أَرَسمَ الحَيِّ إِذ نَزَلوا الإِيادا
تَجُرُّ الرامِساتُ بِهِ فَبادا
Is this the clan’s trace, from when they camped at Iyād?
The effacing winds swept over it, and it vanished.
لَقَد طَلَبَت قُيونُ بَني عِقالٍ
أَغَرَّ يَجيءُ مِن مِئَةٍ جَوادا
The smiths of Banū ʿUqāl have indeed pursued
a radiant nobleman advancing with a hundred steeds.
أَضَلَّ اللَهُ خَلفَ بَني عِقالٍ
ضَلالَ يَهودَ لا تَرجو مَعادا
May God lead the progeny of Banū ʿUqāl astray—
as Jews go astray who hope for no resurrection.
غَدَرتُم بِالزُبَيرِ وَما وَفَيتُم
وَفاءَ الأَزدِ إِذ مَنَعوا زِيادا
You betrayed al-Zubayr and did not show
the fidelity of the Azd when they protected Ziyād.
فَأَصبَحَ جارُهُم حَيّاً عَزيزاً
وَجارُ مُجاشِعٍ أَضحى رَمادا
Their protégé remained alive and honored,
while Mujāshiʿ’s protégé became ashes.
وَلَو عاقَدتَ حَبلَ أَبي سَعيدِ
لَذَبَّ الخَيلَ ما حَمَلَ النِجادا
Had you bound yourself by covenant to Abū Saʿd,
he would have beaten back the horsemen so long as he wore a sword-belt.
فَلَيتَكَ في شَنوءَةَ جارَ عَمروٍ
وَجاوَرتَ اليَحامِدَ أَو هُدادا
If only, among Shanūʾah, you had been ʿAmr’s protégé,
or had dwelt beside al-Yaḥāmid or Hudād.
وَلَو تَدعو بِطاحِيَةَ اِبنِ سودٍ
وَزَهرانَ الأَعِنَّةِ أَو إِيادا
Had you called on the Baṭāḥiyyah of Ibn Sūd,
or Zahrān, lords of the reins, or Iyād—
وَفي الحُدّانِ مَكرُمَةً وَعِزّاً
وَفي النَدبِ المَآثِرِ وَالعِمادا
among al-Ḥudān are nobility and might,
and among al-Nadb, glorious deeds and sustaining pillars.
وَفي مَعنٍ وَإِخوَتِهِم تُلاقي
رِباطَ الخَيلِ وَالأَسَلَ الحِدادا
Among Maʿn and their brothers you would have encountered
tethered warhorses and keen-edged spears.
وَلَو تَدعو الجَهاضِمَ أَو جُدَيدا
وَجَدتَ حِبالَ ذِمَّتِهِم شِدادا
Had you called upon al-Jahāḍim or Judayd,
you would have found the cords of their pledged protection strong.
وَكِندَةُ لَو نَزَلتَ بِهِم دَخيلاً
لَزادَهُمُ مَعَ الحَسَبِ اِشتِدادا
And Kindah—had you lodged among them as one under protection,
they would have gained in ancestral glory as well as honor.
وَلَو يَدعو الكِرامَ بَني حُباقٍ
لَلاقى دونَ ذِمَّتِهِم ذِيادا
Had he called upon the noble Banū Ḥudāʾ,
he would have met fierce defense guarding their pledge.
وَلَو يَدعو بَني عَوذِ بنِ سودٍ
دَعا الوافينَ بِالذِمَمِ الجِعادا
Had he called upon Banū ʿAwḏ ibn Sūd,
he would have called on curly-haired men faithful to their pledges.
وَلَو طَرَقَ الزُبَيرُ بَني عَلِيٍّ
لَقالوا قَد أَمِنتَ فَلَن تُكادا
Had al-Zubayr come by night to Banū ʿAlī,
they would have said, “You are safe; no plot shall touch you.”
وَلَو يَدعو المَعاوِلَ ما اِجتَوَوهُ
إِذا الداعي غَداةَ الرَوعِ نادى
Had he called upon al-Maʿāwil, they would not have shunned him
when, on the morning of terror, the caller cried out.
وَجارٌ مِن سُلَيمَةَ كانَ أَوفى
وَأَرفَعَ مِن قُيونِكُم عِمادا
A protégé of Sulaymah proved more faithful
and loftier of pillar than your smiths.
وَجَدنا الأَزدَ أَكرَمَكُم جِواراً
وَأَوراكُم إِذا قَدَحوا زِنادا
We found the Azd more generous protectors than you,
and quicker to make fire blaze when they struck the flint.
وَلَو فَرَّجتَ قَصَّ مُجاشِعِيٍّ
لِتَنظُرَ ما وَجَدتَ لَهُ فُؤادا
If you pried open a Mujāshiʿite’s rib cage
and looked within, you would find no heart in him.
وَلَو وازَنتَ لُؤمَ مُجاشِعِيٍّ
بِلُؤمِ الخَلقِ أَضعَفَ ثُمَّ زادا
And if you weighed the baseness of Mujāshiʿ
against all creation’s baseness, it would double it, then surpass it.
