عفا النسران بعدك والوحيد — Jarir

Al-Nasran and al-Wahid have grown desolate since you left.

And nothing new retains its freshness.

And I greeted the dwellings on Rahba's rocky ground,

And their familiar traces had almost vanished.

Have there not been three years of estrangement?

For avoidance and rejection have lasted long.

Their folly and their words weighed heavily on me:

Was a threat warranted by a single greeting?

Nor, had you returned our greeting, would there have been

Any reproach over a greeting, or any penalties.

Do you watch those near us out of fear,

As though you were a hunted fugitive liable for a blood debt?

They captured hearts with the arrows of jinn;

And we shoot at some of them, but make no catch.

At Awd and al-Iyad we have a friend;

Al-Iyad lies far from you—and where is Awd?

We watched for Ja'dah's fire—could we see it?

Has distance swallowed your light, or has it died away?

How dear to me are the two visitors, Musa

And Ja'dah—if only the fire would light them both!

Worries beset us, and she said—

Ju'ada—“What destination do you seek?”

So I told her: “The caliph, without a doubt—

He is the rightly guided one and the wise judge.”

They crossed al-Daww and al-Adma toward you;

And the quest for you from al-Adma is long.

I looked from al-Rusafa: where is Hajr?

And between their peoples lie sand and desert wastes.

There the wild bulls, at midmorning, seem

Like satraps celebrating a festival in Herat.

As though the shod camels, bent-backed,

Were wild lote-tree rods beaten by a sturdy man.

And their bellies have drawn in after their plumpness,

And the swift pace has consumed their hump-fat.

We halt for them by day when we have traveled late at night,

And travel by night while the sandgrouse are silent, sleeping.

And how many plains they were made to cross on the way to you,

On which even the swift, long-striding camel tires!

When they reach the halting places, the camels are not hobbled;

And their long exhaustion serves them as fetters.

And I know that your permission means success,

And that if I reach you, I am fortunate.

And from you favors first come to us;

And if we return, your generous giver gives again.

You make life dearer to me,

And the mention of your gifts is praiseworthy.

If God were to favor the striving of a people,

The caliphate and covenants would be yours alone.

In time there became established among Quraysh

The greatness of your largesse and bounty.

Hisham, sovereign and unblemished judge—

The ground grows pleasant when you settle upon it.

Bounty from you spreads over all creation,

And lions lower their heads in fear of you.

And if the people of error oppose you,

They suffer what Thamud suffered.

And whoever obeys you is content,

And the bearer of grudges bows in submission.

And you take the troop in hand, then advance,

When the armies throng together in battle.

I offer you allegiance and gratitude,

Along with praise that stirs the song to joy.

Marwan built your house amid high honors,

And A'isha, blessed and fruitful.

And noble virtues among Quraysh were bequeathed to you by

Hisham, al-Mughira, and al-Walid.

And in al-Mughira's family there was, of old,

And among al-A'yas, nobility and generosity.

And from Dhubyan your edifice was completed,

Upon a lofty height, noble and firmly raised.

And if every tribe musters its foremost steeds,

You outstrip them, a prizewinner who wins again.

So may God make your sovereignty yet more complete;

From God come honor and increase.

So, O son of the noblest, when your lineage is traced,

And in both ancestral lines, if the forebears are counted!

You cut blessed channels from the Euphrates,

Flowing streams that reached as far as you wished.

And the mountains were subdued, though they were mute;

Iron is shattered on their shoulders.

You attained your aim at al-Hani' and gave thanks,

There, and the rock-hard mountain was made yielding.

There olive trees stand amid flowing water, and low hang

The vine-clusters, and they are black.

Thus in al-Hani' the gardens of this world were completed;

Then the envious said, “This is immortality.”

They bite their fingertips when they see them,

Gardens buttressed by fields of grain.

And varieties of fruit and date palms,

With densely packed palm-clusters in their yield.

May every victory bring joy to the caliph,

And the well-being that the courier brings.

We are content that your bounty is abundant,

And that you defend all we hold sacred,

And that you are the protectors on every frontier,

When the felt saddle-pads are soaked with sweat.