يا عَجَباً لِلعَذارى يَومَ مَعقُلَةٍ
عَيَّرنَني تَحتَ ظِلِّ السِدرَةِ الكِبَرا
O how strange are maidens on the day of Ma'qilah
They mocked me beneath the shade of the great lote tree
فَظَلَّ دَمعِيَ مَمّا بانَ لي سَرِباً
عَلى الشَبابِ إِذا كَفكَفتُهُ اِنحَدَرا
So my tears from what was revealed to me streamed forth
Down upon my youth whenever I would wipe them away
فَإِن تَكُن لِمَّتي أَمسَت قَدِ اِنطَلَقَت
فَقَد أَصيدُ بِها الغِزلانَ وَالبَقَرا
And if my tribe found my evening to have departed
Then I would hunt gazelles and cows with it
هَل يُشتَمَنَّ كَبيرُ السِنِّ أَن ذَرَفَت
عَيناهُ أَم هُوَ مَعذورٌ إِنِ اِعتَذَرا
Can an elderly man be blamed if his eyes shed tears
Or is he excused if he offers an apology?
يا بِشرُ إِنَّكَ سَيفُ اللَهِ صيلَ بِهِ
عَلى العَدُوِّ وَغَيثٌ يُنبِتُ الشَجَرا
O Bashir you are Allah’s sword, attack the enemy with it
And a rain that makes the trees grow
مَن مِثلُ بِشرٍ لِحَربٍ غَيرِ خامِدَةٍ
إِذا تَسَربَلَ بِالماذِيِّ وَاِتَّزَرا
Who is like Bashir for unrelenting war
When he dons his coat of mail and loincloth
العاصِبِ الحَربَ حَتّى تَستَقيدَ لَهُ
بِالمَشرِفِيَّةِ وَالعافي إِذا قَدَرا
Binding war until it is led captive for him
At al-Musharifiyya and al-‘Afi if he so wills
سَيفٌ يَصولُ أَميرُ المُؤمِنينَ بِهِ
وَقَد أَعَزَّ بِهِ الرَحمَنُ مَن نَصَرا
A sword brandished, the Commander of the Faithful wields it
And through it the Merciful has given victory to the supported
كَمُخدِرٍ مِن لُيوثِ الغيلِ ذي لِبَدٍ
ضِرغامَةٍ يَحطِمُ الهاماتِ وَالقَصَرا
Like the roaring of lions, strong necked ones
Whose bellowing breaks fortresses and palaces
تَرى الأُسودَ لَهُ خُرساً ضَراغِمُها
يَسجُدنَ مِن فَرَقٍ مِنهُ إِذا زَأَرا
You see the lions, dumbstruck by him, their manes
Prostrating out of fear of him when he roars
مُستَأنِسٍ بِلِقاءِ الناسِ مُغتَصِبٍ
لِلأَلفِ يَأخُذُ مِنهُ المِقنَبُ الخَمَرا
Familiar with meeting people, seizing
The wineglass that takes the wine from it
كَأَنَّما يَنضَحُ العَطّارُ كَلكَلَهُ
وَساعِدَيهِ بِوَرسٍ يَخضِبُ الشَعَرا
As if the perfumer were sprinkling his perfume bottle
And his arms with aloes wood, staining his hair
وَما فَرِحتُ بِبُرءٍ مِن ضَنى مَرَضٍ
كَفَرحَةٍ يَومَ قالوا أَخبَرَ الخَبَرا
And I have never delighted in the relief from the woes of illness
Like the delight on the day when they said the news has arrived
أَلفَتحُ عِكرِمَةُ البَكرِيُّ خَبَّرَنا
أَنَّ الرَبيعَ أَبا مَروانَ قَد حَضَرا
Al-Fatah ‘Ikrimah the Bakri has informed us
That Abu Marwan al-Rabi‘ has come
