Sol 6.1

  1. I recalled union with fair women while gray hair was spreading,

    and youth's abode, since their time, has become empty wastes.

  2. Parting's tent-poles scattered us, and desire diverged,

    so that a severer might cut the bond between the two companies.

  3. Perhaps one day desire will favor you,

    and a uniter bring together for you the two branches of a journey.

  4. O Khalida, no longing presents itself to us

    at your remembrance but tears pour from me.

  5. I lent Layla affection; then she did not wish

    to repay my loan, though loans are trusts.

  6. A longing for her rose before you between Thahmad

    and Midh'a, while the riding-camels' necks bowed low.

  7. They sway as the two blank gaming arrows swayed among the lots,

    which a free-handed gambler from Shayban set in motion.

  8. Why then did you not fear God when you startled a consecrated pilgrim

    who had traveled by night, then laid down his saddle and was sleeping?

  9. Before him lay a trackless waste, whose looming forms seemed

    to shift beside their likenesses, forming pairs.

  10. My young she-camel moans after a lull, stirred

    by a lightning flash gleaming over Dhat al-Salasil.

  11. I told her, 'Moan gently, for I

    am drawn from Tihama toward the people of Najd.'

  12. Her ear-root oozes dark sweat, as though it were

    tar welling and running through the hedgehog-like tuft on her neck.

  13. Come, you two, greet the ridges where the ghada grows,

    and where the sandy flats creep around al-Sarif.

  14. May you be safe, and may the springtime rains water you,

    for you are a valley that brings loved ones together.

  15. Never, O son of the noble chief, have I seen a sight like today's

    that a man in need would willingly pass by.

  16. Do you forget how we travel by night for love of meeting you,

    and our midday journeys, while the deserts lie dusty and still?

  17. Sons of the smith, you met a fierce serpent on a rocky height,

    reared among sand-ridges, whom even the bravest fear.

  18. For you are a smith and the son of two smiths; endure

    that, since the paths upward are barred to you.

  19. When I saw the people whose dogs were growling,

    I took allies, since only an ally offered protection.

  20. I dispatched to the horizons every ode,

    far-ranging and ever-arriving, contending with every caravan.

  21. They reach Najran, passing all who lie before it,

    and appear in Najd, ringing out plainly.

  22. Such rhymes presented themselves, as though they were

    noble camels rising over a camel-yard, then looking out.

  23. Have you come seeking ferocity? Here we have

    ferocity in plenty for anyone who seeks violence.

  24. Yarbu' rises fiercely behind me with spears,

    and our custom is to advance on the day we clash.

  25. Ours is a rugged mountain, clothed in awe,

    with unassailable peaks, towering among the Khindifites.

  26. And in the tribe is Yarbu', when they rise in fury,

    and in the Indian swords is a safeguard against oppression.

  27. Among Banu Sa'd we have fortified mountains,

    and wide room to range in the courtyard of glory.

  28. Proud chieftains of Sa'd stand tall where help is sought;

    with them we contend at the doors of kings.

  29. Sa'd has ancient, 'Ad-like summits by which men find their way,

    and powerful resistance against anyone seeking opposition.

  30. Indeed, a sanctuary guarded only by Fartana

    and the son of the man with two bellows is shamed and forsaken.

  31. Malik saw that al-Farazdaq's arrows fell short

    of glory, though the bowman spared no effort in shooting far.

  32. He exposed himself until there were lodged between his snout

    and the line of his two eyebrows the crushing blows.

  33. I see gray hair on al-Farazdaq's face, risen over

    the jowls of an ape staggered by thunderbolts.

  34. You are a smith's son, Farazdaq, so take care

    of your bellows: bellows are useful to a smith.

  35. If you blow with your bellows, you will find us

    preparing spears and horses for the day we clash.

  36. When the race's stretch is lengthened, Ibn Fartana falls,

    and when the racing grows earnest, al-Farazdaq limps.

  37. As for Banu Sa'd, if you were to say, 'Listen,'

    to recite among them, a nose-mutilator would slash your nose.

  38. I saw you, when God had not enriched you with wealth,

    take refuge with Qays, your cheek abased.

  39. Indeed, al-Farazdaq's glory is nothing but his bellows,

    and his treasure on either side is clattering things.

  40. Sa'sa'a's smith says to Layla, 'Intercede!'

    Is there, in what lies behind the bellows, an intercessor for the smith?

  41. When Mujashi's women uncover their faces one day,

    a shameful sight appears from what the veils conceal:

  42. nostrils disfigured by smiths, as though they were

    the snouts of crouching pigs in al-Sawad.

  43. Bloated after khazir stew, as though

    frogs were croaking in their bowels.

  44. Al-Ba'ith's mother has bent her back and been compelled

    to bear heavy loads, until her neck-veins cramped her.

  45. Mujashi' knows, apart from empty boasting,

    to whom the fluttering, shining banners pass.

  46. We have two builders of glory: one builds high honor for us,

    and one defends when spears and knuckles turn red.

  47. Do you equate ancestral honors whose defenders are noble

    with your ancestral honors? To God I return!

  48. My people defend their honor more fiercely than you,

    and strike the tyrant harder while the dust rises.

  49. And they are more dependable, when women ride pillion at evening,

    in pursuit, when a gleaming warrior draws his sword.

  50. And they better protect neighbors, and are more praised for hospitality,

    when the rising stars grow dusty in drought.

  51. And many a man rising with dark hosts, his strength undiminished—

    a chief: we stripped him of his gear while he wore mail.

  52. We stabbed Abu Mandusa, the smith, with spears,

    and deep-red blood surged from Bayba's neighbor.

  53. We bested Hajib in his people's glory,

    and neither 'Amr nor the Aqari' attained our glory.

  54. We split the crown of Ibn Muharriq's head,

    and those weeping eyes have not dried.

  55. No people spent the night owing us blood,

    without repayment to us in blood in pairs.

  56. With keen-edged, white blades that, when drawn,

    flash with the gleaming deaths within them.

  57. Indeed, sons of Khajkhaj, there was among you

    a place to move al-Zubayr's saddle, and a defender.

  58. And on the Disciple's day, your neighbor became

    the subject of tales whose report deafened ears.

  59. You spent the night supping on khazir stew, as though you were

    a woman divorced at one time and taken back at another.

  60. Gabriel makes Mujashi's faces ugly,

    and the rising stars announce the Disciple's death.

  61. When it is asked which people are worst as a tribe

    and greatest in shame, the answer is, 'That is Mujashi'.'

  62. Then 'Awf came forth in arms, while

    Mujashi' let out belches of khazir stew.

  63. You regretted the day of the two races after

    you had frayed, and no one could be found to patch your fraying.

  64. You were no men of worth the day you ransomed yourselves

    with him under compulsion, while Samhari spears were leveled.

Sol 6.1