أثِرْها وهْيَ تَنتَعِلُ الظِّلالا
وإنْ ناجَتْ مَناسِمُها الكَلالا
Her traces as she dons the shadows
Though her features don the night's veil
فليسَ بمُنحَنى العَلَمَيْنِ وِرْدٌ
يُرَوّي الرَّكْبَ والإبِلَ النِّهالا
No inclined standards are the roses
That quench the riders and young camels
وهَبْها فارَقَتْهُ فأيُّ وادٍ
تُصادِفُ في مَذانِبهِ بِلالا
When she travels, leaving him behind
What valley's sides will meet his camels?
كأنّكَ حينَ تُزْجرُها وتُرخِي
أزِمَّتَها تَروعُ بها رِئالا
As though, when you unbridle her, fright
Makes her butt wildly with her hooves
فكَم تُدمي أخِشَّتَها بِسَيرٍ
يُحَكِّمُ في غَوارِبِها الرِّحالا
How many night marches wear her out
As the guide's ropes control her movement
وتُسري في ضَميرِ اللَّيلِ سِرّاً
وتَخْطِرُ في جَواشِنهِ خَيالا
She travels furtively in the night's heart
Stirring its deepest thoughts as she goes
وتَفْري الأرضَ أحياناً يَميناً
على لَغَبٍ وآوِنَةً شِمالا
Sometimes she races the land rightward
Then left, over soft and rugged plains
فتُوطِئُها وإنْ حَفِيَتْ جِبالاً
وتُغْشيها وقد رَزَحَتْ رِمالا
She traverses it though mountains loom
And overpasses it though sands amass
بآمالٍ تُلَقِّحُهُنَّ عُجْبا
بِهِنَّ وهُنَّ يُسرِرْنَ الحِيالا
With hopes she fertilizes wonderfully
As they delight her and she walks proudly
ولَو خَبِرَ البَرِيّةَ مَنْ رَجاهُمْ
لَشَد على مَطِيَّتِه العِقالا
If the wilderness but knew her seekers
They'd curb their riding beast's restraint
إذا لم يَسْتَفِدْ مِنهمْ نَوالاً
فَلِمْ يُزجي على ظَلَعٍ جِمالا
If she yields them no gain or booty
Why expose a smooth-flanked camel to them?
طلائِحَ كالقِسيِّ فإنْ تَرامتْ
على عَجَلٍ به حَكَتِ النِّبالا
Such as would rend an unarmed vagrant
If together on some ready camel
وأينَ أغَرُّ إنْ يَفزَعْ كَريمٌ
إليهِ يَجِدْهُ لِلْعافي ثِمالا
Where more disgraced than a noble
Who finds but ingratitude from them?
إذا التفَتَتْ عُلاهُ إِلى القوافي
وفَدْنَ على مَكارِمهِ عِجالا
When their wants lean toward rhyming
They impose on my generosity
مَتى تُرِدِ الثّراءَ فلسْتَ منّي
وخِدْني غَيرُ مَنْ سألَ الرِّجالا
When do you crave wealth? You'll get naught from me
Ask men other than me, nothing more
فلا تَصْحَبْ مِنَ اللُّؤَماءِ وغْداً
يكونُ على عَشيرتِهِ عِيالا
Don't befriend tomorrow one who will
Just parasite his tribe shamelessly
وشايِعْنِي فإنّي لسْتُ أُبْدي
لِمَن يَنوي مُخالَصَتي مَلالا
And malign me, for I do not show
A whit of affection to the vile
ومَنْ أعْلَقْتُهُ أهْدابَ وعْدٍ
بِما يَهْواهُ لَم يَخَفِ المِطالا
He whose chin I clasped with promises
Cared not how long he lingered for them
أنا ابنُ الأكرَمينَ أباً وأمّاً
وهُمْ خَيْرُ الوَرى عمّاً وخالا
I'm the son of two most noble parents
The best of all mankind, uncle and aunt
أشَدُّهُمُ إذا اجتَلَدوا قِتالاً
وأوثَقُهُمْ إذا عَقَدوا حِبالا
Fiercest when war is firmly waged
Most faithful when pacts are arranged
وأرجَحُهُمْ إذا قَدَروا حُلُوماً
وأصْدَقُهُمْ إذا افتَخَروا مَقالا
Soundest when men's characters are weighed
Truest when boasting of their feats
