هَل عَرَفتَ الرَبعَ أَجلى
أَهلُهُ عَنهُ فَزالا
Do you know the quarter most glorious?
Did you recognize the campsite, clearly revealed,
Its people departed and vanished
After its people departed and it faded away?
بِشَرَورى قَد عَفا أَو
صارَ آلاً أَو خَيالا
Due to my wickedness, though pardoned,
At Sharawra, its traces have been effaced, or...
Or turned to ghosts or mirage.
...it has become a mirage or a fleeting phantom.
جَرَتِ الريحُ عَلَيهِن
نَ جَنوباً وَشِمالا
The winds blew over it
The winds have swept over its remains,
From south and north alike,
Blowing from the south and from the north.
رُبَّ ريمٍ كانَ فيها
يَملَءُ العَينَ جَمالا
Many a gazelle once frolicked there
Many a white gazelle was once there,
Filling the eyes with beauty.
Filling the eye with pure beauty.
وَلَقَد تَقنِصُكَ الحو
رُ بِها العينُ الغَزالا
The ruined abodes will deceive your eye
Indeed, the wide-eyed maidens hunt you there,
As though adorned with a grazing gazelle,
With eyes of the gazelle, capturing the prey.
في ظِباءٍ يَتَزاوَر
نَ فَيَمشينَ ثِقالا
In meadows once trodden by does
Among fawns that turn shyly to one another,
Stately walking with swelling bellies.
Walking with a heavy, languid grace.
قَد تَبَدَّلنَ فُروعاً
بِصَياصيها طِوالا
Branches have changed into spears
The ruins have exchanged their flowing braids...
With tips made long by points.
...for the long horns of wild cows.
كَم شَفَينَ العَينَ مِنهُن
نَ رَميقاً وَاِكتِحالا
How many bright eyes have they soothed
How often they healed the eye of the beholder...
With morning draughts and kohl!
...with a loving glance and kohl-lined lids.
وَفَلاةٍ أَلبَسَتها
ظُلمَةُ اللَيلِ جِلالا
Deserts clad by the darkness of night
And many a desert wasteland, clothed by...
With majestic garb.
...the darkness of night in a heavy shroud,
قَد تَبَطَّنتُ بِحَرفٍ
تَقدُمُ العيسَ العِجالا
I moored my camel in a ruin
I have crossed its depths upon a lean mount...
Overtaking the swift rumen.
...that outstrips the swift white camels.
تُفعِمُ الغُبطَ بِأُخرا
ها وَتَستَوفي الحِبالا
It fills me with joy at evening
She fills the rear saddle-straps with her bulk,
And completes the cords in the morning,
And stretches the girth-ropes to their limit.
ذاتُ لَوثٍ شِدقِمِيٍّ
يَسبِقُ الطِرفَ نِقالا
A sleek smooth-necked she-camel
Possessed of strength, of the Shidqam breed,
Outstripping the glance of an eye.
Surpassing the noble steed in her pace.
وَهيَ في ذاكَ مِنِ إِبرا
هيمَ تَستَشفِئُ خالا
While it was of Ibrahim's camels
And she, in this journey, from Ibrahim...
Seeking refuge if scarred.
...seeks a remedy for her fatigue.
خَيرُ مَن حَطَّ بِهِ الرَك
بُ المُخَبّونَ الرِحالا
Best is he who pitched his tent
The best man with whom the riders...
Where the saddled camels knelt.
...those weary travelers, set down their saddles.
مالَ إِبراهيمُ بِالما
لِ يَميناً وَشِمالا
Ibrahim cared not for riches
Ibrahim has scattered wealth far and wide,
On his right or left.
To the right hand and to the left.
فَإِذا عُدَّ جَوادٌ
مَعَهُ كانَ مُحالا
Whenever a steed was counted
So when a generous man is mentioned,
His, it proved unsound.
Comparing another to him is an absurdity.
لَيتَ أَعدائِيَ كانوا
لِأَبي إِسحاقَ مالا
Would that my enemies possessed
Would that my enemies were simply...
For Abu Ishaq riches!
...wealth belonging to Abu Ishaq.
جادَ حَتّى حَصَدَ الفا
قَةَ وَاِجتَثَّ السُؤالا
He was munificent until reaping bounty
He gave until he harvested poverty itself,
And uprooting begging.
And uprooted the very need to ask.
لَم يَقُل أَفعَلُ إِلّا
أَتبَعَ القَولَ الفِعالا
He never said: ‘I will act’
He never says "I shall do" unless...
Unless following words with deeds.
...he follows the spoken word with the deed.
أَجوَدُ الناسِ وَلَو أَص
بَحَ أَسوا الناسِ حالا
Most generous of men, even if
The most generous of people, even were he...
Becoming poorest of all.
...in the most destitute of conditions.
يا أَبا إِسحاقَ لَو أَن
صَفتَ مِنكَ المالَ قالا
O Abu Ishaq, if you inventoried
O Abu Ishaq, if you were to grant...
Your wealth, it would say:
...justice to your wealth, it would speak out:
ما لِرِجلِ المالِ أَمسَت
تَشتَكي مِنكَ الكَلالا
'Why does the man complain of you
"Why have the legs of Wealth come..."
When the penniless cry in weariness?
"...to complain of such fatigue because of you?"
ما لِأَموالِكَ مَم شا
ءَ اِجتَنى مِنها وَكالا
Why, when you gained some of it
What ails your wealth? Whoever wishes...
And others took a share as agents?'
...harvests from it and takes his fill.
أَتَرى لاءً حَراماً
وَتَرى هاءً حَلالا
Do you see any unlawful coin
Do you deem the word "No" to be a sin,
And regard any as lawful?'
And view the word "Yes" as lawful duty?
يا فَتىً يُرغِمُ بِالجو
دِ رِجالاً وَرِجالا
O young man who by his munificence
O youth who, through generosity, humbles...
Vanquishes men and men!
...ranks upon ranks of men.
كُلَّما قيسَ بِكَ الأَق
وامُ لَم يَسوُوا قِبالا
Whenever the champions were compared with you
Whenever other tribes are measured against you,
They did not equal a span.
They are not worth a single sandal-strap.
