للّه شمسٌ كانَ أولها السّها

كَحَلَ الظلامُ بنورها أجفاني

Allah has a sun whose dawn was spears

Darkness lined my eyelids with its light

جادَ الزّنادُ بِعُشْوَةٍ فتَخيّرت

قَصَرَ الجفيفةِ بعد طول زمانِ

The flints sparked with a fire-stick so I chose

The barren plain after a long time

شعواءُ باتتْ تَرْمَحُ الريح التي

أمْسَتْ تجاذبها شليل دخانِ

Shuwwa spent the night piercing the wind that

In the evening Shalil's smoke pulled it here and there

وكأنّما في الجوّ منها رايةٌ

حمراءُ تخفق أو فؤاد جبانِ

As if in the air from it there was a banner

Red fluttering or a cowardly heart

أقبلتها من وجه أدهم غُرَّةً

فأرتْك كيف تَقَابَلَ القمرانِ

I met it from the face of a ruddy dark night

So I saw how the two moons opposed

في ظلّ منسدل الدجى جارتْ به

عيني التي هُدِيَتْ بأذن حصاني

In the shadow of the darkness that fell my eyes raced with it

That were given to the ear of my steed

للّه واصفةٌ مُعَرَّسَ سادةٍ

وهناً لعينك باضطراب لسانِ

By Allah a chief describing noble riders

And delight to your eye in the confusion of my tongue

نزلوا بأوطان الوحوش وما نبا

بهمُ زمانُهُمُ عن الأوطانِ

They descended in the lands of wild beasts and time

Did not decrease their longing for homelands

خطّافة الحركات ذات مساعر

حملت جفونَ مراجلٍ وجفانِ

Having passionate gestures with embers

That carried the bellows and eyelids

كالبحر أعلاها اللهيبُ وقعرها

جمرٌ كمثل سبائك العقيانِ

Allah made its top fire and its bottom

Embers like the ingots of blacksmiths

تَشوي اللطاةَ على سواحل لجها

للطارقين شواءة اللحمانِ

Broiling the plump ones on the shores of its intensity

Roasting the seekers like cooked meat

من كلّ منسكب السماحة يلتظي

في كفّه اليمنى شواظُ يماني

From every poured generosity he wraps

In his right hand the flames of Yaman

وإذا ابن آوى مدّ ذات رُنُوِّهِ

كَحَلَتْهُ بابن حَنِيّةٍ مرنانِ

And when the son of Awa took shelter he stretched

His softness so the son of Haniyy caressed him

متوسّدين بها عبابَ دروعهم

إنّ الدروع وسائدُ الشُجعانِ

Using them as pillows the bosses of their coats of mail

Indeed coats of mail are the pillows of the brave

يتنازعونَ حديثَ كلّ كريهةٍ

بِكْرٍ تَصَالوا حرّها وعوانِ

They compete in talk of every frightening battle

They had with every virgin its heat and helplessness

صرعوا الأوابدَ في الفدافد بالقنا

وخواضب الظلمان في الغيطانِ

They felled the giants in deadly fights with spears

And the darkness's adorers in the valleys

من كلّ وحشيّ يُسابقُ ظِلَّهُ

حتى أتاه مسابقُ اللحظانِ

Of every beast its shadow raced it

Until the racing of glances overtook it

صِيدٌ إذا شهدوا النديّ همى الندى

فيه ونيط الحسن بالإحسانِ

Prey, when they witnessed hunting wished for hunting

And beauty was bound to kindness through it

من كلّ صَبٍّ بالحروبِ حياتُهُ

مشغُوفَةٌ بمنيّةِ الأقرانِ

The life of every youth in wars

Is passionate for the death of peers

في متن كلّ أقبّ تحسبُ أنّه

برقٌ يصرِّفه بوَحْي عنانِ

In the back of every horse you'd think

It was lightning held back by the tug of reins

وإذا تَضَرّمَتِ الكريهة واتقى

لفحاتِها الفرسان بالفرسانِ

And when the battle intensified and the horsemen

Avoided its blasts with horsemen

وثنى الجريحُ عنانه فكأنّما

خُلِعَتْ عليه معاطف النشوانِ

And the wounded pulled his reins so it was as if

Coats of brocade had been stripped off him

وعلى الجماجم في الأكف صوارمٌ

ففراشها بالضرب ذو طيرانِ

And over the skulls in the palms swords

So their saddlebags from the blows took flight

قدّوا الدروعَ بقضبهم فكأنّما

صَبّوا بها خُلُجاً على غدرانِ

They straightened the coats of mail with their spear shafts so it was as if

They had poured smooth water over armor

وَأرَوْكَ أنّ من المياه مَناصِلاً

طُبِعَتْ مضاربها من النيرانِ

And they saw that from the waters dividing strokes

Whose strokes were created from fire