لِمَنْ فِتْيَةٌ مَنشورَةٌ وَفَراتُها
رَواعِفُ في أيْمانِها قَنَواتُها
For whom are the valiant youths with blades unsheathed,
whose streams in their right hands form abundant tributaries?
تُليحُ بِهِمْ جُرْدُ المَذاكي عَوابِساً
وقد طاوَلَتْ أرماحَهُمْ صَهَواتُها
With them the tribe's warriors scowl severely,
their long spears having reached the clouds.
إذا الحَربُ شُبَّتْ بالأسِنّةِ والظُّبى
فهُمْ حينَ تَصْطَكُّ القَنا جَمَراتُها
When war flares with tongues and sparks,
they are embers when the flints collide.
لهُمْ في بَني البَرْشاءِ قَتْلى كأنَّما
أُميلَتْ على بَطْحائهِمْ نَخَلاتُها
Among the sons of Banisha their dead are like
palm trees tilted over their sand dunes.
تَدوسُهُمُ خَيْلٌ عِتاقٌ وغِلْمَةٌ
تَسيلُ على حَدِّ الظُّبى مُهَجاتُها
Horses, noble and colts, trample them,
their forelocks dripping blood on the sandy ground.
وقد عَلِمَتْ عُلْيا نِزارٍ ويَعْرُبٍ
غَداةَ استُثيرَ النَّقْعُ أنّا كُماتُها
The clans of Nizar and Yaarub knew
when the conflict stirred that we were their ending.
تُلَوِّي أنابيبَ الرِّماحِ بطَعْنَةٍ
مُخالِسَةٍ تَزْوَرُّ عنها أُساتُها
Our spear-tips twist with piercing stabs
that our blades disguise with feints.
وتُولِغُ في اللّبّاتِ بِيضاً فَتَنْثَني
مِنَ الدّمِ حُمْراً تَلْتَظي شَفَراتُها
They soak the armor with eggs that then bend
from the blood, glowing red on their edges.
وهلْ نَحنُ إلا عُصْبَةٌ خِندِفِيّةٌ
تَرادَفَ غاياتِ العُلا سَرَواتُها
Are we not the Kinda band, for whom
the heights of glory are their meadows?
تُضَوِّعُ أرياحَ النّجيعِ دُروعُهُمْ
وتَنفَحُ مِسْكاً ساطِعاً حِبَراتُها
Their shields scent the camps' breeze with musk
wafting from their tomes in the evening.
وتَدعو إذا اسْتَشْرى العِدا يا لَغالبٍ
فتُشْرِقُ مِن أبطالِنا قَسَماتُها
And when foes throng, they call, "O vanquisher!"
so our heroes' features shine like beacons.
وَهُمْ في سَرابيلِ الحَديدِ ضَراغِمٌ
ومِنْ قِصَدٍ خَطِّيَّةٍ أجَماتُها
In iron armor they are recalcitrant lions
with upright morals their character traits.
وتَطغَى بِنا يَومَ الوَغى جاهِليَّةٌ
تَرَدَّدُ في أعطافِنا نَخَواتُها
On the chaotic day of war, paganism rises in us,
its patterns reverberating in our flanks.
ونَسْحَبُ أذيالَ السّوابِغِ والقَنا
شَوارِعُ والهَيجاءُ شتَّى دُعَاتُها
We drag the train of gowns and spears,
the streets and excited throngs of all their callers.
فلِلّهِ حَيُّ مِنْ كِنانَةَ أرْقَلوا
إِلى رُتَبٍ لا تُمتَطى هَضَباتُها
By God! Those whom Kinana raised to ranks
where their plateaus cannot be scaled!
بأيْمانِهِمْ بِيضٌ مشاريفُ تَختَلي
رُؤوساً من الأعداءِ مالَتْ طُلاتُها
With their oaths are brilliant swords that make
severed enemy heads tilt to their sides.
بأفيائِهِمْ قُبٌّ عناجيجُ تَرعَوي
إلَيهمْ لَدى أطنابِهِمْ مُهَراتُها
Their young camels are called to them, necks craning
toward their masters at their halting places.
يَشُبُّونَ بالبَطْحاءِ ناراً قَديمَةً
تَوَقَّدُ والآفاقُ خُضْرٌ لَظاتُها
They kindle on the sand dune an ancient flame
that blazes while the horizons are still green.
وتَدْمى عَراقيبُ المَطِيِّ إذا حَدَتْ
إلَيهمْ أعاريبَ الفَلا سَنَواتُها
When their racing camels charge the separated bands,
their strident cries melt their blades.
إذا ما عَقَدْنا رايَةً مُقتَدِيَّةً
رَجَعْنا بِها خَفّاقَةً عَذَباتُها
When we raise our rightly-guided banner,
we return it fluttering, gentle and pure.
يَسيرُ حَوالَيْها المُلوكُ بأوجُهٍ
تُباهي ظُبى أسيافِهِمْ صَفَحاتُها
Kings walk about it with faces that outshine
their swords, pages glittering like its tablets.
إذا رَكزوها فالأنامُ عُفاتُهُمْ
وإنْ رَفَعوها فالنّسورُ عُفاتُها
If they anchor it, the people are chaste.
And if they raise it, then the eagles are chaste.
تَرُدُّ شُعاعَ الشّمْسِ عنهمْ أسِنّةٌ
تَذوبُ على أطرافِهِنَّ أياتُها
Tongues deflect the sun's rays from them,
their tips melting with the signs upon them.
