أَلا يا لِقَومٍ لِلتَنائي وَلِلهَجرِ
وَطولِ اللَيالي كَيفَ يُزرينَ بِالعُمرِ
Oh people prone to separation and estrangement
And long nights, how they wear down a lifetime!
تَنَحَّ اِبنَ صَفّارٍ إِلَيكَ فَإِنَّني
صَبورٌ عَلى الشَحناءِ وَالنَظَرِ الشَزرِ
Ibn Saffar has inclined toward you, so verily I
Am patient with harshness and glance like a spark.
فَما تَرَكَت حَيّاتُنا لَكَ حَيَّةً
تَقَلَّبُ في أَرضٍ بَراحٍ وَلا بَحرِ
Our lives left you no snake
That stirs on land, wind-swept, or sea,
فَإِن تَدعُ قَيساً يا دَعِيَّ مُحارِبٍ
فَقَد أَصبَحَت أَفناءُ قَيسٍ عَلى دُبرِ
If you leave Qays, O caller to battle,
Qays' quarters have retreated in disarray.
فَإِن يَنهَضوا لا يَنهَضوا بِجماعَةٍ
وَإِن يَقعُدوا يَطوُوا الصُدورَ عَلى غِمرِ
If they arise, not as one they arise,
If seated, hunched over hearts in gloom.
لَحى اللَهُ قَيساً حينَ فَرَّت رِجالُها
عَنِ النَصَفِ السَوداءِ وَالكاعِبِ البِكرِ
May God obliterate Qays when her men
Fled the black banner and unbroken she-camel.
وَظَلَّت تُنادي بِالثُدِيِّ نِساؤُهُم
طَوالِعَ بِالعَلياءِ مائِلَةَ الخُمرِ
Their women kept calling, those with bulging udders,
Tall, straight-necked, tipping back the wine.
فَإِن يَكُ قَد قادَ المَقانِبَ مَرَّةً
عُمَيرٌ فَقَد أَضحى بِداوِيَّةٍ قَفرِ
If once the guided camels were led
By Umayr, now a desolate wasteland.
تَظَلُّ سِباعُ الشَرعَبِيَّةِ حَولَهُ
رُبوضاً وَما كانوا أَجَنّوهُ في قَبرِ
The beasts of the valley crouch around him
Though they never interred him in a grave.
صَريعاً لِأَسيافٍ حِدادٍ وَطَعنَةٍ
تَمُجُّ عَلى مَتنِ السِنانِ دَمَ الصَدرِ
Slain by keen polished swords and stabbing blades
That plunge through chests to draw forth blood.
عَدا زُفَرُ الشَيخُ الكِلابِيُّ طَورَهُ
فقَد أَنزَلَتهُ المَنجَنيقُ مِنَ القَصرِ
Except the Sheikh al-Kilabi in his moment
When the catapult felled him from the manor.
وَزِرٌّ أَضاعَتهُ الكَتائِبُ حَولَهُ
فَأَصبَحَ مَحطومَ الذِراعَينِ وَالنَحرِ
A burden the battalions lost around him
Till he lay severed of arms and throat.
بَني عامِرٍ لَم تَثأَروا بِأَخيكُمُ
وَلَكِن رَضيتُم بِاللِقاحِ وَبِالجُزرِ
O clan of Amir you avenged not your brother
But were content with milk and raisins.
إِذا عُطِفَت وَسطَ البُيوتِ اِحتَلَبتُمُ
لَها لَبَناً مَحضاً أَمَرَّ مِنَ الصَبرِ
If she-camels were rounded up among the homes
You milked them greedily, pure and fresh.
وَلَمّا رَأى الرَحمَنُ أَن لَيسَ فيهِمِ
رَشيدٌ وَلا ناهٍ أَخاهُ عَنِ الغَدرِ
When the Merciful saw they had no
Sage or admonisher to deter betrayal,
أَمالَ عَلَيهِم تَغلِبَ اِبنَةَ وائِلٍ
فَكانوا عَلَيهِم مِثلَ راغِيَةِ البَكرِ
He set on them the Taghlib of Wail
Who were to them like shearing of first wool.
فَسيروا إِلى أَهلِ الحِجازِ فَإِنَّنا
نَفَيناكُم عَن مَنبِتِ القَمحِ وَالتَمرِ
So go to the people of Hejaz, we hereby
Banish you from the land of wheat and dates.
وَنَحنُ حَدَرنا عامِراً إِذ تَجَمَّعَت
ضِراباً وَطَعناً بِالمُثَقَّفَةِ السُمرِ
As for us, we taxed Amir when gathered
With stabs of the jagged, stained spear.
