أَباهِلَ إِنّي لِلحُروبِ عِوادُ
وَإِنَّ رِدائي مُنصُلٌ وَنِجادُ
Abu Hilal, I am accustomed to wars,
My cloak is patched and my arrows sharp.
أَباهِلَ هُزّوا لي فَتىً غَيرَ مُدخَلٍ
فَإِنَّ سَماءَ الباهِلِيِّ جَمادُ
Abu Hilal, bring me an inexperienced lad,
For the sky of Bahila is stubborn as rock.
إِذا ما رَآني الباهِلِيُّ اِبنُ كَشكَشٍ
تَقَنَّعَ أَو ضاقَت عَلَيهِ بِلادُ
When the son of Kushkush sees me,
He takes cover or his country becomes too narrow.
وَإِنّي لَشَغّارٌ مِراراً وَرُبَّما
سَهُلتُ وَعِندي لِلخَليلِ وِدادُ
And I am bitter in war, and sometimes
I am easy when my friend is affectionate.
وَهَبتُ لِأَيرِ الضالِمِيِّ إِستَ شاعِرٍ
وَقُدتُ اِبنَ نِهيا وَالأُسودُ تُقادُ
I gave the son of Ad-Dalimi a sharp poet,
And I led the son of Nuhayya while fetters were led.
فَأَصبَحتُ لا أَخشى عَداوَةَ مُجلِبٍ
يَدُ اللَهِ دوني وَاللِسانُ حَصادُ
So I live without fearing the enmity of Mujlib,
God’s hand protects me and my tongue harvests.
أَنا اِبنُ مُلوكِ الأَعجَمينَ تَقَطَّعَت
عَلَيَّ وَلي في العامِرينَ عِمادُ
I am the son of kings of non-Arabs broken down upon me
While my pillar among the settled peoples stands erect.
خَطَبتُ وَما أَهدى لِيَ اللُؤمُ بِنتَهُ
وَشِبتُ وَما يَحمي حِمايَ نِجادُ
I proposed but the ignoble did not give me his daughter,
And I grew old but a protector’s care did not shelter my youth.
وَحَسبُكَ أَنّي مُنذُ سِتينَ حِجَّةً
أَكيدُ عَفاريتَ العِدى وَأُكادُ
It is enough for you that for sixty pilgrimages
I defeat the demons of enemies and almost vanquish them.
إِذا الخَطبُ لَم يُقبِل عَلَيَّ بِوَجهِهِ
فَتَكتُ وَلَم يُضرَب عَلَيَّ سِدادُ
When war turns its face away from me,
No doors are closed to me.
وَما زِلتُ في رَأدِ الشَبابِ الَّذي مَضى
وَفي الشَيبِ يُرجى نائِلي وَيُرادُ
I have not ceased being in the freshness of youth that is past
And in old age what I seek is attained and wanted.
أَجودُ العُفاةَ الزائِرينَ وَرُبَّما
طَلَبتُ أَميرَ المُؤمِنينَ أُجادُ
I am the most generous of visitors who come,
And sometimes I seek the Commander of the Faithful and am bountiful.
وَمِن عَجَبٍ يَعدو عَلَيَّ اِبنُ كَشكَشٍ
بِغُرمولِ كِنديرٍ عَلَيهِ سُهادُ
How strange that the son of Kushkush dares to attack me
With a Kunduri camel whose covering is gray hair!
أَبا كَشكَشٍ لَمّا عَرَفتَ قَصائِدي
شَحَذتَ لَها في راحَتَيكَ زِنادُ
Abu Kushkush, when you knew my poems
You sharpened against them your brown palm sticks.
وَأَنتَ اِبنُ لَقّاطِ النَوى قَد عَرَفتَهُ
وَجَدُّكَ زِنجِيٌّ أَبوهُ رَمادُ
You are the son of a picker-up of date pits; you know him well,
Your grandfather was a Zanji - ashes was his father!
لَقَد كانَ عَبداً لِلقُشَيرِيِّ حِقبَةً
وَبِئسَ الفَتى عولى اليَدَينِ رُقادُ
He was a slave of Qushayri for a time.
Miserable is the lad whose hands are his livelihood!
يَقولُ لَهُ الكَعبِيُّ في جَنَباتِهِ
عِلاجُكَ يا اِبنَ الفاعِلينَ جِهادُ
The Ka’bi says to him in private,
“Your cure, O son of the dissolute, is struggle.”
فَلا تَشتَرِ الزِنجِيَّ إِنَّكَ مُفلِحٌ
بِأَحمَرَ فَالزِنجِيُّ عَنكَ عَتادُ
So do not buy a Zanji; you will prosper
With a red one, for the Zanji is recalcitrant to you.
أَبا كَشكَشٍ وافَقتَ زَيداً لِفِعلِهِ
وَأَنتَ لِأُخرى وَالدَخيسُ عِيادُ
Abu Kushkush, you matched Zayd in his deed
While you are for another, and the despicable is customary.
فَأَصبَحتَ تَرجو أَن تَسودَ عَلَيهِمُ
وَهيهاتَ ظَنُّ اِبنِ الخُلَيقِ فِنادُ
So you hoped to have power over them,
But far-fetched is the notion of the son of Kulayq as establishment!
لَعَمري لَقَد أَخطَأتَ رَأيَكَ فيهِمُ
وَما كُلُّ ما تَهوى أَصابَ مُرادُ
By my life, you were wrong in your opinion of them,
Not everything one desires meets with attainment.
