فُتِقَتْ لكم ريحُ الجِلادِ بعنبرِ
وأمدَّكُمْ فَلَقُ الصّباحِ المسْفِرِ
The breeze of victory blew for you with ambergris fragrance,
And dawn’s slit brought you to water the ripe fruit of events,
وجنَيْتُمُ ثَمَرَ الوقائِعِ يانِعاً
بالنصر من وَرَق الحديدِ الأخضَر
With the green iron leaf’s victory you reaped,
And you struck the necks of tyrants, while every fierce lion slept.
وضربتُمُ هامَ الكُماةِ ورُعْتُمُ
بِيضَ الخُدورِ بكلِّ ليثٍ مُخدِر
O tall white palace youth, and most numerous in number,
Who of you is the obeyed king, as if under the canopy Tubba’ of Himyar?
أبَني العَوالي السَّمْهرِيّةِ والسّيو
فِ المَشرَفيّةِ والعَديدِ الأكثر
All the kings of the saddles have fallen,
Except the empowered one upon the back of the blond steed.
مَنْ منكُمُ المَلِكُ المُطاعُ كأنّهُ
تحتَ السَّوابغِ تُبّعٌ في حِمْيَر
The leader of the free horses, adorned with green pearls,
With forelocks that are vermin whose ears are the skulls of long-necked camels
كلُّ الملوكِ من السروجِ سواقِطٌ
إلاّ المُمَلَّكَ فوق ظهرِ الأشقر
That bark about the yellow soil with their teeth,
And gallop in the plain of the glorious and bold one.
القائدَ الخيلِ العِتاقِ شَوازباً
خُزراً إلى لَحْظِ السِّنان الأخزر
An army led by the lions, above them billows
Like waves of crowded cane and bulrushes.
شُعْثُ النَّواصي حَشرةً آذانُها
قُبَّ الأياطلِ ظامِياتِ الأنْسُر
As if they had plucked the feathers of vultures
That flow from the mud of every dirty and gloomy one.
تَنبو سنابكُهُنَّ عن عَفْر الثَّرى
فيطَأنَ في خدِّ العزيزِ الأصعر
As if their spears were embraced by lightning,
Radiating or a flagging furbished blade.
جيشٌ تَقَدَّمَهُ اللُّيوثُ وفوقها
كالغِيلِ من قصَبِ الوشيج الأسمر
The tongues of lightning bolts extend above them
Beyond the shade of threatening clouds like eagles.
وكأنّما سَلَبَ القَشاعِمَ رِيشَها
مما يَشُقُّ من العَجاج الأكدر
Led by the fierce and angry lion who is marked
From every rugged pass between the two meadows.
وكأنّما اشتَمَلتْ قناهُ ببارقٍ
مُتألِّقٍ أو عارِضٍ مُثعَنْجِر
He tore the acceptance from the fleeing one, and marched in
The army of Heraclius and determination of Alexander.
تمتَدُّ ألسِنَةُ الصَّواعقِ فوقَهُ
عن ظُلَّتَيْ مُزْنٍ عليه كنَهْوَر
In youth whose armors’ trace is their perfume
And their nature is the red sheep barn fragrance.
ويقوده اللَّيْثُ الغَضَنْفَرُ مُعْلَماً
من كلِّ شثن اللِّبْدَتينِ غضَنفر
The wolf cannot enjoy their weary carcasses,
Due to the broken spear tips covering them.
نَحَرَ القَبولَ من الدَّبورِ وسار في
جَمْعِ الهِرَقْل وعزمةِ الاسكندر
They forgot the separation of the dear one, as if
In the wilderness of Abqar they were the gardens of Abqar.
في فِتيةٍ صَدَأُ الدروع عبيرُهْم
وخَلوقُهم عَلَقُ النجيعِ الأحمر
They cover the barren deserts, and yet
Only the mountain goats are born in the desolate valley.
لا يأكُلُ السِّرحانُ شِلوَ طعينهم
مما عليه من القنا المتكسِّر
They stayed close to the roaring beasts, so when
They roared, the beasts did not return their roar.
أنِسوا بهجرانِ الأنيسِ كأنّهُمْ
في عبقريِّ البِيدِ جِنّةُ عَبْقَر
And they walked upon the murdered souls as if
Their horses' hooves walked on marble.
