بِأَبي وَغَيرِ أَبي وَذاكَ قَليلُ
ثاوٍ عَلَيهِ ثَرى النِباجِ مَهيلُ
My father—and more than my father—be his ransom; even that is little.
He lies beneath the heaped earth of al-Nibāj.
خَذَلَتهُ أُسرَتُهُ كَأَنَّ سَراتَهُم
جَهِلوا بِأَنَّ الخاذِلَ المَخذولُ
His clan abandoned him—as though their chiefs
Did not know that he who forsakes is himself forsaken.
أَكّالُ أَشلاءِ الفَوارِسِ بِالقَنا
أَضحى بِهِنَّ وَشِلوُهُ مَأكولُ
He devoured the limbs of horsemen with lances;
Now by those lances his own flesh is devoured.
كُفّي فَقَتلُ مُحَمَّدٍ لي شاهِدٌ
أَنَّ العَزيزَ مَعَ القَضاءِ ذَليلُ
Enough: Muhammad’s slaying bears me witness
That even the mighty is humbled beneath fate.
إِن يُستَضَم بَعدَ الإِباءِ فَإِنَّهُ
قَد يُستَضامُ المُصعَبُ المَعقولُ
If, after all his proud refusal, he is wronged,
Even the unbroken camel, once hobbled, may be subdued.
مُستَحسِنٌ وَجهَ الرَدى في مَعرَكٍ
وَجهُ الحَياةِ بِحَومَتَيهِ جَميلُ
He found death’s face beautiful in battle;
The face of life was fair within its twin maelstroms.
أَنسى أَبا نَصرٍ نَسيتُ إِذَن يَدي
في حَيثُ يَنتَصِرُ الفَتى وَيُنيلُ
If I forget Abu Nasr, then I have forgotten my own hand
Wherever a man wins victory and bestows bounty.
هَيهاتَ لا يَأتي الزَمانُ بِمِثلِهِ
إِنَّ الزَمانَ بِمِثلِهِ لَبَخيلُ
Far from it—time will never bring his like;
Time is miserly indeed with such a man.
ما أَنتَ بِالمَقتولِ صَبراً إِنَّما
أَمَلي غَداةَ نَعِيِّكَ المَقتولُ
You were not one killed helpless in captivity; rather,
My hope was killed the morning your death was cried.
لِلسَيفِ بَعدَكَ حُرقَةٌ وَعَويلُ
وَعَلَيكَ لِلمَجدِ التَليدِ غَليلُ
After you, the sword has burning grief and wailing,
And ancient glory burns with thirst for you.
إِن طالَ يَومُكَ في الوَغى فَلَقَد تُرى
فيهِ وَيَومُ الهامِ مِنكَ طَويلُ
Though your day in war stretched long, you could be seen
There—and heads had a long day at your hands.
فَسَتَذكُرُ الخَيلُ اِنصِلاتَكَ في السُرى
وَالقَفرُ مَعروفُ الرَدى مَجهولُ
The horses will remember your headlong rushes by night,
And the desert, known for death, itself unknown.
وَتُفَلَّلُ الأَحسابُ بَعدَكَ وَالنُهى
وَالبيضُ مُلسٌ ما بِهِنَّ فُلولُ
After you, noble lineages and discerning minds will be notched,
While the white blades remain smooth, without a notch.
مَن ذا يُحَدِّثُ بِالبَقاءِ ضَميرَهُ
هَيهاتَ أَنتَ عَلى الفَناءِ دَليلُ
Who can still whisper to his soul of lasting on?
Far from it—you are the proof of mortality.
يا لَيتَ شِعري بِالمَكارِمِ كُلِّها
ماذا وَقَد فَقَدَت نَداكَ تَقولُ
Would that I knew what all noble virtues,
Bereft of your bounty, now would say.
كَم مَشهَدٍ قَد جَدَّدَتهُ لَكَ العُلا
وَكَأَنَّهُ بِالأَمسِ وَهوَ مُحيلُ
How many a battlefield high glory renewed for you,
Seeming but yesterday, though long elapsed;
وَكَتيبَةٍ كُتِبَت لَها أَرواحُها
وَاليَومُ أَحمَرُ مِن دَمٍ مَصقولُ
And many a battalion whose souls had been signed away,
While the day shone burnished, red with blood.
ما شَكَّ أَثبَتُهُم يَقيناً أَنَّهُ
لِلمَوتِ في قَبضِ النُفوسِ رَسولُ
Not even the firmest among them doubted
That he was death’s envoy, charged with seizing souls.
يا يَومَ قَحطَبَةٍ لَقَد أَبقَيتَ لي
حُرَقاً أَرى أَيّامَها سَتَطولُ
O day of Qahtaba, you have left within me
Burnings whose days, I see, will linger long.
لَيثٌ لَوَ اِنَّ اللَيثَ قامَ مَقامَهُ
لَاِنصاعَ وَهوَ يَراعَةٌ إِجفيلُ
A lion—had a lion stood in his place,
It would have yielded, a frail thing quick to flee.
لَمّا رَأى جَمعاً قَليلاً في الوَغى
وَأُولو الحِفاظِ مِنَ القَليلِ قَليلُ
When he saw that the company in battle was small—
And among the few, how few defend their honor—
لاقى الكَريهَةَ وَهوَ مُغمِدُ رَوعِهِ
فيها وَلَكِن سَيفُهُ مَسلولُ
He met the horror with his fear sheathed,
But with his sword drawn.
وَمَشى إِلى المَوتِ الزُؤامِ كَأَنَّما
هُوَ في مَحَبَّتِهِ إِلَيهِ خَليلُ
He walked toward swift, certain death as though
In loving it he were its intimate friend.
لَم يودِ مِنهُ واحِدٌ لَكِنَّما
أَودى بِهِ مِن أَسوَدانَ قَبيلُ
No single man did away with him; rather,
A whole tribe from Aswadān brought him down.
أَضحَت عِراصُ مُحَمَّدٍ وَمُحَمَّدٍ
وَأَخيهِما وَكَأَنَّهُنَّ طُلولُ
The courtyards of Muhammad and Muhammad now lie empty,
And those of their brother—as though they were ruins.
أَبَني حُمَيدٍ لَيسَ أَوَّلَ ما عَفا
بَعدَ الأُسودِ مِنَ الأُسودِ الغيلُ
O sons of Humayd, the thickets are not the first things
To fade after lions among lions.
مازالَ الصَبرُ وَهوَ عَلَيكُمُ
بِالمَوتِ في ظِلِّ السُيوفِ كَفيلُ
Steadfastness has never ceased—and, where you are concerned,
It guarantees death beneath the shade of swords.
مُستَبسِلونَ كَأَنَّما مُهجاتُهُم
لَيسَت لَهُمُ إِلّا غَداةَ تَسيلُ
They face death undaunted, as though their lifeblood
Were theirs only on the morning it is poured away.
أَلِفوا المَنايا فَالقَتيلُ لَدَيهِمُ
مَن لا تُجَلّي الحَربُ وَهوَ قَتيلُ
They have grown familiar with death: to them, the truly slain
Is one whose worth battle does not reveal, though he falls.
إِن كانَ رَيبُ الدَهرِ أَثكَلَنيهُمُ
فَالدَهرُ أَيضاً مَيِّتٌ مَثكولُ
If time’s uncertainty has bereaved me of them,
Time too is dying and bereaved.