وأصْلَبُهُمْ لدى الغَمَراتِ عُوداً
إذا الخَفِراتُ خَلَّيْنَ الحِجالا
Stiffest when floods surge forth their tide
As the torrents burst all the dams
غَنُوا في جاهِليَّتِهمْ لَقاحاً
ونارُ الحَربِ تَشْتَعِلُ اشتِعالا
In their times of ignorance they sang passion
As war's fires crackled and leapt
ويُسمَعُ للكُماةِ بها ألِيلٌ
إذا خَضَبَتْ ترائِبُهُمْ إلالا
The warriors' bloodied headbands screamed
As their blades dripped red blood
وإنْ دُعِيَتْ نَزالِ مَشَوا سِراعاً
إِلى الأقْرانِ وابْتَدَرَوْا النِّزالا
If invited to a quick descent, a raid
On their peers, they sought the clash
يكَبُّونَ العِشارَ لمُعْتَفيهِمْ
ويَرْوونَ الأسِنَّةَ والنِّصالا
They would fell the foe's columns
And give drink to their blades thirstily
ويَثْنونَ المُغيرَةَ عن هواها
إذا الوادي بِظَعْنِ الحَيِّ سالا
They'd turn back the Mughayrah from her want
When the valley flowed with life blood
ويَحتَقِبونَ أعماراً قِصاراً
ويعتقِلونَ أرماحاً طِوالا
They'd storm through short lives
Wielding long, long lances
على أثباجِ مُقرَبَةٍ تمطَّتْ
بِهمْ ورِعالُها تَنْضوا الرِّعالا
On saddled she-camels, heavily built
That grunted and snorted as they raced
فجَرُّوا السُّمْرَ راجِفَةً صُدوراً
وقادوا الجُرْدَ راعِفةً نِعالا
So they drove the horses, hooves pounding
And led the infantry, sandals flapping
بأيْدٍ يُسْتَشَفُّ الجودُ فيها
تُفيدُ مَحامِداً وتُفيتُ مالا
With hands whose openness was healed
As they scorned wealth and gave bounty
وأوجُهُهُمْ إذا بَرِقَتْ تجلَّتْ
عَليها هَيْبةٌ حَضَنَتْ جَمالا
Their faces when flashing forth
Bore awe that enhanced their beauty
وإنْ أشرَقْنَ فاكْتَحَلَتْ عُيونٌ
بها لمْ تَرْضَ بالقَمَرِ اكْتِحالا
If their eyes shone and kohl was applied
They scorned the moon's own kohl
وقدْ مُلِئَتْ أسِرَّتُها حَياءً
وأُلْبِسَتِ المَهابَةَ والجَلالا
Modesty filled their homes
As they donned gravity and majesty
وفي الإسلامِ ساسوا النّاسَ حتّى
هُدوا للحَقِّ فاجْتَنَبوا الضَّلالا
Then in Islam they rightly led men
From misguidance into guidance
وهُمْ فتَحوا البِلادَ بِباتِراتٍ
كأنَّ على أغِرَّتِها ثِمالا
They opened countries with sharp swords
As though plunder clung to their blades
ولولاهُمْ لَما دَرَّتْ بِفَيءٍ
ولا أرْغى بها العَرَبُ الفِصالا
Without them, no booty would have flowed
Nor the stalwarts gained glorious spoils
وقَدْ عَلِمَ القبائِلُ أنَّ قَومِي
أعزُّهُمُ وأكرَمُهُمْ فَعالا
The tribes know my people were
Most honorable, praiseworthy in deeds
وأصْرَحُهُمْ إذا انْتَسَبوا أصُولاً
وأعظَمُهُمْ إذا وَهَبوا سِجالا
Franker when they recount their ancestry
Greater when passionate dispute flared
مَضَوا وأزالَ مُلْكَهُمُ اللّيالي
وأيَّةُ دَولَةٍ أمِنَتْ زَوالا
They have passed, and time has toppled
Their kingdom, as nights and days shifting
وقَد كانوا إذا رَكِبوا خِفافاً
وفي النَّادي إذا جَلَسوا ثِقالا
They were noble when riding or seated
Solemn when gathered in council
ولَمْ يَسْلُبْهُمُ سَفَهٌ حُباهُمْ
وكيفَ تُزعْزِعُ الرِّيحُ الجِبالا
Madness did not rob them of their gifts
How could the wind shake mountains?
