بَلِّغ حُبَيباً وَخَلِّل في صَراتِهِمِ
إِنَّ الفُؤادَ اِنطَوى مِنهُم عَلى حَزَنِ
Carry word to Ḥubayyib, and make your way through their lava fields:
the heart has folded in upon itself, grieving because of them.
قَد كُنتُ أَسبِقُ مَن جارَوا عَلى مَهلٍ
مِن وُلدِ آدَمَ ما لَم يَخلَعوا رَسَني
I once outstripped, at an easy pace, every one who vied with me
among Adam’s offspring, so long as they did not cast off my halter.
قالوا عَلَيَّ وَلَم أَملِك فَيالَيتَهُم
حَتّى اِنتَحَيتُ عَلى الأَرساغِ وَالثُنَنِ
They spoke against me when I had no power—if only they had waited
until I sank down upon fetlocks and pastern tufts.
لَو أَنَّني كُنتُ مِن عادٍ وَمِن إِرَمٍ
رَبيتُ فيهِم وَمِن لُقمانَ أَو جَدَنِ
Had I belonged to ʿĀd, and to Iram,
reared among them and descended from Luqmān or Jadan,
لَمّا فَدوا بِأَخيهِم مِن مُهَوَّلَةٍ
اَخا السُكونِ وَلا جاروا عَنِ السَنَنِ
when, with their own brother, they ransomed from a dreadful plight
a brother of al-Sukūn, they would not have strayed from the right path.
سَأَلتُ قَومي وَقَد سَدَّت أَباعِرُهُم
ما بَينَ رَحبَةَ ذاتِ العيصِ فَالعَدَنِ
I appealed to my people, while their camels already filled
all between Raḥbat Dhāt al-ʿĪṣ and al-ʿAdan,
إِذا قَرَّبوا لِاِبنِ سَوّارٍ أَباعِرَهُم
لِلَهِ دَرُّ عَطاءٍ كانَ ذا غَبَنِ
when they offered Ibn Sawwār their camels—
by God, what a gift it was—one fraught with loss!
أَنّى جَزَوا عامِراً سُؤى بِفِعلِهِم
أَم كَيفَ يَجزونَني السُؤى مِنَ الحَسَنِ
How could their deed have repaid ʿĀmir with evil?
Or how can they repay me evil for good?
أَم كَيفَ يَنفَعُ ما تُعطي العَلوقَ بِهِ
رِئمانَ أَنفٍ إِذا ما ضُنَّ بِاللَبَنِ
Or how can what you use to induce in a bereaved she-camel
a forced mother-love avail, when the milk is withheld?
Sol 5.6