سَما لَكَ شَوقٌ مِن نَوارٍ وَدونَها
سُوَيقَةُ وَالدَهنا وَعَرضُ جِوائِها
For you yearning from Nawar and below it
The valley and our camp’s breadth and its expanse
وَكُنتُ إِذا تُذكَر نَوارُ فَإِنَّها
لِمُندَمِلاتِ النَفسِ تَهياضُ دائِها
And whenever Nawar is mentioned, it is
For the despairing soul the remedy for its pain
وَأَرضٍ بِها جَيلانُ ريحٍ مَريضَةٍ
يَغُضُّ البَصيرُ طَرفَهُ مِن فَضائِها
And a land wherein is wind’s hot sigh
That makes the seer avert his gaze from its wideness
قَطَعتُ عَلى عَيرانَةٍ حِميَرِيَّةٍ
كُمَيتٍ يَئِطُّ النِسعُ مِن صُعَدائِها
I crossed over a mule-like camel caravan
A heap whose slippery smoothness wounds its climber
وَوَفراءَ لَم تُخرَز بِسَيرٍ وَكيعَةٍ
غَدَوتُ بِها طَيّاً يَدي في رِشائِها
With a dedicated she-camel that had no saddle or travelling bags
I rode it freely, my hand in its hair
ذَعَرتُ بِها سِرباً نَقِيّاً كَأَنَّهُ
نُجومُ الثُرَيّا أَسفَرَت مِن عَمائِها
I startled with it a flock as if
The Pleiades stars shone from its darkness
فَعادَيتُ مِنها بَينَ تَيسٍ وَنَعجَةٍ
وَرَوَّيتُ صَدرَ الرُمحِ قَبلَ عَنائِها
So I drove between he-goat and ewe
And I wet the spear’s blade before its fatigue
أَلِكني إِلى ذُهلِ بنِ شَيبانَ إِنَّني
رَأَيتُ أَخاها رافِعاً لِبِنائِها
Guide me to Dhul ibn Shayban - I saw
His brother raising its structure
لَقَد زادَني وُدّاً لِبَكرِ بنِ وائِلٍ
إِلى وُدَّها الماضي وَحُسنِ ثَنائِها
Bakr ibn Wa’il’s love for it has increased
Alongside its enduring grace and beauty’s praise
بَلاءُ أَخيهِم إِذ أَنيخَت مَطِيَّتي
إِلى قُبَّةٍ أَضيافُهُ بِفِنائِها
The ordeal of their brother when my she-camel knelt
At a dome whose owner is hospitable in its courtyard
جَزى اللَهُ عَبدَ اللَهِ لَمّا تَلَبَّسَت
أُموري وَجاشَت أَنفُسٌ مِن ثَوائِها
May God reward Abdallah when
My affairs were confused and souls despaired from its calamity
إِلَينا فَباتَت لا تَنامُ كَأَنَّها
أُسارى حَديدٍ أُغلِقَت بِدِمائِها
To us, so they spent the night not sleeping as if
They were fettered captives locked in blood
بِجابِيَةِ الجَولانِ باتَت عُيونُنا
كَأَنَّ عَواويراً بِها مِن بُكائِها
In Jabiyah of Al-Jawlan they spent the night while our eyes
Were as if tombs wherein tears flow from its weeping
أَرِحني أَبا عَبدِ المَليكِ فَما أَرى
شِفاءً مِنَ الحاجاتِ دونَ قَضائِها
Relieve me, Abu Abd al-Malik, for I do not see
Healing from needs save your fulfilment
وَأَنتَ اِمرُؤٌ لِلصُلبِ مِن مُرَّةَ الَّتي
لَها مِن بَني شَيبانَ رُمحُ لِوائِها
And you are a man of the lions from Murrah whose
Spear is glorious for Banu Shayban
هُمُ رَهَنوا عَنهُم أَباكَ فَما أَلوا
عَنِ المُصطَفى مِن رَهنِها لِوَفائِها
They pledged your father in place of themselves so they did not
Fall short of fulfilling their pledge to the Chosen One
فَفَكَّ مِنَ الأَغلالِ بَكرَ بنَ وائِلٍ
وَأَعطى يَداً عَنهُم لَهُم مِن غَلائِها
So Bakr ibn Wa’il was released from fetters
And he gave a hand for them - from his plenty - to them
وَأَنقَذَهُم مِن سِجنِ كِسرى بنِ هُرمُزٍ
وَقَد يَئِسَت أَنفارُها مِن نِسائِها
And rescued them from Kisra ibn Hurmuz’s prison
While their comrades despaired for their women
وَما عَدَّ مِن نُعمى اِمرُؤٌ مِن عَشيرَةٍ
لِوالِدِهِ عَن قَومِهِ كَبَلائِها
And how many blessings did the man enumerate
To his father for his people like their afflictions!
أَعَمَّ عَلى ذُهلِ بنِ شَيبانَ نِعمَةً
وَأَدفَعَ عَن أَموالِها وَدِمائِها
He covered Dhul ibn Shayban extensively with bounty
And warded off his money and blood
وَما رُهِنَت عَن قَومِها مِن يَدِ اِمرِئٍ
نِزارِيَّةٍ أَغنَت لَها كَغَنائِها
And no hostage among their women was taken
By an imrir from Nizar that enriched them like their riches
أَبوهُ أَبوهُم في ذَراهُم وَأُمُّهُ
إِذا اِنتَسَبَت مِن ماجِداتِ نِسائِها
His father was their father, in their homes, and his mother -
If traced back - was from the glorious women of their women
وَما زِلتُ أَرمي عَن رَبيعَةَ مَن رَمى
إِلَيها وَتُخشى صَولَتي مِن وَرائِها
And I have not stopped protecting Rabi’ah from he who shoots
Arrows at it, and my intensity is feared from behind it
بِكُلِّ شُرودٍ لا تُرَدُّ كَأَنَّها
سَنا نارِ لَيلٍ أوقِدَت لِصِلائِها
With every roaming arrow that is not repelled, as if it is
The spark of a night fire kindled for its prayers
سَتَمنَعُ بَكراً أَن تُرامَ قَصائِدي
وَأَخلُفُها مَن ماتَ مِن شُعَرائِها
It will prevent Bakr’s eulogies from being shot at
And I will succeed whomsoever dies from its poets
وَأَنتَ اِمرُؤٌ مِن آلِ شَيبانَ تَستَقي
إِلى دَلوِكَ الكُبرى عِظامُ دِلائِها
And you are a man from Shayban’s family taking
To your large bucket the bones of its drawing rope
لَكُم أَثلَةٌ مِنها خَرَجتُم وَظِلُّها
عَلَيكُم وَفيكُم نَبتُها في ثَرائِها
For you are examples that emerged from it and its shade
Is upon you and among you, its growth in its fertile land
وَأَنتَ اِمرُؤٌ مِن ذُهلِ شَيبانَ تَرتَقي
إِلى حَيثُ يَنمي مَجدُها مِن سَمائِها
And you are a man from Dhul Shayban climbing
To where its glory sprouts from its sky
وَقَد عَلِمَت ذُهلُ بنُ شَيبانَ أَنَّكُم
إِلى بَيتِها الأَعلى وَأَهلُ عَلائِها
And Dhul ibn Shayban knew that you
Are its superior house and people of its highness