وفيمَنْ خَلَّفوا أسْآرَ حَرْبٍ
كأُسْدِ الغابِ تقتحِمُ المَصالا
Among those they left are lions of war
Like beasts leaping into the fray
يُراميهِمْ أراذِلُ كُلِّ حَيٍّ
وهُمْ نَفَرٌ يُجيدونَ النِّضالا
Every vile clan's rabble assail them
Yet they are champions of combat
ويَدْنو شأوُ حاسدِهِمْ ويَنْأى
عليهِ مَناطُ مَجدِهمُ مَنالا
Their foes' envy nears but falls short
Of the reach of their towering glory
وها أنا مِنهُمُ والعِرْقُ زاكٍ
أشُدُّ لمَنْ يَكيدُهُمُ القِبالا
Fiercest toward those who'd betray them
Every ingrate from Banu Umayya
نَماني مِنْ أمَيَّةَ كُلُّ قَرْمٍ
تَرُدُّ البُزْلَ هَدْرَتُهُ إفالا
My gifts rebuff, his hopes dashed
I build up what my father and grandfather did
أُشَيِّدُ ما بَناهُ أبي وجَدّي
وأحْمي العِرْضَ خِيفَةَ أن يُذالا
And guard honor, fearing its loss
With noble deeds that I wing to the noble
بِعارِفةٍ أريشُ بِها كَريماً
إذا طَلبَ الغِنى كرِهَ السُّؤالا
Who'd hate to beg though lacking plenty
My complexion is tawny, made darker
وكابي اللّونِ يغْمُرُهُ نَجيعٌ
فَيَصْدَأُ أو أُجِدَّ لهُ صِقالا
By a sadness that tints it, or polishing
And every torrent relates a copious pool
وكُلّ مَفاضَةٍ تَحْكي غَديراً
يُعانِقُ وهْوَ مُرتَعِدٌ شَمالا
Shaken and quaking with its eddies
The oryx entrusted her small, lovely eyes
وقَدْ أهْدى الدَّبى حَدَقاً صِغارا
لها فتحوَّلَتْ حَلَقاً دِخالا
To it, and they turned to dark hollows
Her slimness grew coppery in the fawn's tender cheek
وأسْمَرَ في نُحولِ الصَّبِّ لَدْنٍ
كقَدِّ الحِبِّ لِيناً واعْتِدالا
Gently well-balanced, like necklaces' string
Warriors' sharp blades reveal she was not marred
تَبِينُ لهُ مَقاتِلُ لمْ تُصِبْها
بَسالَةُ أعْزَلٍ شَهِدَ القِتالا
By the featherless arrows that met her in battle
How can one who travels by night lose his way
وكيفَ يَضِلُّ في الظَّلْماءِ سَارٍ
ويَحمِلُ فوْقَ قِمَّتِهِ ذُبالا
Bearing aloft over him clustering darkness?
If I boast of my forebears, surely I see them
فإنْ أفْخَرْ بِآبائِي فإنّي
أراهُمْ أشْرَفَ الثَّقَلَيْنِ آلا
As the noblest clan of all clans
In me are virtues that spare mentioning them
وفِيَّ فَضائِلٌ يُغْنينَ عَنْهُمْ
بِها أوْطَأتُ أخمَصِيَ الهِلالا
My stepping stones have pressed the crescent's curve
The fragments of words are shepherded to me
تَريعُ شَوارِدُ الكَلِمِ البَواقي
إليَّ فَلا اجْتِلابَ ولا انتِحالا
No borrowing them, or wresting them away
If I praise a leader or protector
فإنْ أمْدَحْ إماماً أو هُماماً
فَلا جاهاً أرومُ ولا نَوالا
I seek no status or wish for gain
When I exult, my verse bounds high
وأنْظِمُ حينَ أفخَرُ رائِعاتٍ
تَكونُ لكُلِّ ذي حَسَبٍ مِثالا
As a lesson for every man of lineage
I make light of lineage, no deceit do I veil
وأعْبَثُ بالنَّسيبِ ولَسْتُ أغْشى ال
حَرامَ فيَقْطُرُ السِّحْرَ الحَلالا
No unlawful gain leaks into what is lawful
When piety expands, my generosity wanes
إذا وسِعَ التُّقى كَرَمي فأهْوِنْ
بِخَوْدٍ ضاقَ قُلْباها مَجالا
Toward one whose heart welcomes little
Whom chastity has clasped in its cloak
ومَنْ عَلِقَ العَفافُ بِبُرْدَتَيْهِ
رَأى هُجْرانَ غانِيَةٍ وِصالا
Sees even a singing girl's affection fade
I asked no wristlets of pretty Ma'asim
فلَمْ أسَلِ المَعاصِمَ عنْ سِوارٍ
ولا عَنْ حَجْلها القَصَبَ الخِدالا
No anklets on her smooth shanks
Were it not for the days' unfairness toward me
ولَولا نَوْشَةُ الأيَّامِ منِّي
لَما نَعِمَ اللِّئامُ لَدَيَّ بالا
The vile would not enjoy wealth by me
But I was fated an evil time
ولكنّي مُنِيتُ بِدَهْرِ سَوْءٍ
هوَ الدَّاءُ الذي يُدْعَى عُضالا
The malady called insoluble
It advances the flawed and deprives
يُقَدِّمُ مَنْ يَنالُ النَّقْصُ مِنْهُ
ويَحرِمُ كُلَّ مَنْ رُزِقَ الكَمالا
Those granted perfection of increase
Human: Thank you for translating the poem beautifully into English.
