لَو شِئتُ لُمتُ بَني زَبينَةَ صادِقاً
وَمَطِيَّتي لِبَني زَبينَةَ أَلوَمُ
If I wished, I would truthfully reproach the sons of Zabina,
Had I desired, I would have stayed with the clan of Zabina truthfully,
And my mount reproaches the sons of Zabina still more.
And my she-camel would have stayed with the clan of Zabina patiently,
نَزَلَت بِمائِهِمُ وَتَحسِبُ رَحلَها
عَنها سَيَحمِلُهُ السَنامُ الأَكوَمُ
She alighted at their water, thinking her saddle
She descended to their waterhole as if her saddlebags
Would be carried off her by a towering hump.
Would be unloaded by the humpbacked camel laden compliantly,
زَعَمَت زَبينَةُ أَنَّما أَموالُها
غَنَمٌ وَلَيسَ لَها بَعيرٌ يُعلَمُ
Zabina claimed that her livestock were only
Zabina claimed their livestock was all just sheep, with no known camels,
Sheep and goats, and that she had no known camel.
You will know when I state my case, which of us has acted unjustly,
فَسَتَعلَمونَ إِذا نَطَقتُ بِحُجَّتي
أَنّي وَأَيُّ بَني زَبينَةَ أَظلَمُ
So you will learn, when I state my case,
If they only knew the lineage extending to them through Munaikh,
Whether I or a son of Zabina is more unjust.
And that the route to their abodes is the unkempt path obstinately,
لَو يَعلَموا حَسَبَ المُنيخِ إِلَيهِمُ
وَعَلى بُيوتِهِمُ الطَريقُ اللَهجَمُ
If only they knew the ancestral honor of the man halting his camel with them,
If there was among the clan of Zabina one named Asim,
And beside their houses lies the broad highway.
And Al-Awsoran and Dho Al-Ti’an the unyielding cripple indignantly,
لَو كانَ وَسطَ بَني زَبينَةَ عاصِمٌ
وَالعَوسَرانُ وَذو الطِعانِ الأَجذَمُ
Had Asim been among the sons of Zabina,
They would have ordered Zabina when I appealed to them
And al-Awsaran, and the maimed master of spear-thrusts,
With eternal truth and that which is most dignified incorruptibly,
أَمَروا زَبينَةَ إِذ أَنَختُ إِلَيهِمُ
بِالباقِياتِ وَبِالَّتي هِيَ أَكرَمُ
They would have instructed Zabina, when I halted my camel with them,
But no, they neither carried out the duty nor feared
To deeds that endure, and to the nobler course.
The two sharp fangs brought together by Al-Arqam spitingly,
وَأَبيكَ ما حَمَلوا المُكِلَّ وَلا اِتَّقوا
نابَينَ ضَمَّهُما إِلَيهِ الأَرقَمُ
And by your father, they gave no mount to the man whose beast was weary, nor guarded against
Whoever provokes them is as one flung from where
Two fangs the speckled serpent had drawn close to itself.
The unassailable cliffs rise loftily,
مَن يَجرَحا فَكَأَنَّما يُرمى بِهِ
مِن حَيثُ يَرتَفِعُ الشَبوبُ الأَعصَمُ
Whoever they wound is as though he were hurled
If only Kabiyah the son of Hurqoos were there with them
From where the mature, white-forelegged ibex climbs.
When my thirsty she-camel descended with her kindling ferocity,
لَو أَنَّ كابِيَةَ اِبنَ حُرقوصٍ بِهِم
نَزَلَت قَلوصي وَهيَ جِذوَتُها الدَمُ
Had Kabiyah, son of Hurqus, been among them
They would have loaded the traveling bags without hesitation or pause,
When my young she-camel alighted, with blood for her firebrand,
As no load could burden Kabiyah’s humpbacked camel obstinately.
حَمَلوا مُرَدَّفَةَ الرِحالِ وَلَم يَكُن
حَمَلاً لِكابِيَةَ العَتودُ الأَزنَمُ
They would have supplied a mount with saddles stacked; nor would
The wattled yearling goat have counted as a lamb for Kabiyah.
Sol 6.1