فَدَع عَنكَ تَشبيهَ الرُقادِ فَإِنَّما
حَلَمتَ وَلا يُجدي عَلَيكَ رُقادُ
Give up likening your slumber to them, for it is only
A dream, and slumber will not benefit you.
طَوى المَلكُ أَولادَ الزِنا عَن مُخَنَّثٍ
لِداءِ اِستِهِ مَخطومَهُ وَحَسادُ
The King despised the children of adultery begotten by an effeminate;
Their sickness made them contemptible and envious.
وَما دافَعوهُ رَغبَةً عَن سَقامِهِ
وَلَكِنَّ أَولادَ الزِناءِ خِلادُ
They did not defend him out of desire for his recovery,
But the children of adultery are for everlasting.
أَبا كَشكَشٍ لا تَدعُ فينا قَرابَةً
عَرَفتَ وَعِرفانُ القَبيحِ رَشادُ
Abu Kushkush, do not claim any kinship between us;
You know, and recognizing the ugly is proper conduct.
عَلَيكَ بِأَولادِ الزِنا أَنتَ مِنهُمُ
وَما لَكَ في أَهلِ الزَكاءِ وِسادُ
You belong to the children of adultery; you are one of them.
You have no share among the people of purity and power.
لِساداتِ أَولادِ الزِناءِ مَزِيَّةٌ
عَلَيكَ فَلا تَجمَح وَفيكَ فُؤادُ
For the chiefs of children of adultery there is advantage
Over you, so do not persist and your heart has perception.
وَما كُلُّ أَولادِ الزِنا يَستَطيعُهُ
مِنَ آباءِ أَولادِ الزِناءِ جَوادُ
Not every child of adultery can attain
What the fathers of children of adultery attain in generosity.
أَباهِلَ فيكُم عُصبَةٌ مُستَفادَةٌ
لِئامُ القِرى فُطسُ الأُنوفِ جِعادُ
Abu Hilal, among you is a tribe to be consulted,
The scum of districts, flat-nosed, with shaggy hair.
أَباهِلَ رُدّوا أَعبُدَ الحَيِّ إِنَّهُم
جِعادٌ وَمِن مالِ الكِرامِ تِلادُ
Abu Hilal, return A’bd Al-Hayy; they
Are shaggy-haired, feeding on the property of the generous.
لَقَد شانَ أَولادَ الزِناءِ سَوادُهُ
وَإِن كانَ في بَدرِ السَماءِ سَوادُ
The evil of children of adultery has spread among them
Even if the blackness in the full moon spreads.
بَني كَشكَشٍ غَطّوا أَساتِيَ نِسوَةٍ
تَزَيَّدُ مِن طَعنٍ وَسَوفَ تُزادُ
Children of Kushkush, cover the defects of women
Who attack more and more and will be assaulted.
بَناتٌ وَزَوجاتٌ وَأُختٌ وَخالَةٌ
بِها مِن شِعافٍ بِالطِعانِ كِبادُ
Daughters, wives, a sister, and an aunt
With them - how they pierce with sharp tongues!
لَقَد نَفِدَت أَشرافُنا بَعدَ عَذرَةٍ
وَما لِعُيونِ اِبنِ الخُلَيقِ نَفادُ
Our noble women have dwindled after pardoning
And there is no end to the eyes of the son of Kulayq.
وَمُشفِقَةٍ مِنّي عَلى فَرخِ كَشكَشٍ
فَقُلتُ لَها بَقياً عَلَيهِ فَسادُ
And Mushfiqah felt pity for me about Kushkush’s fledgling,
So I said to her, “Corruption remains for it.”
وَما في هَلاكِ اِبنِ الخُلَيقِ لِرَهطِهِ
فَسادٌ وَلَكِن في البَقاءِ فَسادُ
There is no corruption for his people in the death of the son of Kulayq,
But in survival there is corruption.
دَعاني وَما أَصبَحتُ صَوتُ اِبنِ كَشكَشٍ
لِأَنكَحَ أُختَيهِ وَفِيَّ بِعادُ
He invited me but I did not respond to the voice of the son of Kushkush
To marry his sisters, and I bear grudges.
فَقُلتُ لَهُ عِندي مِنَ الطَعنِ أَربَعٌ
صِلابٌ وَما عِندي لَهُنَّ كِرادُ
So I said to him, “With me are four
Who are tough, and I have no cage for them.”
عَلَيكَ بِطاوُوسِ الحُبوشِ لِأَيرِهِ
مَناعِمُ زَهرٌ مِنهُما وَوِعادُ
You have the peacock of Abyssinia for its lord;
Favors are flowers - enjoy them!
نَزا بِكَ زِنجِيٌّ وَأُمُّكَ سَلفَعٌ
مِنَ البُرصِ لا تَصطادُهُم وَتُصادُ
A Zanji coupled with you, and your mother was a Salifa
With leprosy - do not hunt them and get hunted!
فَجِئتَ كَبَغلِ السوءِ بَينَ عَرينَةٍ
وَبَينَ حِمارٍ حُطَّ عَنهُ مَزادُ
So you came like a mule, begotten wrongly, between
A she-ass and a donkey whose nose-ring was removed.
إِذا صَهَلَت أُمّاتُهُ حَنَّ أَيرُهُ
لَهُنَّ فَكانَت مَحجَةٌ وَسِفادُ
When his slave-girls bray, their lord is affectionate to them;
They have a private part, and he has intercourse!