يَغشَوْنَ بالبِيدِ القِفارِ وإنّمَا
تَلِدُ السَّبَنْتَى في اليَباب المُقفر
A people who spend the night on the ground while others
Spend theirs on saddled horses.
قد جاوروا أجَمَ الضّواري حولهم
فإذا همُ زأروا بها لم تَزأرِ
And their domes float in blood, as if they were
Ships sailing in seas.
ومَشَوْا على قِطَعِ النفوسِ كأنّما
تمشي سنابكُ خيلهم في مَرمَر
Their courtyards are made from the skin of every stripped slain enemy,
And their tents are made from the skin of every muscular lion.
قوْمٌ يبِيتُ على الحَشايا غيرُهُمْ
ومبيتهُم فوق الجياد الضُّمَّر
From the skin of every muscular and large-skinned camel,
They seek the water of safety without making it murky.
وتظَلُّ تسبَحُ في الدماء قِبابُهُمْ
فكأنّهُنَّ سفائنٌ في أبحر
In the evening they went to Umm Al-Reyal (the mother of meadows),
And in the morning they went to the gazelle of the white sand dune.
فحياضُهم من كلِّ مهجةِ خالعٍ
وخيامُهم من كلِّ لِبدَة قَسْوَر
They chased away the monks into the zigzag path
To the ravines in the open area of Al-‘Uthayr.
من كلِّ أهرتَ كالحٍ ذي لِبْدةٍ
يَرِدونَ ماءَ الأمنِ غير مكدَّر
On the eve of Thursday they rode wearing their decorated costumes,
Saying, “We gather and these are the good old tribes whose lineage was not lost”.
راحوا إلى أُمِّ الرِّئالِ عشيَّةً
وغَدَوْا إلى ظبْي الكثيبِ الأعفر
Our alliances are as though we are from one lineage,
And our births are as though we are from one ancestry.
طَردوا الأوابِدَ في الفدافِد طَردَهم
للأعْوَجِيَّةِ في مجالِ العِثْيَر
Those wearing the ferocious iron skin armor,
It did not make them forget compassion and kindness.
رَكِبوا إليها يومَ لَهْوِ قنيصهمْ
في زِيِّهِمْ يومَ الخميس المُصْحِر
I have among them a sword, if I unsheathe it one day,
I would strike with it the necks of the times.
إنّا لتجمعُنا وهذا الحيَّ من
بَكْرٍ أذِمَّةُ سالِفٍ لم تُخْفَر
And I would destroy the armed era with the destruction of
Al-Barras on the day of Hajian Ibn Al-Munthir.
أحلافُنَا فكأنّنَا منْ نِسْبَةٍ
ولِداتُنا فكأنّنَا منْ عُنصُر
It is difficult when fate becomes difficult, things become arduous,
A growling lion for every growling incident.
اللاّبِسينَ من الجِلاد الهَبْوَ ما
أغناهُمُ عن لأمَةٍ وسَنَوَّر
So if it reconciles, you will not find anyone but the empowered king
And if it extends, you will not find anyone but the crowned one.
لي منْهُمُ سيْفٌ إذا جَرَّدْتُهُ
يوماً ضرَبْتُ به رِقابَ الأعصُر
It is enough that generosity's love is
In a small space from his notches.
وفتكتُ بالزَّمَنِ المُدجَّجِ فتْكَةَ ال
بَرّاضِ يومَ هجائن ابنِ المُنذر
So his clouds are of mercy, and his family
From Heaven, and his right hand from Kawthar.
صَعْبٌ إذا نُوَبُ الزمان استصعبتْ
مُتَنَمِّرٌ للحادثِ المُتَنَمِّر
فإذا عَفَا لم تَلْقَ غيرَ مُمَلَّكٍ
وإذا سطا لم تَلْقَ غيرَ مُعفَّر
وكفاكَ من حُبِّ السماحَةِ أنّهَا
منه بموضع مُقلةٍ من مَحْجِر
فغمامُهُ من رحمَةٍ وعِراصُهُ
من جَنّةٍ ويمينُهُ من كوثر
