إِن تَرى رَأسِيَ فيهِ قَزَعٌ
وَشَواتي خَلَّةً فيها دُوارُ
If you see my head has become hoary,
And my temples have become bare of hair,
أَصبَحَت مِن بَعدِ لَونٍ واحدٍ
وَهيَ لَونانِ وَفي ذاكَ اِعتِبارُ
They were once of a single color,
But are now two colors, and in that is a lesson.
فَصُروفُ الدَهرِ في أَطباقِهِ
خِلعَةٌ فيها اِرتِفاعٌ وَاِنحِدارُ
The turns of fate in its cycles
Are a garment, rising and falling.
بَينَما الناسُ على عَليائِها
إِذ هَوَوا في هُوَّةٍ مِنها فَغاروا
While people in their pride
Suddenly plunge into an abyss and are gone.
إِنَّما نِعمَةُ قَومٍ مُتعَةٌ
وَحَياةُ المَرءِ ثَوبٌ مُستَعارُ
The blessings of a people are but a loan,
And a man's life is a borrowed garb.
وَلَياليهِ إِلالٌ لِلقُوى
مِن مُداهَ تَختَليها وَشِفارُ
Its nights sap his strength
Cutting it down, while the horizons gleam red.
تَقطَعُ اللَيلَةُ مِنهُ قُوَّةً
وَكَما كَرَّت عَلَيهِ لا تُغارُ
The night takes from him a power,
And as it revolves around him it does not diminish.
حَتَمَ الدَهرُ عَلَينا أَنَّهُ
ظَلَفٌ ما نالَ مِنّا وَجُبارُ
Fate has decreed for us that it
Is a darkness that cannot be dispelled by might.
فَلَهُ في كُلِّ يَومٍ عَدوَةٌ
لَيسَ عَنها لِاِمرِئٍ طارَ مَطارُ
Each day it has a new adversity,
From which no man of foresight escapes unscathed.
رَيَّشَت جُرهُمُ نَبلاً فَرَمى
جُرهُماً مِنهُنَّ فوقٌ وَغِرارُ
They unleashed their asperity upon us and shot
Their arrows above and below.
عَلَّموا الطَعنَ مَعَدّاً في الكُلى
وَاِدِّراعَ اللَأَمِ فَالطَرفُ يَحارُ
They taught stab wounds in the kidneys,
And the cutting of tendons, leaving the victim confused.
وَرُكوبَ الخَيلِ تَعدوالمَرَطى
قَد عَلاها نَجَدٌ فيهِ اِحمِرارُ
And charging on horseback, speeding across the plain,
The horses' necks dyed red in gallantry.
يا بَني هاجَرَ ساءَت خُطَّةً
أَن تَروموا النِصفَ مِنّا وَنُجارُ
O sons of Hagar, evil was the idea
That you should attack and dispossess us!
إِن يَجُل مُهرِيَ فيكُم جَولَةً
فَعَلَيهِ الكَرُّ فيكُم وَالغِوارُ
If my dowry circulates among you for a round,
The responsibility among you is to restore it fully.
كَشِهابِ القَذفِ يَرميكُم بِه
فارِسٌ في كَفِّهِ لِلحَربِ نارُ
A horseman hurls it at you
Like a shooting star, his palm holding the fire of war.
شَنَّ مِن أَودٍ عَلَيكُم شَنَّةً
إِنَّهُ يَحمي حِماها وَيَغارُ
He who has protected his honor from you
Now wages battle and is jealous for it.
فارِسٌ صَعدَتُهُ مَسمومَةٌ
تَخضِبُ الرُمحَ إِذا طارَ الغُبارُ
A knight whose steed is well-trained,
Staining the lance when the dust rises.
مُستَطيرٌ لَيس مِن جَهلٍ وَهَل
لِأَخي الحِلمِ عَلى الحَربِ وَقارُ
He charges not out of ignorance and recklessness,
But with dignified forbearance for war.
يَحلُمُ الجاهِلُ لِلسِلمِ وَلا
يَقِرُ الحِلمُ إِذا ما القَومُ غاروا
The fool shows tolerance to be spared,
While the forbearing cannot restrain themselves when war comes.
نَحنُ أَودٌ وَلِأَودٍ سُنَّةٌ
شَرَفٌ لَيسَ لَنا عَنهُ قَصارُ
We are the tribe of Awd, and for Awd there is a precedent
Of glory, which for us cannot be diminished.
سُنَّةٌ أَورَثناها مَذحِجٌ
قَبلَ أَن يُنسَبَ لِلناسِ نِزارُ
A precedent we inherited from Mudhij
Before Nasr was attributed to the people.
نَحنُ قُدنا الخَيلَ حَتّى اِنقَطَعَت
شُدُنُ الأَفلاءِ عَنها وَالمِهارُ
We trained horses until the leather straps
Were cut from their chests and withers.
كُلَّما سِرنا تَرَكنا مَنزِلاً
فيهِ شَتّى مِن سِباعِ الأَرضِ غاروا
Whenever we marched we left behind a place
Where beasts of the land had banded together in dens.
وَتَرى الطَيرَ عَلى آثارِنا
رَأيَ عَينٍ ثِقَةً أَن سَتُمارُ
You could see birds above our trail
Peering down, confident that it would continue.
جَحفَلٌ أَورَقَ فيهِ هَبوَةٌ
وَنُجومٌ تَتَلَظّى وَشَرارُ
A mass of cloud pregnant with rain,
And stars flaring and flashing.
تَرَكَ الناسُ لَنا أَكتافَهُم
وَتَوَلَّوا لاتَ لَم يُغنِ الفِرارُ
The people deserted us, showing us their backs,
And fled, though fleeing does not ward off destiny.
مُلكُنا مُلكٌ لَقاحٌ أَوَّلٌ
وَأَبونا مِن بَني أَودٍ خِيارُ
Our kingdom is an ancient, original kingdom,
And the best of our people are the tribe of Awd.
وَلَقَد كُنتُم حَديثاً زَمَعاً
وَذُنابى حَيثُ يَحتَلُّ الصَغارُ
Not long ago you were few in number,
Like the tail tufts of lambs among the young.
نَحنُ أَصحابُ شَباً يَومَ شَبا
بِصِفاحِ البيضِ فيهِنَّ اِظِّفارُ
We are the people of valor on the day of valor,
When white hands flashing in it are taloned.
عَنكُمُ في الأَرضِ إِنّا مَذحِجٌ
وَرُوَيداً يَفضَحُ اللَيلَ النَهارُ
Away from you across the land we are Mudhij,
And steadily the night betrays the day.
