أَلا تَسأَلانِ المَرءَ ماذا يُحاوِلُ
أَنَحبٌ فَيُقضى أَم ضَلالٌ وَباطِلُ
Will you two not ask a man what he is striving for—
A destined term to be fulfilled, or error and futility?
حَبائِلُهُ مَبثوثَةٌ بِسَبيلِهِ
وَيَفنى إِذا ما أَخطَأَتهُ الحَبائِلُ
Its snares lie scattered along his path,
And he will perish even if those snares miss him.
إِذا المَرءُ أَسرى لَيلَةً ظَنَّ أَنَّهُ
قَضى عَمَلاً وَالمَرءُ ما عاشَ عامِلُ
When a man travels for a single night, he imagines
He has completed a task—yet man toils as long as he lives.
فَقولا لَهُ إِن كانَ يَقسِمُ أَمرَهُ
أَلَمّا يَعِظكَ الدَهرُ أُمُّكَ هابِلُ
So tell him, if he thinks he can apportion his affairs:
Has time not admonished you yet? May your mother mourn you!
فَتَعلَمَ أَن لا أَنتَ مُدرِكُ ما مَضى
وَلا أَنتَ مِمّا تَحذَرُ النَفسُ وائِلُ
Then you will know that you cannot overtake what has passed,
Nor find refuge from what the soul fears.
فَإِن أَنتَ لَم تَصدُقكَ نَفسُكَ فَاِنتَسِب
لَعَلَّكَ تَهديكَ القُرونُ الأَوائِلُ
If your own soul will not tell you truly, trace your lineage;
Perhaps the generations of old will guide you.
فَإِن لَم تَجِد مِن دونِ عَدنانَ باقِياً
وَدونَ مَعَدٍّ فَلتَزَعكَ العَواذِلُ
If you find no forebear short of Adnan,
Nor short of Maʿadd, let the reproachers restrain you.
أَرى الناسَ لا يَدرونَ ما قَدرُ أَمرِهِم
بَلى كُلُّ ذي لُبٍّ إِلى اللَهِ واسِلُ
I see that people do not know the measure of their condition;
Yet every discerning person turns toward God.
أَلا كُلُّ شَيءٍ ما خَلا اللَهَ باطِلُ
وَكُلُّ نَعيمٍ لا مَحالَةَ زائِلُ
Behold, everything except God is vain,
And every delight must inevitably pass.
وَكُلُّ أُناسٍ سَوفَ تَدخُلُ بَينَهُم
دُوَيهِيَةٌ تَصفَرُّ مِنها الأَنامِلُ
Among every people there will someday enter
A little calamity that makes the fingertips turn yellow.
وَكُلُّ اِمرِئٍ يَوماً سَيَعلَمُ سَعيَهُ
إِذا كُشِّفَت عِندَ الإِلَهِ المَحاصِلُ
Every person will one day know the worth of his endeavor,
When all outcomes are laid bare before God.
لِيَبكِ عَلى النُعمانِ شَربٌ وَقَينَةٌ
وَمُختَبِطاتٌ كَالسَعالي أَرامِلُ
Let drinking companions and a singing girl weep for al-Nuʿman,
And widowed petitioners, like female ghouls.
لَهُ المُلكُ في ضاحي مَعَدٍّ وَأَسلَمَت
إِلَيهِ العِبادُ كُلُّها ما يُحاوِلُ
His was the sovereignty over Maʿadd’s open lands, and to him submitted
All the people, without resistance to what he sought.
إِذا مَسَّ أَسآرَ الطُيورِ صَفَت لَهُ
مُشَعشَعَةٌ مِمّا تُعَتِّقُ بابِلُ
When the wine touches water left by birds, it runs clear for him—
A mixed wine, from what Babylon has aged:
عَتيقُ سُلافاتٍ سَبَتها سَفينَةٌ
تَكُرُّ عَلَيها بِالمِزاجِ النَياطِلُ
Old wine of the first pressing, captured by a ship,
Over which great ewers pour the mixing-water—
بِأَشهَبَ مِن أَبكارِ مُزنِ سَحابَةٍ
وَأَريِ دَبورٍ شارَهُ النَحلَ عاسِلُ
Gray-white water from a raincloud’s virgin downpour,
And west-wind honey, drawn from the bees by a honey-gatherer.
تَكُرُّ عَلَيهِ لا يُصَرِّدُ شُربَهُ
إِذا ما اِنتَشى لَم تَحتَضِرهُ العَواذِلُ
It is poured for him, his drinking never cut short;
Once he is merry, reproachers do not crowd around him.
