يا أَيُّها المُطنِبُ ذا الغُرورِ

في سِفَةِ السودِ مِنَ الطُيورِ

O you, the boastful one with delusions

O you who exaggerates, possessed by delusion,

Among the evils of the black birds

In your mockery of the black-feathered birds,

في الحَسَنِ الهَدّاءِ وَالتَخيِيرِ

رَيبِ شَهاداتٍ لِدَعوى زورِ

With beauty, calmness and free choice

Ignoring their beautiful cooing and noble selection,

Suspicious testimonies for a false claim

Casting doubt with testimonies based on false claims,

اِسمَع فَما نَبّاكَ كَالخَبيرِ

مِن ذي صِفاتٍ حاذِقٍ نِحريرِ

Listen, for what informed you as the expert

Listen, for none informs you like an expert,

From the one with distinguished, proficient qualities

One who describes them with skill and deep knowledge,

صِفاتُهُ مُحكَمَةُ التَحبيرِ

ما جَعَلَ الأُسودَ كَاليَعفورِ

His qualities are solidified wisdom

Whose descriptions are masterfully composed,

He did not make the black ones like the francolin

Who does not equate the black lions of the sky with dust-colored fawns.

أَطيارُ يَعفورٍ ذَواتُ الخَيرِ

أَولى بِذاتِ فَضلِها المَذكورِ

Francolins are the birds of goodness

Are the dust-colored birds the ones possessing virtue,

More deserving of the aforementioned merit

More deserving of the merit mentioned?

هَذا ثَناءُ حُسنِها المَشهورِ

يا حُسنَها فَوقَ أَعالي الدورِ

This is the praise of their famous beauty

Here is the praise of their renowned beauty:

O their beauty above the highest abodes

Oh, how beautiful they are atop the high houses,

في حُجَرٍ شامِخَةِ التَحجيرِ

إِذا تَهادَينَ مِنَ الوُكورِ

In a sublime, constructed enclosure

In lofts built high and imposing,

When they murmur from the males

When they sway gently emerging from their nests,

بِعَرصَةِ الإِناثِ وَالذُكورِ

وَطَرَدِ الغَيورِ كَالغَيورِ

In the yard of females and males

In the courtyard filled with females and males,

And dispel the jealous like the jealous

And the jealous male chases away the rival like a jealous lover,

تَكريرُ تَهديلٍ عَلى تَكريرِ

كَأَنَّ في هَديلِها الجَهيرِ

Repeated cooing upon repetition

Repeating their cooing over and over again,

As if in their loud calls

As though within their resonant cooing,

تَرَنُّمَ العيدانِ وَالزَميرِ

أَو كَدَوِيِّ النَحلِ في القَفيرِ

Is the singing of flutes and pipes

Were the melody of lutes and flutes,

Or the buzzing of bees in the arid land

Or like the humming of bees in the hive,

مِن مُجتَنى الذَوبِ أَخي التَغريرِ

ذَواتِ هامٍ جَهمَةَ التَدويرِ

From the oozing sap, my friend the deceiver

Gathered by one who risks danger for the honey,

With frowning foreheads in their turning

Possessing heads of stern roundness,

وَأَعيُنٍ أَصفى مِنَ البِلَّورِ

في لامِعٍ مِن حُمرَةٍ مُنيرِ

And eyes purer than crystal

And eyes more lucid than crystal,

In a glossy red glow

Set within a shining, luminous redness,

لَمعَ ايَواقيتِ مَعَ الشُذورِ

إِلى قَراطيمَ نِبالٍ حورِ

The sparks of rubies flashed

Like the gleam of rubies amidst gold beads,

To the anklets of smooth legs

Leading to beaks like sharp arrows,

كَتَوأَماتِ اللُؤلُؤِ المَذخورِ

فُصِّلَ مَقروناً مِنَ المَنثورِ

Like matched pearls gathered

Resembling twins of hoarded pearls,

Detailed paired from the scattered

Strung together from scattered gems,

فَوقَ مَناقيرَ قِصارٍ صُوَرِ

كَرَنَّةِ البَمِّ وَرَجعِ الزيرِ

Above short beaks depicted

Above short, beautifully formed beaks,

Like the croaking of frogs and the crow’s caw

Resonating like the bass string answering the high lute string,

ذَواتِ ريشٍ كَمَداري الحورِ

وَأَرجُلٍ في حُمرَةِ الحَريرِ

With feathers like the maidens’ bracelets

Possessing feathers neat as the combs of lovely maidens,

And legs in red silk

And legs the color of red silk,

جُردٍ كَظَهرِ الأَدَمِ المَبشورِ

بَينَ البُطونِ المُلسِ وَالظُهورِ

Plucked like the back of polished leather

Smooth and bare like scraped leather,

Between the smooth bellies and backs

Between their smooth bellies and their backs,

مِن بَينِ ما سَبطٍ وَذي تَنميرِ

كَم طائِرٍ مِنهُنَّ ذي تَشميرِ

Among the adorned and bejeweled

Ranging from sleek plumage to speckled patterns,

How many of them have rolled up

How many a bird among them stands ready for flight,

حَزَوَّرٍ ذي ذَنَبٍ قَصيرِ

مِن مُزجَلٍ أُرسِلَ في البُحورِ

Short-tailed and well-groomed

A robust youth with a short tail,

Of a smooth-sailing vessel sent into the seas

From those dispatched across vast distances,

فَشَقَّ هَولَ الحَورِ وَالغُمورِ

كَفِعلِهِ بِالحَزنِ وَالوُعورِ

Splitting the awe of maidens and waves

Cleaving through the terrors of the depths and floods,

As it did with sorrow and plateau

Just as he traverses the rugged and rough terrain,

يَقطَعُ كَالمُستَطرِدِ المَذعورِ

في اليَومِ أَيّاماً مِنَ المَسيرِ

Cutting through like the panicked fleeing steed

Covering ground like one terrified in flight,

Traveling days of journey in a day

Crossing days of marching distance in a single day,

يَفوتُ وَثباً حُذُقَ النُسورِ

وَخاطِفَ العُقبانِ وَالصُقورِ

Surpassing the pouncing of eagles

Outpacing with his leap the skill of vultures,

And the swooping of falcons and hawks

And the snatching eagles and hawks,

كَالحالِقِ الكاسِرِ لِلتَغويرِ

أَو سَهمِ رامٍ قاصِدٍ طَريرِ

Like the diving severing falconer

Like a soaring predator diving for the raid,

Or a flying arrow seeking prey

Or the arrow of an archer, aimed and sharp,

أَو لِفتِ نارٍ بِيَدِ المُشيرِ

حَتّى هَوى لِلوَكرِ كَالمَمطورِ

Or the swipe of fire in the igniter’s hand

Or a torch of fire in the hand of a signaler,

Until it fell to the nest like the downpour

Until he swoops down to the nest like pouring rain,

فَضَعضَعَ الحُجرَةَ بِالنَعيرِ

وَكَبَّروا فَأَيَّما تَكبيرِ

And shook the burrow with calling

Shaking the loft with his vibrant cry,

And they exalted, what an exaltation

And the people cry "God is Great"—what a magnificent cry!

فَرُبَّ ساعٍ عِندَها بِشيرِ

أَبَرَّ مِنهُ قَسَمُ النَذيرِ

Many a time with it is a bearer of good news

For often a messenger arriving there brings glad tidings,

More fulfilling than the oath of the warner

More certain than the oath of a solemn warner.