Sol 5.6

  1. Ask the tribe of Taghlib about Bakr and their battle—

    at al-Hanū, when they lost openly and followed no right course.

  2. They came on with both their wings; yet, closing around them,

    were two wings of ours at dawn—and they were driven off.

  3. By morning they lay there slain, before their fair women;

    they flashed lightning for an hour, after all their thunder.

  4. They knew for certain that Shaybān and their kindred—

    Qays, Dhuhl, and Taym al-Lāt—had lain in wait,

  5. as had Yashkur, the sons of ʿIjl, and their brethren,

    and Banū Ḥanīfa, whose numbers cannot be counted.

  6. Then we met in battle, with the fire of war blazing,

    and tall-shafted Samharian spears lay shattered between us.

  7. At times we set our mill turning, then ground them

    to a thorough grinding; at times we met them and fought hand to hand.

  8. At last, when the sun wheeled round, they bolted in flight,

    fleeing us, abandoning their wealth, and racing off unburdened.

  9. Our eyes were gladdened by ʿImrān when its men were slain,

    and by ʿAdī with its mighty chief, when they were sorely tried;

  10. and by Ziyād, and Ghanm with her brother clans,

    and by Ḥabīb: they met humiliation and were left alone;

  11. and by the sons of Aws, when their tribe was crippled—

    they neither give, nor do harm, nor earn any praise.

  12. They fled to al-Nimr, one of us, who is their paternal uncle;

    but al-Nimr did not stand by them when they took flight, beardless youths.

  13. We are the horsemen who assail all mankind,

    and slay our foes until the land lies desolate.

  14. Indeed, at dawn we fell upon them with gleaming white blades,

    at the encounter, while the heat of death blazed.

  15. We too have lost men from among our noblest,

    and men their equals; likewise, the other folk have suffered loss.

  16. The horses know that I am one of their riders

    on the day of spear-thrusts, when human hearts tremble.

  17. I have sworn an oath that I will make no peace with them

    as long as one of us or them remains upon the open earth.

Sol 5.6