عَفا دَيرُ لِبّى مِن أُمَيمَةَ فَالحَضرُ
وَأَقفَرَ إِلّا أَن يُلِمَّ بِهِ سَفرُ
The dwellings of Li’b have been abandoned even by livestock,
Except when a journey brings travelers close.
قَليلاً غِرارُ العَينِ حَتّى يُقَلِّصوا
عَلى كَالقَطا الجونِيِّ أَفزَعَهُ القَطرُ
The pools retain just a little water until
They shrink to a carpet of ground by the rain distressed.
عَلى كُلِّ فَتلاءِ الذِراعَينِ رَسلَةٍ
وَأَعيَسَ نَعّابٍ إِذا قَلِقَ الضَفرُ
On every bend of the two hillsides a night camping ground with
Scraping tent pegs, when the saddlebags were taken down and spread.
قَضَينَ مِنَ الدَيرَينِ هَمّاً طَلَبنَهُ
فَهُنَّ إِلى لَهوٍ وَجاراتِها شُزرُ
Long they were vexed, and now are given up to diversion,
While their neighbors sink ever deeper into foolishness.
وَيامَنَّ عَن ساتيدَما وَتَعَسَّفَت
بِنا العيسُ مَجهولاً مَخارِمُهُ غُبرُ
O you who turned away from us wrongfully and aggressed,
Unknown to us your character in early days.
سِواهُمُ مِن طولِ الوَجيفِ كَأَنَّها
قَراقيرُ يُغشيهِنَّ آذِيَّهُ البَحرُ
Except for their bones, long exposed to the weather, they seem
Like cranes, their whiteness covered by the dust storm's cloak.
إِذا غَرَّقَ الآلُ الإِكامَ عَلَونَهُ
بِمُنتَعِتاتٍ لا بِغالٌ وَلا حُمرُ
When the clan mounts its striped camel stallions, not mares are there,
Nor gray: their beasts are wethers, not females in foal.
صَوادِقِ عِتقٍ في الرِحالِ كَأَنَّها
مِنَ الجَهدِ أَسرى مَسَّها البُؤسُ وَالفَقرُ
True-bred she-camels that seem by exhaustion emaciated
As though, by poverty and hunger, captives they had become.
مُحَلِّقَةٍ مِنها العُيونُ كَأَنَّها
قَلاتٌ ثَوَت فيها مَطائِطُها الخُضرُ
From them peer eyes like frightened wild cows, green and wet,
As if the sowing seeds were sprouting in their sockets.
وَقَد أَكَلَ الكيرانُ أَشرافَها العُلى
وَأُبقِيَتِ الأَلواحُ وَالعَصَبُ السُمرُ
Locusts have eaten away their high breeding while
Their struts and rods of acacia wood still survive intact.
وَأَجهَضنَ إِلّا أَنَّ كُلَّ نَجيبَةٍ
أَتى دونَ ماءِ الفَحلِ مِن رِحمِها سِترُ
They miscarried, that not a purebred filly from any
Womb of theirs came, whose pedigree was not obscured.
مِنَ الهوجِ خَرقاءُ العَنيقِ مُطارَةُ ال
فُؤادِ بَراها بَعدَ إِبدانِها الضُمرُ
Rough-haired she-camels with frayed halter ropes, bodies wasted,
Nothing left but skin with bones after their prime fat had gone.
إِذا اِتَّزَرَ الحادي الكَميشُ وَقَوَّمَت
سَوالِفَها الرُكبانُ وَالحَلَقُ الصُفرُ
When the black one girds on the loincloth and straightens
His saddle cloths, and the assembly is ringed around the emaciated.
حَمَينَ العَراقيبَ العَصا فَتَرَكنَهُ
بِهِ نَفَسٌ عالٍ مُخالِطُهُ بُهرُ
He turns from the questioners and fears to utter
The words of the caller, "I am fearful and cautious."
يَحِدنَ عَنِ المُستَخبِرينَ وَأَتَّقي
كَلامَ المُنادي إِنَّني خائِفٌ حَذرُ
"I fight a soul that may choose to betray me, O sons
Of the mother of the terrified! — and you, O Jabr!
أُقاتِلُ نَفساً قَد يُحِبُّ لَها الرَدى
بَنو أُمِّ مَذعورٍ وَرَهطُكَ يا جَبرُ
If a blow should strike the Ja?dariyya they would invite
Khuza'a or Nasr to them, with sweet words.
إِذا ما أَصابَت جَحدَرِيّاً بِصَكَّةٍ
دَعَتهُ بِإِقبالٍ خُزاعَةُ أَو نَصرُ
The Qays woo me and present to me their fine camels,
Yet no victory have the Banu 'Amir gained through me.
