وَما عَن قِلىً عاتَبتُ بَكرَ اِبنَ وائِلٍ
وَلا عَن تَجَنّي الصارِمِ المُتَجَرِّمِ
I do not reproach Bakr ibn Wa'il's tribe
Nor do I complain of the fierce, audacious swordsman.
وَلَكِنَّني أَولى بِهِم مِن حَليفِهِم
لَدى مَغرَمٍ إِن نابَ أَو عِندَ مَغنَمِ
But I have a greater claim on them than their ally
When ruin threatens or at the dividing of spoil.
وَهَيَّجَني ضَنّي بِبَكرٍ عَلى الَّذي
نَطَقتُ وَما غَيبي لِبَكرٍ بِمُتهَمِ
Envy against Bakr provoked me to what I said
Though my secret thought acquitted Bakr of blame.
وَقَد عَلِموا أَنّي أَنا الشاعِرُ الَّذي
يُراعي لِبَكرٍ كُلِّها كُلَّ مَحرَمِ
They knew well that I am the poet who holds
Every sanctity of Bakr sacred.
وَإِنّي لِمَن عادَوا عَدُوٌّ وَإِنَّني
لَهُم شاكِرٌ ما حالَفَت ريقَتي فَمي
I am a foe to those who show enmity to them
And I thank them while my fortunes side with theirs.
هُمُ مَنَعوني إِذ زِيادٌ يَكيدُني
بِجاحِمِ جَمرٍ ذي لَظى مُتَضَرِّمِ
They defended me when Ziyad plotted against me
With a flaming, fiercely burning firebrand.
وَهُم بَذَلوا دوني التِلادَ وَغَرَّروا
بِأَنفُسِهِم إِذ كانَ فيهِم مُرَغِّمي
They jeopardized themselves to protect me
When there were those among them who urged my death.
أَتَرضى بَنو شَيبانَ لِلَّهِ دَرُّهُم
وَبَكرٌ جَميعاً كُلَّ مُثرٍ وَمُعدَمِ
Are you content, O tribe of Shayban, may you be rewarded,
When all Bakr, both chiefs and commons, are destroyed?
بَأَزدِ عُمانٍ إِخوَةٌ دونَ قَومِهِم
لَقَد زَعَموا في رَأيِهِم غَيرَ مَرغَمِ
By the Azd of Oman, brothers to the exclusion of their tribe,
They certainly imagined, in their view, something inconceivable.
فَإِنَّ أَخاها عَبدُ أَعلى بَنى لَها
بِأَرضِ هِرَقلٍ وَالعُلى ذاتُ مَجشَمِ
Their sister's brother, Abd al-A'la, built a home for her
In Heraclius' land, and al-A'la is of high-towering origin,
رَفيعاً مِنَ البِنيانِ أَثبَتَ أُسَّهُ
مَآثِرُ لَم تَخشَع وَلَم تَتَهَدَّمِ
Lofty, of firmly constructed buildings, his glories are not laid low
Nor demolished however the days assail.
هُمُ رَهَنوا عَنهُم أَباكَ وَما أَلَوا
عَنِ المُصطَفى مِن قَومِهِم بِالتَكَرُّمِ
They have ransomed you, and excellent was their ransom;
None of their kin ransomed the Prophet more generously.
