِ مُرٌّ
فذاقوا الموتَ بالعَذْبِ الزُّلالِ
How many skulls did your swords cleave
Of Hizbar, while pardoning the doe!
فكم صرعَتْ سُيوفُكَ من هِزَبْرٍ
بحيّهم وعفّتْ عن غَزالِ
If you angered the egg-white blades against them,
You have pleased the crescent-bladed adulterer's knives!
لَئِنْ أغضَبْتَ بيضَ الشّوسِ منهُم
فقد أرضَيْتَ بيضاتِ الحِجالِ
You left their elite slain the next morn
And harvested praise for sheltering your household.
تركْتَ سُراتَهُم صَرعى غَداةً
وحُزْتَ الحَمدَ في سَتْرِ العِيالِ
Enough, O desert tribesmen! Restrain yourselves
And repent from evil deeds!
ألا يا معشرَ الأعْرابِ كُفّوا
وتوبوا عن خَبيثاتِ الفِعالِ
If you repent, glad tidings of pardon,
Forgiveness and blissful outcomes await you.
فإنْ تُبْتُم فبُشْراكُم بعَفوٍ
ومغفرةٍ وحُسْن مآلِ حالِ
But if you return, a day shall follow another
Where each dawn is harsher than the one before.
وإنْ عُدْتُم يَعُد يوماً بأخرى
تُصبّحُكم أشدَّ من الأَوَالي
My master, soon shall you attain an easy conquest—
Far-famed and lofty in attainment.
ليهنِكَ سيّدي فتحٌ قريبٌ
بَعيدُ الصّيتِ مرتَفعُ المَنالِ
An eternal victory shall continue to reach you,
Bearing the banners of majesty.
ونصرٌ لا يزالُ الدهرُ منه
عليكَ يزُفُّ ألويةَ الجَلالِ
Your lands shall not cease to enjoy prosperity,
With your ascendance extended like shade.
فلا برِحَتْ ديارُك مؤنِقاتٍ
ورَوْحُ عُلاكَ مَمدودَ الظِّلالِ
Your suns shall remain shining
Within the cycle of setting, but never setting.
ولا زالَتْ شُموسُكَ مُشرِقاتٍ
بدائِرةِ الزّوالِ بلا زَوالِ
