أَجَريرُ إِنَّكَ وَالَّذي تَسمو لَهُ

كَأَسيفَةٍ فَخَرَت بِحِدجِ حَصانِ

O Jarir, you—and the man whose stature you aspire to—

are like a slave woman who boasted of a chaste lady’s camel-litter.

حَمَلَت لِرَبَّتِها فَلَمّا عولِيَت

نَسَلَت تُعارِضُها مَعَ الأَظعانِ

She carried it for her mistress; then, when the mistress was lifted aboard,

she slipped along beside her among the departing litters.

أَتَعُدُّ مَأثُرَةً لِغَيرِكَ ذِكرُها

وَسَناؤُها في سالِفِ الأَزمانِ

Do you count as a glorious deed what another possesses the fame of,

and whose splendor belongs to ages gone?

تاجُ المُلوكِ وَصِهرُها في دارِمٍ

أَيّامَ يَربوعٌ مَعَ الرُعيانِ

The crown of kings, and their kinsman by marriage, was in Darim

back when Yarbuʿ was among the shepherds—

مُتَلَفَّفٌ في بُردَةٍ حَبَقِيَّةٍ

بِفَناءِ بَيتِ مَذَلَّةٍ وَهَوانِ

wrapped in a ḥabaqī cloak

in the courtyard of a house of abasement and shame,

يَغذو بَنيهِ بِثَلَّةٍ مَذمومَةٍ

وَيَكونُ أَكبَرَ هَمِّهِ رِبقانِ

feeding his sons from a paltry, discredited flock,

with a pair of tethers as his greatest care.

سَبَقوا أَباكَ بِكُلِّ مَدفَعِ تَلعَةٍ

بِالمَجدِ عِندَ مَواقِفِ الرُكبانِ

They outstripped your father at every outlet of the uplands,

in glory, wherever the riders took their stand.

فَإِذا رَأَيتَ مُجاشِعاً قَد أَقبَلَت

فَاِهرُب إِلَيكَ مَخافَةَ الظِرّانِ

If you see Mujāshiʿ coming forward,

flee back to your own side, fearing the two adversaries.

وَإِذا وَرَدتَ الماءَ كانَ لِدارِمٍ

عَفَواتُهُ وَسُهولَةُ الأَعطانِ

And when you come to the water, Darim possesses

its choicest untouched draughts and its easy watering-grounds.

فَاِخسَأ كُلَيبُ إِلَيكَ إِنَّ مُجاشِعاً

وَأَبا الفَوارِسِ نَهشَلاً أَخَوانِ

Back, Kulayb—back with you! For Mujāshiʿ

and Nahshal, sire of horsemen, are brothers:

قَومٌ إِذا خَطَرَت عَلَيكَ فُحولُهُم

جَعَلَتكَ بَينَ كَلاكِلٍ وَجِرانِ

a people whose stallions, when they swagger against you,

would set you between mighty chests and throats.

وَإِذا وَضَعتَ أَباكَ في ميزانِهِم

رَجَحوا وَشالَ أَبوكَ في الميزانِ

And when you place your father in their balance,

they weigh it down, while your father flies upward in the scales.

فَلَقَد تَجارَيتُم إِلى أَحسابِكُم

وَبَعَثتُمُ حَكَماً مِنَ السُلطانِ

You have indeed raced each other back through your lines of descent

and summoned an arbiter from the ruler.

وَقَضَيتُ بَينَكُما قَضاءً فَيصَلاً

في الناسِ مِثلَ تَبَيُّنِ الفُرقانِ

I have judged between you both with a clear and final verdict,

plain among the people as the Furqān’s own clarification:

فَإِذا كُلَيبٌ لا تُوازِنُ دارِماً

حَتّى يُوازَنَ حَرزَمٌ بِأَبانِ

Kulayb cannot balance Darim

unless Ḥarzam be weighed against Abān.