عَلى ما تُريهِ الخَمرُ إِذ جاشَ بَحرُهُ
وَأَوشَمَ جودٌ مِن نَداهُ وَوابِلُ
Whatever the wine reveals to him when its sea surges,
The lightning of generosity flashes from his bounty, followed by rain.
فَيَوماً عُناةٌ في الحَديدِ يَفُكُّهُم
وَيَوماً جِيادٌ مُلجَماتٌ قَوافِلُ
One day there are captives in iron whom he sets free,
And another, bridled thoroughbreds proceeding in trains.
عَلَيهِنَّ وِلدانُ الرِهانِ كَأَنَّها
سَعالٍ وَعِقبانٌ عَلَيها الرَحائِلُ
Upon them ride the youths of the racecourse, as though they were
Ghouls and eagles, with saddles upon them.
إِذا وَضَعوا أَلبادَها عَن مُتونِها
وَقَد نَضَحَت أَعطافُها وَالكَواهِلُ
When they remove the felt cloths from their backs,
Their flanks and withers are streaming with sweat.
يُلاقونَ مِنها فَرطَ حَدٍّ وَجُرأَةٍ
إِذا لَم تُقَوِّم دَرأَهُنَّ المَساحِلُ
Their riders meet in them the utmost keenness and daring,
Unless bits and reins correct their veering.
وَيَوماً مِنَ الدُهمِ الرِغابِ كَأَنَّها
أَشاءٌ دَنا قِنوانُهُ أَو مَجادِلُ
And one day there are broad black cauldrons, as though they were
Palms with low-hanging clusters, or fortresses.
لَها حَجَلٌ قَد قَرَّعَت مِن رُؤوسِهِ
لَها فَوقَهُ مِمّا تَحَلَّبُ واشِلُ
They stand on supports whose heads have been battered,
While above them dripping fat runs in a trickle.
بِذي حُسَمٍ قَد عُرِّيَت وَيَزينُها
دِماثُ فُلَيجٍ رَهوُها فَالمَحافِلُ
At Dhu Husam they have been laid bare, and they are adorned by
The soft flats of Fulayj—its open ground and gathering places.
وَأَسرَعَ فيها قَبلَ ذَلِكَ حِقبَةً
رُكاحٌ فَجَنبا نُقدَةٍ فَالمَغاسِلُ
Long before that, coursing swiftly through it were
Rukah, the two sides of Nuqda, and then al-Maghāsil.
فَإِنَّ اِمرَأً يَرجو الفَلاحَ وَقَد رَأى
سَواماً وَحَيّاً بِالأُفاقَةِ جاهِلُ
A man who hopes for success after he has seen
Livestock and a tribe at al-Ufaq is ignorant indeed.
غَداةَ غَدَوا مِنها وَآزَرَ سَربَهُم
مَواكِبَ تُحدى بِالغَبيطِ وَجامِلُ
On the morning they departed, their company was reinforced by
Processions urged onward with covered litters and laden camels.
وَيَومَ أَجازَت قُلَّةَ الحَزنِ مِنهُمُ
مَواكِبُ تَعلو ذا حُسىً وَقَنابِلُ
And on the day their caravans crossed the crest of the stony ground,
They climbed Dhu Husa and Qanabil.
عَلى الصَرصَرانِيّاتِ في كُلِّ رِحلَةٍ
وَسوقٌ عِدالٌ لَيسَ فيهِنَّ مائِلُ
They rode sturdy she-camels on every journey,
Their loads balanced, with none leaning aside.
تُساقُ وَأَطفالُ المُصيفِ كَأَنَّها
حَوانٍ عَلى أَطلائِهِنَّ مَطافِلُ
They were driven on, while the summer-born young seemed like
Tender mothers bending over their calves.
حَقائِبُهُم راحٌ عَتيقٌ وَدَرمَكٌ
وَرَيطٌ وَفاثورِيَّةٌ وَسَلاسِلُ
Their packs held old wine and fine white flour,
Striped cloth, Fathurian vessels, and chains;
وَما نَسَجَت أَسرادَ داوُدَ وَاِبنِهِ
مُضاعَفَةً مِن نَسجِهِ إِذ يُقابِلُ
And coats of mail whose linked rows David and his son had woven,
Doubled by his workmanship where ring met ring.
وَكانَت تُراثاً مِنهُما لِمُحَرِّقٍ
طَحونٌ كَأَنَّ البَيضَ فيها الأَعابِلُ
They had passed as an inheritance from them to al-Muharriq—
A grinding panoply, its helmets like massive boulders.
إِذا ما اِجتَلاها مَأزِقٌ وَتَزايَلَت
وَأَحكَمَ أَضغانَ القَتيرِ الغَلائِلُ
Whenever the press of battle displayed it and the ranks drew apart,
The iron knots held the inner tunics firmly closed.
