عَفّى المَنازِلَ آخِرَ الأَيّامِ
قَطرٌ وَمورٌ وَاِختِلافُ نَعامِ
The abodes have excused at the end of days
A drizzle, cloudiness, and ostriches’ disagreement
قالَ اِبنُ صانِعَةَ الزُروبِ لِقَومِهِ
لا أَستَطيعُ رَواسِيَ الرَعلامِ
The son of the dressmaker said to his people
I cannot endure the heads of ostrich chicks
ثَقُلَت عَلَيَّ عَمايَتانِ وَلَم أَجِد
سَبَباً يُحَوِّلُ لي جِبالَ شَمامِ
Two blindnesses have burdened me, and I have not found
A way to change for me the mountains of Syria
قالَت تُجاوِبُهُ المَراغَةُ أُمُّهُ
قَد رُمتَ وَيلَ أَبيكَ كُلَّ مَرامِ
His ostrich dam said answering him
You have flung yourself, woe to your father, into every ambition
فَاِسكُت فَإِنَّكَ قَد غُلِبتَ فَلَم تَجِد
لِلقاصِعاءِ مَآثِرَ الأَيّامِ
So be silent, for you have been defeated and did not find
For the unfeathered ostriches the days’ glories
وَوَجَدتَ قَومَكَ فَقَّأوا مِن لُؤمِهِم
عَينَيكَ عِندَ مَكارِمِ الأَقوامِ
And you found your people who gouged out your eyes with their villainy
At the generosity of the people
صَغُرَت دِلائُهُمُ فَما مَلَأوا بِها
حَوضَن وَلا شَهِدوا عِراكَ زِحامِ
Their buckets were small, so they did not fill them
Nor did they witness a battle’s fray
أَرداكَ حَينُكَ إِذ تُعارِضُ دارِماً
بِأَدِقَّةٍ مُتَأَشِّبينَ لِئامِ
They wanted you when you contend with a mighty warrior
With the most cunning rogues
وَحَسِبتَ بَحرَ بَني كُلَيبٍ مُصدِرَن
فَغَرِقتَ حينَ وَقَعتَ في القَمقامِ
And you reckoned the sea of the clan of Kulaib as exporters
So you drowned when you fell into the eddies
في حَومَةٍ غَمَرَت أَباكَ بُحورُها
في الجاهِلِيَّةِ كانَ وَالإِسلامِ
In a battle in which its seas drowned your father
In the Days of Ignorance and Islam
إِنَّ الرَقارِعَ وَالحُتاتَ وَغالِباً
وَأَبا هُنَيدَةَ دافَعوا لِمَقامي
Verily, the chiefs and the valiant and Ghalib
And Abu Hunaidah warded off from my status
بِمَناكِبٍ سَبَقَت أَباكَ صُدورُها
وَمَآثِرٍ لِمُتَوَّجينَ كِرامِ
With shoulders whose nobility preceded your father’s
And glories for the crowned honorable
إِنّي وَجَدتُ أَبي بَنى لي بَيتَهُ
في دَوحَةِ الرُؤَساءِ وَالحُكّامِ
I found my father built his house for me
Among the abodes of chieftains and rulers
مِن كُلِّ أَبيَضَ في ذُؤابَةِ دارِمٍ
مَلِكٍ إِلى نَضَدِ المُلوكِ هُمامِ
Of every white-clad in the tribe of Darim
A king up to the greatest of majestic kings
فَاِسأَل بِنا وَبِكُم إِذا لاقَيتُمُ
جُشُمَ الرَراقِمِ أَو بَني هَمّامِ
So ask, when you meet them,
The countenances of chiefs or the clan of Hammam
مِنّا الَّذي جَمَعَ المُلوكَ وَبَينَهُم
حَربٌ يَشِبُّ سَعيرُها بِضِرامِ
Who amongst us gathered the kings while between them
Was a war whose flames roared with spears
وَأَبي اِبنُ صَعصَعَةَ اِبنِ لَيلى غالِبٌ
غَلَبَ المُلوكَ وَرَهطُهُ أَعمامي
My father the son of Sa’sa’ah the son of Layla, Ghalib
Who conquered the kings and his uncles are my uncles
خالي الَّذي تَرَكَ النَجيعَ بِرُمحِهِ
يَومَ النَقا شَرِقَن عَلى بِسطامي
My uncle who left al-Naji’ with his spear
The day al-Naqa’s valleys glimmered over Bistam
وَالخَيلُ تَنحَطُ بِالكُماةِ تَرى لَها
رَهَجَن بِكُلِّ مُجَرَّبٍ مِقدامِ
And the horses descend the hillocks—for them you see
Delighted with every experienced hero
وَالحَوفَزانِ تَدارَكَتهُ غارَةٌ
مِنّا بِأَسفَلِ أودَ ذي الآرامِ
And al-Hawfazan, a raid from us
Assailed it from below Mount Aram
مُتَجَرِّدينَ عَلى الجِيادِ عَشِيَّةً
عُصَباً مُجَلَّحَةً بِدارِ ظَلامِ
Bare on steeds in the evening
A band armored in the land of darkness
وَتَرى عَطِيَّةَ ضارِباً بِفِنائِهِ
رِبقَينِ بَينَ حَظائِرِ الأَغنامِ
And you see ‘Atiyyah striking in its outskirts
With twilight between the sheepfolds
مُتَقَلِّداً لِأَبيهِ كانَت عِندَهُ
أَرباقُ صاحِبَ ثَلَّةٍ وَبِهامِ
Girded with his father’s; with him were
The straps of a chief with might and glory
ما مَسَّ مُذ وَلَدَت عَطِيَّةَ أُمُّهُ
كَفّا عَطِيَّةَ مِن عِنانِ لِجامِ
Never since ‘Atiyyah's mother gave birth to him
Has ‘Atiyyah touched the bridle of a camel
