لِأَمرٍ يا بَني جُشَمِ
حَبَستُ الماءَ في الأَدَمِ
For a matter, O Sons of Jusham,
I withheld the water in the water-skin,
وَقَلقَلتُ الجِيادَ دَوا
مِيَ الأَشداقِ بِاللُجُمِ
And stirred the steeds all night,
Filling their muzzles with the nose-rein.
وَأَزعَجتُ القَطا الوَسنا
نَ بِالمَخطومَةِ الرُسُمِ
And startled the wild cats
With the pictured and figured thong.
تَفَلَّتُ في الدَياجي عَن
عُقالِ الأَينِ وَالسَأَمِ
I wandered in the blackest dark,
Caring nothing for halter or road.
وَتَقرو كُلَّ مَجهَلَةٍ
بِلا نَضَدٍ وَلا عَلَمِ
And how many a night I spent
Empty of hand, of illness free!
وَكَم لَيلٍ رَقَدتُ بِهِ
خَلِيّاً مِن يَدِ السَقَمِ
And a fire I kindled whose glowing
Was as the gazing eyes of the beasts.
وَنارٍ بِتُّ أَرمُقُها
كَلِيَّ الريحِ بِالعَلَمِ
I found rest and healing in it
From the pain and ache within.
أَلِمتُ بِها وَمَوقِدُها
شِفاءُ الداءِ مِن أَلَمي
How little its wounding matters
To the burning anguish in my heart!
وَأَينَ ضِرامُها مِمّا
بِأَحشائي مِنَ الضَرَمِ
The shining eyes of loved ones are
Fairer than meadows of dreams.
قَريرُ العَينِ بِالأَحبا
بِ أَرعى رَوضَةَ الحُلُمِ
Either fortune allows me to see them
Among the shifting walls of the tents,
وَإِمّا أَن يَراني العَز
مُ بَينَ ضَمائِرِ الخِيَمِ
Or I wander, lost in the desert,
Stuffing the darkness with moans and sighs.
وَإِمّا شارِداً في البي
دِ حَشوَ حَيازِمِ الظُلَمِ
I ransom my purpose, my honor, all
That is sworn to, accused!
فِدى عَزمي وَصِدقي كُل
لُ مُعتَزِمٍ وَمُتَّهَمِ
And every frequenter of springs comes to drink
At the ruins that murmur of might-have-been.
وَكُلُّ مُشَيَّعٍ يَصبو
إِلى المَأثورَةِ الخُذُمِ
When words grow distant, to me
Their utterance draws very near.
إِذا بَعُدَ الكَلامُ دَنَت
عَلَيَّ مَسافَةُ الكَلِمِ
I have two manners that are not fit
Save for the sword and the pen.
وَلي خُلقانِ ما صَلُحا
لِغَيرِ السَيفِ وَالقَلَمِ
What flowering thicket ever cast
A perfume on days from my brambles?
وَأَيُّ خَميلَةٍ شَرَقَت
عَلى الأَيّامِ مِن شِيَمي
Blossoms too proud to accept
The bounty of earth or of rain,
أَزاهيرٌ تَرَفَّعُ عَن
قَبولِ مَواهِبِ الدِيَمِ
A wind whose scent was a waft
Of musk drawn over gifts of the dawn.
نَسيمٌ نَشرُهُ عَبِقٌ
يَجُرُّ سَوالِفَ النِعَمِ
I am the son of the lightning and wind
Of the gazelles, the horses, the sheep.
أَنا اِبنُ البيضِ وَالبيضِ ال
ظُبى وَالخَيلِ وَالنَعَمِ
My hooves paw wherever the acres
Are joyous and fruitful with life.
وَكُلِّ مُطَهَّمٍ تَنبو
حَوافِرُهُ مِنَ الأَكَمِ
My nature is one that is proud;
I halt where the battle waxes hot.
وَكُلِّ مُثَقَّفٍ يَحتَل
لُ حَيثُ مَواطِنُ الهِمَمِ
My flesh takes on dust and delicious fear
Where the neck and the spine form a crest.
وَكُلِّ مُهَنَّدٍ يَستَن
نُ في الأَعناقِ وَالقِمَمِ
And every sweet meadow that casts
A fragrance of summer-my soul there lifts wings.
وَكُلِّ أَغَرَّ قَد شَرَقَت
خَلائِقُهُ مِنَ الكَرَمِ
A kind where the sword-edge is baffled,
The fangs of its men tarnished, dimmed.
ضَروبٍ حَيثُ تَعثُرُ شَف
رَةُ الصَمصامِ بِاللِمَمِ
A stabber whom battle clothes
With a shirt which is crimsoned and dripping.
وَطَعّانٍ إِذا ما النَق
عُ عُصفِرَ ثَوبُهُ بِدَمِ
My people are those who give surety,
Security, when challenges threaten a tribe.
وَقَومي الضامِنونَ الأَم
نَ إِن هَجَموا عَلى حُرَمِ
When terror dismays the dissenter
And quivers through all that he is,
إِذا ما خائِفٌ غَلَبَت
عَلَيهِ سَطوَةُ العَدَمِ
They show him a havoc that darkens
The blaze and the edge of the sun
قَرَوهُ بَعدَما عَقَدوا
عَلَيهِ تَمائِمَ الذِمَمِ
Until truth can unveil for the dreamer
The falsehood and lie of suspicion.
إِلى أَن تَكشِفَ المَكتو
مَ عَن خَدّاعَةِ التُهَمِ
Until he who spread terror
Comes to them, in his error, with shame.
وَأَصبَحَ مَن أَسَرَّ الغَي
يَ مُعتَذِراً مِنَ الجَرَمِ
Until the most reckless of slanderers
Changes and sinks to regret.
وَصارَت غايَةُ المُغتَر
رِ جانِحَةً إِلى النَدَمِ
Until every rash judge swears again
That he never will question or doubt.
وَصَرَّحَ كُلُّ قَولٍ عَن
غُرورِ الحِلفِ وَالقَسَمِ
Each shrouded in silence, withdrawn,
Enduring the furnace of pain.
أَمانِيُّ اِستَرَكَّت كُل
لَ صَبّارٍ عَلى الأَلَمِ
Your name in protection by me
Is enclosed as by utmost endeavor.
كَفاكَ بِأَنَّ عِرضَكَ مِن
طُروقِ العارِ في ذِمَمي
And that is preserved by my care
Against the rude spears that assail.
وَذَلِكَ عِصمَةٌ مِنّي
بِحَبلٍ غَيرِ مُنجَذِمِ
And enough that the rashness of youth
Should slacken in insulting your fame!
وَحَسبُكَ أَن يَفُلَّ شَبا
ةَ هَجوِكَ أَشعَرُ الأُمَمِ
My hope folded wings and crouched low
In the powerful sweep of misfortune.
