Sol 6.1

  1. I recognized dwellings at the sandy bend of al-Thamani,

    and they brought back your days with the beautiful women.

  2. May you be watered, and not wear away as we have,

    and may your time not be far from mine.

  3. As though, on the day of Burqa, you had not been smitten with

    women in howdahs whom a Yemeni longing led away.

  4. I shall ask, if I meet the sons of Ziyad,

    when the judgment of the sons of Qanan went astray.

  5. Friends of al-Farazdaq, then come to his aid,

    friends of depraved women and adulteresses!

  6. The sons of al-Dayyan have indeed known purebred stock,

    yet the 'Amaliq have borne no purebreds.

  7. And a howler has shot shafts that fall short,

    but I do not miss the vital spots of whoever shoots at me.

  8. And I cure spasms brought on by every jinn,

    and I cauterize onlookers for nasal catarrh.

  9. And you do not know what spear-thrusting is until

    the gallop is stretched out from the reins' tight hold.

  10. Zahra's mother will know who satirized her,

    when she says to Zuhra, 'Who satirized me?'

  11. And we rubbed al-Farazdaq's nose in the dust as he stumbled,

    with a towering racer who wins the race's prize-reeds.

  12. And they goaded al-Farazdaq when they started the race,

    to satisfy them—and he satisfied them by balking.

  13. May God curse al-Farazdaq when evening finds him

    neglecting the Mufassal and the Mathani.

  14. Perhaps the little son of Shi'ra has disparaged 'Abs,

    and Dhubyan of blood-money burdens and spear-thrusts.

  15. And you have tested the two clans of Ya'sur's house,

    so they are neither unshielded in battle nor faint of heart.

  16. You faced 'Amir and the sons of Sulaym,

    on high ground with towering mountain-spurs.

  17. 'Amir sees you as truffles on a plain:

    when they crackle, a gatherer digs them up.

  18. The face of every Mujashi'i is blackened

    by the battle record of Shabba, the thieving coward.

  19. So give, as Shabba gives, to whoever offers protection,

    for his two hands are powerless in defense.

  20. We marveled, O sons of 'Udas ibn Zayd,

    at Bistam, who resembles 'Afarrzan.

  21. You have drawn near to disgrace, O son of Huqra,

    and al-Farazdaq cloaked you in an adulterer's robe.

  22. So my ancestral honor does not fall short among Tamim,

    nor does my sword grow dull, nor my tongue.

  23. And Qays—among his sons are the caliph

    and his designated successor, the two chosen men.

  24. And Qays, O Farazdaq, stands within Tamim

    as the two forearms stand in relation to the fingers.

  25. And on the day of al-Shi'b they left Laqit

    as though a shaggy crimson cloak lay upon him.

  26. And Hajib was shackled at Shamam for a year,

    so he appointed Dhu al-Ruqayba as arbiter while he was captive.

Sol 6.1