كُلَيبُ لا خَيرَ في الدُنيا وَمَن فيها
إِن أَنتَ خَلَّيتَها في مَن يُخَلّيها
Kulayb has no good in this world or whoever is in it
If you leave it for whoever leaves it
كُلَيبُ أَيُّ فَتى عِزٍّ وَمَكرُمَةٍ
تَحتَ السَفاسِفِ إِذ يَعلوكَ سافيها
Kulayb, what young man of honor and generosity
Is under the horses when the unwise mount them
نَعى النُعاةُ كُلَيباً لي فَقُلتُ لَهُم
مادَت بِنا الأَرضُ أَم مادَت رَواسيها
The mourners mourned Kulayb, so I said to them
Did the land last for us or did its pillars last?
لَيتَ السَماءَ عَلى مَن تَحتَها وَقَعَت
وَحالَتِ الأَرضُ فَاِنجابَت بِمَن فيها
If only the sky above those under it would fall
And the land would invert and swallow those in it
أَضحَت مَنازِلُ بِالسُلّانِ قَد دَرَسَت
تَبكي كُلَيباً وَلَم تَفزَع أَقاصيها
The abodes in es-Sullam have become ruined
Crying for Kulayb while its outskirts did not panic
الحَزمُ وَالعَزمُ كانا مِن صَنيعَتِهِ
ما كُلَّ آلائِهِ يا قَومُ أُحصيها
Resoluteness and determination were part of his making
Not all his traits, O people, can I enumerate
القائِدُ الخَيلَ تَردي في أَعِنَّتَها
زَهواً إِذا الخَيلُ بُحَّت في تَعاديها
The leader returns the horses in their reins
Proudly when the horses sniff each other in hostility
الناحِرُ الكومَ ما يَنفَكُّ يُطعِمُها
وَالواهِبُ المِئَةَ الحَمرا بِراعيها
The slaughterer, the pile does not stop feeding them
And the granter of one hundred reddish-black camels to their herder
مِن خَيلِ تَغلِبَ ما تُلقى أَسِنَّتُها
إِلّا وَقَد خَصَّبَتها مِن أَعاديها
Of the horses of Taghlib none meets their tongues
Except they have fertilized them from their enemies
قَد كانَ يَصبِحُها شَعواءَ مُشعَلَةً
تَحتَ العَجاجَةِ مَعقوداً نَواصيها
He would tie them at dawn stirred up
Under the tent peg, their lead ropes knotted
تَكونُ أَوَّلَها في حينِ كَرَّتِها
وَأَنتَ بِالكَرِّ يَومَ الكَرِّ حاميها
They would be first during the battle
While you would be protecting during the day of battle
حَتّى تُكَسِّرَ شَزاراً في نُحورِهِم
زُرقَ الأَسِنَّةِ إِذ تُروى صَواديها
Until he would break the breastbones in their chests
Blue of tongues when their fangs are watered
أَمسَت وَقَد أَوحَشَت جُردٌ بِبَلقَعَةٍ
لِلوَحشِ مِنها مِنها مَقيلٌ في مَراعيها
It has become desolate, Jurud in Balqa’a
For the wild animals, a sleeping place in their pasture
يَنفُرنَ عَن أُمِّ هاماتِ الرِجالِ بِها
وَالحَربُ يَفتَرِسُ الأَقرانَ صاليها
They stampede from the stallions of men in it
And war voraciously consumes the peers who pray in it
يُهَزهِزونَ مِنَ الخَطِّيِّ مُدمَجَةً
كُمتاً أَنابيبُها زُرقاً عَواليها
Brandishing from the engraver a forged sword
Its tubes blue steels its notches
نَرمي الرِماحَ بِأَيدينا فَنورِدُها
بيضاً وَنُصدِرُها حُمراً أَعاليها
We would throw spears with our hands and hit them
White and dispatch them red their summits
يارُبَّ يَومٍ يَكونُ الناسُ في رَهَجٍ
بِهِ تَراني عَلى نَفسي مُكاويها
O Lord of a day in which people will be in turmoil
In it you would see me inflicting devastation upon myself
مُستَقدِماً غَصصاً لِلحَربِ مُقتَحِماً
ناراً أُهَيِّجُها حيناً وَأُطفيها
Bringing forward warring parties, raiding
Sometimes enraging fire and sometimes extinguishing it
لا أَصلَحَ اللَهُ مِنّا مَن يُصالِحُكُم
ما لاحَتِ الشَمسُ في أَعلى مَجاريها
May Allah not reconcile whoever reconciles with you
Since the sun rose high in its orbit