أَوَت لِلشِياحِ وَاِهتَدى لِصَليلِها
كَتائِبُ خُضرٌ لَيسَ فيهِنَّ ناكِلُ
They took shelter among the lances and followed the ringing steel—
Iron-dark battalions with no superfluous man among them.
كَأَركانِ سَلمى إِذ بَدَت وَكَأَنَّها
ذُرى أَجَإٍ إِذ لاحَ فيها مُواسِلُ
Like the pillars of Salma when the mountain appears, and as though they were
The peaks of Aja when paths gleam across them.
وَبيضٍ تَرَبَّتها الهَوادِجُ حِقبَةً
سَرائِرُها وَالمُسمِعاتُ الرَوافِلُ
And fair women whom camel-litters had sheltered and reared for years—
Secluded ladies and singers with trailing robes.
تَروحُ إِذا راحَ الشَروبُ كَأَنَّها
ظِباءُ شَقيقٍ لَيسَ فيهِنَّ عاطِلُ
They return at evening when the drinkers return, as though they were
Gazelles of Shaqiq, not one of them unadorned.
يُجاوِبنَ بُحّاً قَد أُعيدَت وَأَسمَحَت
إِذا اِحتَثَّ بِالشِرعِ الدِقاقِ الأَنامِلُ
They answer a hoarse song, repeated and freely rendered,
Whenever slender fingertips urge the delicate strings.
يُقَوِّمُ أولاهُم إِذا اِعوَجَّ سِربُهُم
مَواكِبُ وَاِبنُ المُنذِرينَ الحُلاحِلُ
He straightens their foremost ranks whenever their column swerves,
Accompanying them—the mighty son of the two Mundhirs.
تَظَلُّ رَواياهُم تَبَرَّضنَ مَنعِجاً
وَلَو وَرَدَتهُ وَهوَ رَيّانُ سائِلُ
Their water-camels keep sipping Maniʿ down to scant puddles,
Even if they reach it while its torrent is full and flowing.
فَلا قَصَبُ البَطحاءِ نَهنَهَ وِردَهُم
بِرِيٍّ وَلا العادِيُّ مِنهُ العُدامِلُ
Neither the reeds of al-Batha can halt their watering
With fullness, nor can its immense ancient well.
وَما كادَ غُلّانُ الشُرَيفِ يَسَعنَهُم
بِحَلَّةِ يَومٍ وَالشُروجُ القَوابِلُ
Ghullan al-Shurayf can scarcely contain them
At Hallat Yawm, with al-Shurayj lying before them.
وَمُصعَدُهُم كَي يَقطَعوا بَطنَ مَنعِجٍ
فَضاقَت بِهِم ذَرعاً خَزازٌ وَعاقِلُ
They climb so that they may cross the heart of Maniʿ,
Until Khazaz and Aqil are too narrow to hold them.
فَبادوا فَما أَمسى عَلى الأَرضِ مِنهُمُ
لَعَمرُكَ إِلّا أَن يُخَبَّرَ سائِلُ
Then they vanish, and by evening none of them remains upon the earth—
By your life, save as a tale related to someone who asks.
كَأَن لَم يَكُن بِالشِرعِ مِنهُم طَلائِعٌ
فَلَم تَرعَ سَحّاً في الرَبيعِ القَنابِلُ
As though they never had scouts beside al-Shiʿb,
And their great herds never grazed the abundant spring growth.
وَبِالرَسِّ أَوصالٌ كَأَنَّ زُهاءَها
ذِوى الضَمرِ لَمّا زالَ عَنها القَبائِلُ
At al-Rass lie scattered remnants whose great bulk resembles
Lean creatures after the tribes have moved away.
وَغَسّانُ ذَلَّت يَومَ جِلَّقَ ذِلَّةً
بِسَيِّدِها وَالأَريَحِيُّ المُنازِلُ
Ghassan suffered bitter humiliation on the day of Jilliq,
Together with its lord, the open-handed master of halls.
رَعى خَرَزاتِ المُلكِ عِشرينَ حِجَّةً
وَعِشرينَ حَتّى فادَ وَالشَيبُ شامِلُ
He tended the jewels of kingship for twenty years,
And twenty more, until he died with grayness covering him.
وَأَمسى كَأَحلامِ النِيامِ نَعيمُهُم
وَأَيُّ نَعيمٍ خِلتَهُ لا يُزايِلُ
Their splendor became like the dreams of sleepers—
And what delight did you ever suppose would not depart?
تَرُدُّ عَلَيهِم لَيلَةٌ أَهلَكَتهُمُ
وَعامٌ وَعامٌ يَتبَعُ العامَ قابِلُ
A night returns upon them and destroys them,
And year after year follows the year before.
