أَتَزعَمُ ياضَخمَ اللَغاديدِ أَنَّنا
وَنَحنُ أُسودُ الحَربِ لانَعرِفُ الحَربا
Do you claim, O thick-jowled one, that we—
we, the lions of war—know nothing of war?
فَوَيلَكَ مَن لِلحَربِ إِن لَم نَكُن لَها
وَمَن ذا الَّذي يُمسي وَيُضحي لَها تِربا
Woe to you! Who is there for war, if we are not,
and who meets it morning and evening as its peer?
وَمَن ذا يَلُفُّ الجَيشَ مِن جَنَباتِهِ
وَمَن ذا يَقودُ الشُمَّ أَو يَصدُمُ القَلبا
Who envelops an army on every side,
and who leads the proud warriors or strikes its heart?
وَوَيلَكَ مَن أَدى أَخاكَ بِمَرعَشٍ
وَجَلَّلَ ضَرباً وَجهَ والِدِكَ العَضبا
Woe to you! Who felled your brother at Marʿash,
raking his face and both hands with keen blows?
وَوَيلَكَ مَن خَلّى اِبنَ أُختِكَ موثِقاً
وَخَلّاكَ بِاللَقّانِ تَبتَدِرُ الشَعبا
Who left your sister’s son bound in fetters,
and left you at al-Laqqan racing for the pass?
أَتوعِدُنا بِالحَربِ حَتّى كَأَنَّنا
وَإِيّاكَ لَم يُعصَب بِها قَلبُنا عَصبا
Do you threaten us with war, as though—
against you—our heart had never, raging, played havoc with it?
لَقَد جَمَعَتنا الحَربُ مِن قَبلِ هَذِهِ
فَكُنّا بِها أُسداً وَكُنتَ بِها كَلبا
War brought us together before this day:
we were its lions, while you were its dog.
فَسَل بَردَساً عَنّا أَخاكَ وَصِهرَهُ
وَسَل آلَ بَرداليسَ أَعظَمُكُم خَطبا
Then ask Bardas about us—your brother—and his son-in-law;
ask the house of Bardalis whose calamity among you was greatest.
وَسَل قُقُواساً وَالشَميشَقَ صِهرَهُ
وَسَل سِبطَهُ البَطريقَ أَثبَتُكُم قَلبا
Ask Qouqas and al-Shamishaq, his son-in-law;
ask his grandson, the patrician, which of you was firmest-hearted.
وَسَل صيدَكُم آلَ المَلايِنِ إِنَّنا
نَهَبنا بِبيضِ الهِندِ عِزَّهُمُ نَهبا
Ask your quarry, O brood of the accursed: truly,
with a few Indian blades we plundered all their glory.
وَسَل آلَ بَهرامٍ وَآلَ بَلَنطَسٍ
وَسَل آلَ مَنوالَ الجَحاجِحَةَ الغُلبا
Ask the house of Bahram and the house of Balantas,
and ask the house of Manwal, those mighty, victorious chiefs.
وَسَل بِالبُرُطسيسِ العَساكِرَ كُلَّها
وَسَل بِالمُنَسطَرياطِسِ الرومَ وَالعُربا
Ask all the armies of the house of al-Burtusis,
and at al-Munastariyat ask the Romans and the Arabs.
أَلَم تُفنِهِم قَتلاً وَأَسراً سُيوفُنا
وَأُسدَ الشَرى المَلأى وَإِن جَمُدَت رُعبا
Did our swords not annihilate them, killing and capturing,
even the lions of the teeming thicket, though they froze in terror?
بِأَقلامِنا أُجحِرتَ أَم بِسُيوفِنا
وَأُسدَ الشَرى قُدنا إِلَيكَ أَمِ الكُتبا
Was it with our pens you were driven into your lair—or with our swords?
And was it lions of the thicket we drove against you—or books?
تَرَكناكَ في بَطنِ الفَلاةِ تَجوبُها
كَما اِنتَفَقَ اليَربوعُ يَلتَثِمُ التُربا
We left you roaming through the belly of the open waste,
like a jerboa bursting from its burrow, scrabbling for earth.
تُفاخِرُنا بِالطَعنِ وَالضَربِ في الوَغى
لَقَد أَوسَعَتكَ النَفسُ يا اِبنُ اِستِها كِذبا
Do you boast against us of spear-thrusts and sword-blows amid battle?
Your soul has lavished lies upon you, O son of her arse.
رَعى اللَهُ أَوفانا إِذا قالَ ذِمَّةً
وَأَنفَذَنا طَعناً وَأَثبَتَنا قَلبا
May God preserve the truest of us whenever a man gives his pledge,
the keenest of us in thrusting and the firmest-hearted.
وَجَدتُ أَباكَ العِلجَ لَمّا خَبَرتُهُ
أَقَلُّكُمُ خَيراً وَأَكثَرَكُم عُجبا
When you tested your foreign, uncouth father, you found him
the least good among you and the greatest in conceit.
