ما بالُ عَينِكَ تَبكي دَمعُها خَضِلُ

كَم وَهي سَرِبُ الأَخراتِ مُنبَزِلُ

Why do your eyes shed tears that flow

Continuously like the rain of spring showers?

لا تَفتَأُ الدَهرَ مِن سَحٍّ بِأَربَعَةٍ

كَأَنَّ إِنسانَها بِالصابِ مُكتَحِلُ

You weep incessantly as if with kohl lined

Eyes for a man whose lineage was never known

تَبكي عَلى رَجُلٍ لَم تَبلَ جِدَّتُهُ

خَلّى عَلَيكَ فِجاجاً بَينَها سُبُلُ

He left you pregnant, between you lies distance

You wondered, as did I, how he was killed

فَقَد عَجِبتُ وَما بِالدَهرِ مِن عَجَبٍ

أَنّى قُتِلتَ وَأَنتَ الحازِمُ البَطَلُ

That prudent hero of outstanding traits

Woe betide the man who with him rivalry creates

وَيلُمِّهِ رَجُلاً تَأبى بِهِ غَبَناً

إِذا تَجَرَّدَ لا خالٌ وَلا بَخَلُ

When he stands alone no stinginess or greed

That carrier of burdens wakeful night its feet

السالِكُ الثُغرَةَ اليَقظانَ كالِئُها

مَشيَ الهَلوكِ عَلَيها الخَيعَلُ الفُضُلُ

The abandoner of the bow his fingers yellow

As if from the syrup of coffee they Machinero

وَالتارِكُ القِرنَ مُصفَرّاً أَنامِلُهُ

كَأَنَّهُ مِن عُقارِ قَهوَةٍ ثَمِلُ

Wounded, his skin receives his blood

As the trunk of a palm tree dripping its sap

مُجَدَّلاً يَتَلَقّى جِلدُهُ دَمَهُ

كَما يُقَطَّرُ جِذعُ النَخلَةِ القُطُلُ

Not of high lineage, neither a youth nor elderly

But Uthaylah of radiant untroubled face

لَيسَ بِعَلٍّ كَبيرٍ لا شَبابَ بِهِ

لكِن أُثَيلَةُ صافي الوَجهِ مُقتَبَلُ

He responds after being called “I am here”

Impulsive toward his whims restless and uneasy

يُجيبُ بَعدَ الكَرى لَبَّيكَ داعيَهِ

مِجذامَةٌ لِهَواهُ قُلقُلٌ وَقِلُ

Sweet and bitter were his ways in the darkness

In every nightfall were his sandals unloosed

حُلوٌ وَمُرٌّ كَعَطفِ القِدحِ مِرَّتُهُ

بِكُلِّ إِنيٍ حَذاهُ اللَيلُ يَنتَعِلُ

So go on as among men who has eluded

From his death, endless darkness or towering crags

فَاِذهَب فَأَيُّ فَتىً في الناسِ أَحرَزَهُ

مِن حَتفِهِ ظُلمَ دُعجٌ وَلا جَبَلُ

Neither can the heavens if between them he dashed

Fly on a day the evilest of which is the best

وَلا السِما كانَ إِن يَستَعلِ بَينَهُما

يَطُر بِخُطَّةِ يَومٍ شَرُّهُ أَصِلُ

Nor can any ostrich outrun him on land

Nor donkey, deer or goat escape by flight

وَلا نَعامٌ بِجَوٍّ يَستَريدُ بِهِ

وَلا حِمارٌ وَلا ظَبيٌ وَلا وَعِلُ

He spends the night on the summits of hills

Where even the surefooted ibex slips and stumbles

أَوفى يَبيتُ عَلى أَقذافِ شاهِقَةٍ

جَلسٍ يَزِلُّ بِها الخُطّافُ وَالحَجَلُ

If you were killed and my legs were not weary

Of striding into the most intense clashes

فَلَو قُتِلتَ وَرِجلي غَيرُ كارِهَةِ الـ

ـإِدلاجِ فيها قَبيضُ الشَدِّ وَالنَسَلُ

Then I would march my soul into their raids

Or resurrect through it a Noah having shipyards

إِذاً لَأَعمَلتُ نَفسي في غَزاتِهِمُ

أَو لَاِبتَعَثتُ بِهِ نَوحاً لَهُ زَجَلُ

I say when the messengers came to inform me

The spear, two-edged, will not fail the striding legs

أَقولُ لَمّا أَتاني الناعِيانِ بِهِ

لا يَبعَدِ الرُمحُ ذو النَصلَينِ وَالرَجُلُ

A spear we had that never bent we swore by it

War and condolences and majesty extinguished

رُمحٌ لَنا كانَ لَم يُفلَل نَنوءُ بِهِ

توفى بِهِ الحَربُ وَالعَزّاءُ وَالجُلَلُ

Chieftainesses sniffing the air whom worries

Only clouds and marshes and wadis appease

رَبّاءُ شَمّاءُ لا يَأوى لِقُلَّتِها

إِلّا السَحابُ وَإِلّا الأَوبُ وَالسَبَلُ