وتختالُ فيهمْ عَزْمَةٌ نَبَويَّةٌ
إذا الحربُ طاشَتْ وقَّرَتْها أناتُها
A prophetic resolve shines within them.
When war rages, their moaning calms it.
لكُمْ يا بني العبّاسِ في المَجْدِ سورَةٌ
تَبَحْبَحَ في حَيَّيْ نِزارٍ بُناتُها
O clan of Abbas, you have in glory a chapter
that gurgles in the life of Nizar's daughter!
وأنتمْ أعالي دَوْحةٍ مُضَريَّةٍ
تَطيبُ على مَرِّ اللّيالي جَناتُها
You are the lofty palms of Mudar's oasis,
fragrant through the nights' passage.
إذا انْتَضَلَتْ بالفَخْرِ كَعبٌ توشّحَتْ
بكمْ غُرَراً مَشهورةً جَبَهاتُها
When Kaab donned the mantle of glory,
their foreheads were adorned by your pearls.
إليكمْ رسولُ اللهِ أوصى بأمّةٍ
أقامَتْ بمُستَنِّ الرّشادِ غُواتُها
To you Allah's Messenger entrusted a nation
that set up the pole of guidance firmly.
فمَهزوزَةٌ إنْ رُوِّعَتْ أسَلاتُكُمْ
ومَغْفورَةٌ إنْ أذنَبَتْ هَفَواتُها
So long as your roots are firm, if shaken,
and forgiven, if mistakes occur, it thrives.
ولمْ تُشْرِقِ الأيّامُ إلا بِعَدْلِكُمْ
فَما أحسَنَ الدنيا وأنتمْ حُماتُها
The days did not shine except through your justice,
how excellent is the world with you as its pillars!
وفيكم سجايا من قُصَيٍّ وإنّما
مَساعي الإمامِ القائميِّ صِفاتُها
And in you are the traits of Qusayy. Indeed
the efforts of the Imam al-Qa'imi are their qualities.
ويَنْسِبُها شِعري بأكْنافِ بابِلٍ
كما انْتَسَبَتْ وَهْناً لِصَحْبي قَطاتُها
And my poetry relates them to Babylon's realms
just as the weak related to my friends' cats.
لكُمْ أوجُهٌ للعَيْنِ فيهِنَّ مَسْرَحٌ
حَكَتْ مَشْرَفثيّاتٍ أُرِقَّتْ ظُباتُها
You have faces that delight the eye. In them is a theater
where gazelles, made sleepless, were depicted.
وأيْدٍ كَما حَلَّ الغَمامُ نِطاقَهُ
تُدِرُّ أفاويقَ الغِنى نَفَحاتُها
And hands, around which the clouds wrap their waistbands,
spilling the torrents of wealth in their gestures.
فمَنْ مُبلِغٌ أفناءَ خِنْدِفَ أنّني
بأفْنِيَةٍ مُخْضَرَّةٍ عَرَصاتُها
Who will convey to Kinda's meadows that I
am in a verdant courtyard where the dew descends?
يَروحُ على صَحْبي بأرجائِها الندىً
وتَغْدو بأشعاري إليها رُواتُها
The dew roams upon my companions in its corners,
and my poems wander to it as narrators.
وتَغلي بأسرارِ العُذَيبِ ضَمائِري
ولكنْ قَليلٌ في النّوى هَفَواتُها
My conscience seethes with secrets of passion,
but few mistakes occur in good intentions.
وتُطرِبُني الذِّكرى فأشتاقُ فِتيَةً
تَدورُ على باغي القِرَى جَفَناتُها
Memory excites me, so I long for youths
who circle around my abode in the villages.
وأكْتُمُ ما لو شاع أغرى بيَ العِدا
فبالجِزْعِ أحلامٌ خَفيفٌ حَصاتُها
I conceal what, if spread, would incite the foe.
For in anxiety are aspirations with modest pebbles.
وأذكُرُ أيّاماً بجَرعاءِ مالِكٍ
رِقاقاً حَواشيها غِضاباً وُشاتُها
I recall days in Jarud's possession,
its margins veiled, wrathful and impetuous.
ولَو عَلِمَتْ بغدادُ أنّ ركائِبي
على ظَمَأٍ لاسْتَشْرَفَتْ لي صراتُها
If Baghdad knew my mounts were thirsty,
it would have poured out its cisterns for me.
ولكنّها تحتَ الأزِمَّةِ خُضَّعٌ
إذا جَأْجَأَتْ بي منْ بَعيدٍ سُقاتُها
But it is subjugated in crisis. From afar,
its water-carriers babble confusedly to me.
فأوْرَدَها الرّأيُ الظَّهيريُّ مَسْرحاً
على نُغَبٍ زُرْقٍ تَجَلّتْ قَذاتُها
Sound opinion made it a theater
upon azure carpets where its splendor shone.
وتِلْكَ رِكابي إنْ غَرِضْنَ ببَلدَةٍ
بَكَرْنَ ولمْ تَشعُرْ بسَيْري بُزاتُها
My mounts, if they head to some land,
arrive unsuspected, their tags unnoticed.
تَرودُ مَصابَ المُزْنِ أنّى تَلَوَّمَتْ
وتُنكِرُ أفلاقَ الحَصَى ثَفَناتُها
They repel the affliction of want wherever it turns
and deny the cheeks of pebbles their wrinkles.
فلا خَيَّمَتْ إلا لدَيكُمْ مَدائِحي
ولا ساقَها إلا إلَيْكُمْ حُداتُها
So it is to you my praises incline,
and to you alone my songs carry their reins.
