إِذا سَوَّمَت لِلبَأسِ أَغشى صُدورَها

أُسودٌ عَلَيها المَوتُ عادَتُها الهَصرُ

When they prepare for war, jet blackness

Enshrouds their hearts, and destruction is their wont;

غَداةَ أَحَلَّت لِاِبنِ أَصرَمَ طَعنَةٌ

حُصَينٌ عَبيطاتِ السَدائِفِ وَالخَمرِ

One morn they made ready for Ibn Udhra a thrust

With keen polished blades that severed life and soul;

بِها زَيَلَ اِبنُ الجَونِ مُلكاً وَسَلَّبَت

نِساءٌ عَلى اِبنِ الجَونِ جَدَّعَها الدَهرُ

Thereat Ibn al-Gawan’s rule was brought down, despoiled

Were the women of Ibn al-Gawan by what time has decreed;

خَرَجنَ حَريراتٍ وَأَبدَينَ مِجلَداً

وَجالَت عَلَيهُنَّ المُكَتَّبَةُ الصُفرُ

They came forth like silk-clad idols with starry eyes

And about them played saffron tattoos on their skin;

إِذا حَلَّتِ الخَرماءَ عَمروُ بنُ عامِرٍ

وَسالَت عَلَيها مِن مَناكِبِها بَكرِ

Whenever Kharma visited, Amr ibn Aamir

Was her knight and her guard against shame and dishonor;

بِحَيٍّ جُلالٍ يَدفَعَ الضَيمَ عَنهُمُ

هَوادِرُ في الأَجوافِ لَيسَ لَها سَبرُ

A tribe defending its honor, driving off harm,

Valiant warriors against whom no enemy could prevail;

رَأَيتُ تَميماً يَجهَشونَ إِلَيهِمُ

إِذا الحَربُ هَزَّتها كَتائِبُها الخُضرُ

I saw the Banu Tamim rushing to join them

Whenever war shook the ranks of its green battalions;

وَإِن هَبَطَت أَرطى لُهابٍ ظَعينَةٌ

تَميمِيَّةٌ حَلَّت إِذا فَزِعَ النَفرُ

And if the plunging fires of battle were kindled,

A Tameemi band would rally when comrades lost nerve;

وَلَيسَ رَئيسٌ زارَ ضَبَّةَ مُخطِئاً

يَدَيهِ اِصفِرارٌ بِالأَسِنَّةِ أَو أَسرُ

No chieftain reproached Diyab among foes

Either for yellowness of sword blades or the paleness of faces;

يَهُزّونَ أَرماحاً طِوالاً مُتونُها

بِهِنَّ الغِنى يَومَ الوَقيعَةِ وَالفَقرُ

They brandished long lances, dependable now

As a means to wealth, or privation in days of want;

وَأَوثَقُ مالٍ عِندَ ضَبَّةَ بِالغِنى

إِذا اِحتَرَبَ الناسُ الإِباحَةُ وَالقَسرُ

The best wealth for Diyab in time of need

Was when all mankind succumbed to oppression and force;

وَكانَت إِذا لاقَت رَئيساً رِماحُهُم

عَلَيهِنَّ أَن يَبعَجنَ سُرَّتَهُ نَذرُ

Whenever their lances encountered a chief his doom

Was for his mantle to be shredded to pieces;

وَزائِرَةٌ آباءَها بَعدَما اِلتَقَت

جَوانِحُها ما كانَ سيقَ لَها مَهرُ

A woman visiting her kin after having been wed,

Not entitled to dowry when their destinies merged;

إِذا ما اِبنُها لاقى أَخاها تَعاوَرا

عُيوناً مِنَ البَغضاءِ أَبصارُها خُزرُ

If her son met her brother their glances raged

With the fires of hatred—though their lineage was one;

وَيَمنَعُها مِن أَن يَقولَ سَبِيَّةٌ

بَنونَ لَها مِن غَيرِ أُسرَتِها زُهرُ

And he’d forbid her to say, “An orphan am I,

With no family now but the children I’ve nursed”;

فَما ضَرَّ إِهلاكُ الكَرائِمِ غالِباً

مِنَ المالِ إِذ وارى شَمائِلَهُ القَبرُ

So the death of the virtuous benefits no man

If he loses his soul though he gains the entire world.