حَيِّ الدِيارَ كَوَحيِ الكافِ وَالميمِ
ما حَظُّكَ اليَومَ مِنها غَيرُ تَسليمِ
Greet the dwellings, whose traces are like the written strokes of kāf and mīm.
Today your only share of them is a greeting.
إِذ أَنتَ صادٍ بِنَبلِ الجِنِّ مُقتَتَلٌ
وَالشِربُ يُمنَعُ مِن صَديانَ مَهيومِ
For you are parched, struck down by the arrows of the jinn,
while drink is withheld from a thirst-maddened wanderer rushing headlong.
لَلمَوتُ أَروَحُ مِما تَفعَلينَ بِنا
وَمِن مَواعِدَ مِن خُلفٍ وَتَأثيمِ
Death, surely, is more restful than what you do to us—
than promises ending in breach and accusations of sin.
قَد كُنتُ أَصطادُ إِذ ريشُ القِداحِ بِها
قَبلَ الرُماةِ بِسَهمٍ غَيرِ مَحرومِ
I once hunted, when the feathers of the arrow-shafts were with her,
ahead of the archers, with a shaft never denied its prize.
يا تَيمُ قَد طالَ إِنذاري عَلى طُرُقٍ
وَعِندَ زائِدَةَ الكَلبيِّ تَقديمي
O Taym, long has my warning sounded along the roads,
and I had delivered it before Zāʾidah al-Kalbī.
إِذ قُلتُ لِلتَيمِ لا تُدنوا فِلِزَّكُمُ
مِن قاطِعٍ طَبَقَ الأَعناقِ مَسمومِ
When I told Taym, “Do not draw near, for what awaits you
comes from a poisoned cutter that sweeps across necks.”
تَسمو تَميمٌ بِسامٍ ذي مُراهَنَةٍ
عِندَ المُواطِنِ سَبّاقِ الأَضاميمِ
Tamim rises through a lofty, awe-inspiring champion,
at the gathering places, outstripping the massed hosts.
أَدعو تَميمَ بنَ مُرٍّ ثُمَّ تَرفِدُني
عِندَ المُواطِنِ رِفداً غَيرَ مَغمومِ
I call Tamim son of Murr, and then they hasten to my aid
at the gathering places, a supporting host beyond reproach.
إِنَّ الجَراثيمَ كُبراها يَكونُ لَنا
لا حَقَّ لِلتَيمِ في تِلكَ الجَراثيمِ
The greatest of the ancestral roots belong to us;
Taym has no claim upon those noble roots.
قالَت تَميمٌ أَلَستُم يا بَني كُسَعٍ
ريشَ الذُنابى وَلَستُم بِالمَقاديمِ
Tamim said, “Are you not, O sons of Kusaʿ,
the tail feathers—never the foremost pinions?”
يا تَيمُ وَيحَكَ مِن جَدعٍ لَهُ نَدَبٌ
يَبدو بِأَنفِكَ مِن ذُلٍّ وَتَرغيمِ
O Taym, woe to you! The cutting of your nose has left a scar
plain upon your nose, born of abasement and being rubbed in dust.
يا تَيمَ تَمضي عَليكُم كُلُّ مَظلِمَةٍ
عادَتِ مُعتَرِفٍ بِالذُلِّ مَظلومِ
O Taym, every claim of injustice is upheld against you;
the wronged man returns confessing humiliation.
يا قَبَّحَ اللَهُ عَبداً مِن بَني لَجَإٍ
يَأوي إِلى نِسوَةٍ رُصعٍ مَداريمِ
May God make hideous a slave of the sons of Lajaʾ
who seeks shelter among nursing women, squat and thickset,
وَاِبنَي شَريكٍ شَريكِ اللُؤمِ إِذ نَزَلا
بِالجِزعِ أَسفَلَ مِن أَطواءِ مَوشومِ
and the two sons of Sharīk, partners together in baseness, when they encamped
in the sandy bend below the marked wells.
عَمداً رَمَيتُ اِبنَ مَكحولٍ بِدامِغَةٍ
حَتّى اِستَدارَ بَواهي الرَأسِ مَأمومِ
Deliberately I struck Ibn Makhūl with a brain-wounding blow,
until he reeled from it, his skull pierced to the brain.
فَرعا قُرَيشٍ إِذا ما حُكِّموا عَدَلوا
فَصلَ القَضاءِ وَكانوا أَهلَ تَحكيمِ
Two branches of Quraysh: when chosen to judge, they judge justly,
deciding the case, for they are fit to arbitrate.
الطَيِّبونَ مِنَ الرَيحانِ مَنبِتُهُم
وَمَنبِتُ التَيمِ في الكُرّاثِ وَالثومِ
Those noble men have their stock planted among fragrant basil,
while Taym’s stock grows amid leeks and garlic.
تَقضي القُضاةُ عَلى تَيمٍ وَإِن رَغَمَت
فَاِكتُب قَضاءَكَ وَاِطبَع بِالخَواتيمِ
The judges rule against Taym, though she be rubbed in dust;
so write down your judgment and stamp it with the seals.
فَاِسأَل بَني عَبدِ شَمسٍ قَد رَضيتُ بِهِم
أَو هاشِمَ الصيدَ أَو أَبناءَ مَخزومِ
Ask the sons of ʿAbd Shams—I accept their judgment—
or truthful Hāshim, or the sons of Makhzūm.
يا تَيمُ إِنَّكَ عَبدٌ مِن بَني كُسعٍ
ما كُنتُ أَوَّلَ عَبدٍ ضَلَّ مَغتومِ
O Taym, you are a slave of the sons of Kusaʿ;
you would not be the first slave to lose his way in darkness.
يا تَيمُ أُمُّكُمُ عَمياءُ مُقعَدَةٌ
جاءَت بِنَسلٍ خَبيثِ الريحِ مَجذومِ
O Taym, your mother is blind and crippled;
she bore foul-smelling, leprous offspring.
ما بَينَ تَيمٍ وَإِسماعيلَ مِن نَسَبٍ
إِلّا القَرابَةُ بَينَ الزَنجِ وَالرومِ
There is no kinship between Taym and Ishmael,
save the kinship between the Zanj and the Romans.
إِنَّ اِبنَ تَيمٍ لَمَنسوبٌ لِوالِدِهِ
داني القَرابَةِ مِن حامٍ وَيَحمومِ
Indeed, Taym’s son is ascribed to his father,
near in kin to Ham and Yaʾmūm.
هَذي الَّتي جَدَعَت تَيماً مَواسِمُها
ثُمَّ اِقعُدي بَعدَها يا تَيمُ أَو قومي
This is the poem whose brands have cut off Taym’s nose;
then sit down after it, O Taym—or rise.
