بكر الأمير لغربة وتنائي — Jarir

The prince set out early for foreign lands and separation.

For at Ramatayn I have indeed forgotten my consolation.

Indeed, the prince at Dhu Tuluh paid no heed

To the heart's fracture and the long, deep sigh.

All my life, my heart is enamored of beautiful women,

And my shade loves them among the shades of the dead.

Indeed, I have felt for them the passion of Muraqqish.

Even part of their demands is nothing but distress.

And I have indeed found their union a deceptive lure,

Like shade as it returns to the afternoon shadows.

At al-A'zalayn I recognized a dwelling of hers,

And dwellings at Qushawat al-Kharja'.

When cares come by night, I entertain them with 'Idi camels,

Saddled where the saddle-bows rest.

And when a desert landmark appears, they make for it,

With deep ravines, girdled in cloud.

They turn back for a spell when their last reserves dwindle,

And stride swiftly like the camel herds of al-Hizba'.

You treated the mange of their skins with tar,

Until they healed, though they had not been sound.

I yoked them together, and their breath came in gasps,

And they wag their tails when I raise my camel-driving chant.

And the guilty, when you wish to punish them,

You face them openly, abandoning all concealment.

Al-Farazdaq was disgraced, and al-Ukhaytil before him,

And al-Bariqi, and the rider of al-Qaswa'.

And for the two one-eyed men of Nabhan, a bitter cup;

And on Taym of Barza I have indeed pronounced my judgment.

And I have indeed left your father, O son of Musahhab,

With shattered legs and a bloodied spine.

And al-Mustanir, Barza's hireling, seeking refuge—

By evening he was in the basest dwelling among the tribes.

As for al-Ba'ith's sons, I mentioned their mother's red complexion,

And so healed my soul at the red woman's sons' expense.

So ask those I hurled away: 'How did you find

The far distance and the far-flung reaches?'

So spur Qufayra, Farazdaq, with all your might,

And ask Qufayra what my racing was like.

Qufayra was found to have no valid shares

Among the Muslims, being base in ancestry.

Abd al-Aziz is the radiant one, borne upward by

A stock whose branches spread across the heart of al-Batha'.

Of all Medina, al-Balat is yours,

And western al-Abtah, beside Hira'.

You fulfilled our need, for which we came,

And met the need of those I left behind.

The guest was clothed in plush blankets and bordered cloaks,

And served camel-hump fat on an evening of shivering cold.