وَقَيسٌ تَمَنّاني وَتُهدي عَوارِماً
وَلَمّا يُصِب مِنّي بَني عامِرٍ ظُفرُ
No Hilal have I accepted a trust from,
Nor a suppliant who brings wealth, nor a Shimr.
وَما قَبِلَت مِنّي هِلالٌ أَمانَةً
وَلا عائِذٌ يُغني الضِبابَ وَلا شِمرُ
If the Ja'afira keep their trust in me, yet among them
Are rancors in hearts that harbor long-nursed grudges."
فَإِن تَكُ عَنّي جَعفَرٌ مُطمَئِنَّةً
فَإِنَّ قُشَيراً في الصُدورِ لَها غِمرُ
If I pardon them or pass over their ignorance,
The Banu Qays have no reproach for me nor complaint.
وَإِن أَعفُ عَنها أَو أَدَعها لِجَهلِها
فَما لِبَني قَيسٍ عِتابٌ وَلا عُذرُ
I used to refrain from insulting 'Amr
And Sa'd though their warriors' verses gave insult enough.
وَقَد كُنتُ أُعفي مِن لِسانِيَ عامِراً
وَسَعداً وَيُبدي عَن مَقاتِلِها الشِعرُ
But for the Commander of the Faithful we would be exposed
To tribes who, or time itself, would work us harm.
وَلَولا أَميرُ المُؤمِنينَ تَكَشَّفَت
قَبائِلُ عَنّا أَو بَلاها بِنا الدَهرُ
Then we would lift up Tayyi' against them and their allies
The Banu Asad, to the place where dawn's light breaks.
إِذاً لَرَفَعنا طَيِّئاً وَحَليفَها
بَني أَسَدٍ في حَيثُ يَطَّلِعُ الوَبرُ
And like hounds, when the districts of Syria hem us in,
To the Nile as fugitives, even if Egypt should be stricken with drought.
وَكَلبٌ إِذا حالَت قُرى الشامِ دونَها
إِلى النيلِ هُرّاباً وَإِن أَجدَبَت مِصرُ
They seek the refuge of the Sultan from us, damn them!
Like him with shoulder wounds who cries out when the cautery is applied.
يَعوذونَ بِالسُلطانِ مِنّا وَفَلُّهُم
كَذي الغارِبِ المَنكوبِ أَوجَعَهُ الوِقرُ
Else the Arabs of Bakr, son of Wa'il would leave behind
Emigrants none regards, neither clan nor in-law.
وَإِلّا تَصُر أَعرابَ بَكرِ بنِ وائِلٍ
مُهاجِرُها لا يُرعَ إِلٌّ وَلا صِهرُ
Our swords have left no tribe that fought against us
Without the notch that keeps count of them clear.
فَما تَرَكَت أَسيافُنا مِن قَبيلَةٍ
تُحارِبُنا إِلّا لَها عِندَنا وِترُ
They performed the Pilgrimage, the Banu Nu'man, when their kingdom
Collapsed, and before the Banu Nu'man, 'Amr made war on us.
حَجَونا بَني النُعمانِ إِذ عَضَّ مُلكُهُم
وَقَبلَ بَني النُعمانِ حارَبَنا عَمروُ
We wore the iron mail with plates over it and above them
The swords of death, pattern-welded of blue steel.
لَبِسنا لَهُ البيضَ الثِقالَ وَفَوقَها
سُيوفُ المَنايا وَالمُثَقَّفَةُ السُمرُ
Our palms held the horses' reins and saddles' skirts, which excite them,
The double head-stalls did not prevent us grasping them.
وَأَمسَكَ أَرسانَ الجِيادِ أَكُفُّنا
وَلَم تُلهِنا عَنها الحِجالُ بِها العُفرُ
Time and again, memory returns me to the sister
Of the Banu 'Amir, or the trace of her abode.
أَكُلَّ أَوانٍ لا يَزالُ يَعودُني
خَيالٌ لِأُختِ العامِرِيِّينَ أَو ذِكرُ
And to a white one — we vie not with the Abyssinian Negus for her —
When the collars shall be set aflame on her neck in the act of love.
وَبَيضاءَ لا نَجرُ النَجاشِيِّ نَجرُها
إِذا اِلتَهَبَت مِنها القَلائِدُ وَالنَحرُ
One of those sweet girls who incline toward passion in youth,
While the soul yearns after her, and separation works its grief.
مِنَ الصُوَرِ اللاتي يَرَحنَ إِلى الصِبا
تَظَلُّ إِلَيها تَنزِعُ النَفسُ وَالهَجرُ
But between her and me stand walls and a palace,
As hard to traverse as a rugged mountain cliff.
وَلَكِن أَتى الأَبوابُ وَالقَصرُ دونَها
كَما حالَ دونَ العاقِلِ الجَبَلُ الوَعرُ
