أَلَم تَرَ أَنَّ جيرَتَنا اِستَقَلّوا

فَنِيَّتُنا وَنَيَّتُهُم فَريقُ

Did you not see that our neighbors rebelled

While our purpose and theirs were poles apart?

فَدَمعي لُؤلُؤٌ سَلِسٌ عُراهُ

يَخِرُّ عَلى المَهاوي ما يَليقُ

My tears are smooth pearls which freely flow

Down precipices, as befits their start

عَدَت ما رُمتَ إِذ شَحَطَت سُلَيمى

وَأَنتَ لِذِكرِها طَرِبٌ مَشوقُ

You lost Suleima when you cast her off;

Yet, for her memory you are sick at heart

فَوَدِّعها وَإِن كانَت أَناةً

مُبَتَّلَةً لَها خَلقٌ أَنيَقُ

Bid her farewell, though she's a gracious dame

Of refined manner and delicate art

تُلَهّي المَرءَ بِالحُدثانِ لَهواً

وَتَحدِجُهُ كَما حُدِجَ المُطيقُ

She charms a man with lively badinage

And gives him looks that pierce him like a dart

فَإِنَّكَ لَو رَأَيتَ غَداةَ جِئنا

بِبطنِ أُثالَ ضاحِيَةً نَسوقُ

For if tomorrow you but saw us lead

A herd of camels, bleating as we start,

فِداءٌ خالَتي لِبَني حُيَيٍّ

خُصوصاً يَومَ كُسُّ القَومِ روقُ

As ransom for my aunts, Bani Huyay's kin,

Especially the day men's souls depart,

هُمُ صَبَروا وَصَبرُهُم تَليدٌ

عَلى العَزّاءِ إِذ بَلَغَ المَضيقُ

They showed patience - lifelong their fortitude -

When straitened circumstances played their part,

وَهُم دَفَعوا المَنِيَّةَ فَاِستَقَلَّت

دِراكاً بَعدَ ما كادَت تَحيقُ

So they repelled death's grip till it relaxed

Its hold, when nearly past hope's final mart

تَلاقَينا بِغَيبَةِ ذي طُرَيفٍ

وَبَعضُهُم عَلى بَعضٍ حَنيقُ

Thurayf's absence made us ill at ease

Some being with the others quick to take umbrage

فَجاؤوا عارِضاً بَرِداً وَجِئنا

كَسَيلِ العِرضِ ضاقَ بِهِ الطَريقُ

So they advanced, their company a chill,

Like a torrent we found hard to dispart,

مَشَينا شَطرَهُم وَمَشَوا إِلَينا

وَقُلنا اليَومَ ما تُقضى الحُقوقُ

We walked towards them and they walked to us,

Saying: "this day rights will be paid their part!"

رَمَينا في وُجوهِهِمُ بِرِشقٍ

تَغَصُّ بِهِ الحَناجِرُ وَالحُلوقُ

We shot them with arrows in their faces

That choked their throats and pierced them to the heart

كَأَنَّ النَبلَ بَينَهُم جَرادٌ

تُكَفّيهِ شَآمِيَةٌ خَريقُ

You would think our arrows in their midst were locusts

Guided by a shrewd and skillful art,

وَبَسلٌ أَن تَرى فيهِم كَمِيّاً

كَبا لِيَدَيهِ إِلّا فيهِ فوقُ

It amazes me to see among them

A warrior, save for his hands, in one piece, a part,

يُهَزهِزُ صَعدَةً جَرداءَ فيها

سِنانُ المَوتِ أَو قَرنٌ مَحيقُ

Brandishing a naked sword wherein

Are death's fangs or else a piercing dart,

وَجَدنا السِدرَ خَوّاراً ضَعيفاً

وَكانَ النَبعُ مَنبِتُهُ وَثيقُ

We found the lotus tree infirm and frail

Though its spring was once its strength and counterpart,

لَقينا الجَهمَ ثَعلَبَةَ بنَ سَيرٍ

أَضَرَّ بِمَن يُجَمِّعُ أَو يَسوقُ

We met Jahim - Tha'labah bin Sayr's ally -

Ruinous to those he rallies or holds apart,

لَدى الأَعلامِ مِن تَلَعاتِ طِفلٍ

وِمِنهُم مَن أَضَجَّ بِهِ الفُروقُ

When the flags of some boys became visible

And some of them the horsemen put to flight and scared,

فَحَوَّطَ عَن بَني عَمرُو بنَ عَوفٍ

وَأَفناءُ العُمورِ بِها شَفيقُ

They turned away from Amr bin Awf's sons,

Though the days of life for them were gentle and choice from the start,

فَأَلقَينا الرِماحَ وَكانَ ضَرباً

مَقيلَ الهامِ كُلٌّ ما يَذوقُ

We lunged with spears - deadly blows

Not grazing helmets - all mankind's mortal part,

وَجاوَزنا المَنونَ بِغَيرِ نِكسٍ

وَخاظي الجِلزِ ثَعلَبُهُ دَميقُ

We surmounted death's pangs with honor intact,

While Tha'labah's slayer's wounds spilled blood red as rich paint,

كَأَنَّ هَزيزَنا يَومَ التَقَينا

هَزيزُ أَباءَةٍ فيها حَريقُ

Our battle's fury, when we joined the fight

Was like Aba'ah's blaze with fierce sparks that dart,

بِكُلِّ قَرارَةٍ وَبِكُلِّ ريعٍ

بَنانُ فَتىً وَجُمجُمَةٌ فَليقُ

With every group of horse, and every horseman

A young man's fingers or else a battered head, a part,

وَكَم مِن سَيِّدِ مِنّا وِمِنهُم

بِذي الطَرفاءِ مَنطِقُهُ شَهيقُ

And many a lord of ours and many a lord of theirs

Lay prone at Thu'al-Tharaf, his speech a final soft sigh ere depart,

بِكُلِّ مَجالَةٍ غادَرتُ خِرقاً

مِنَ الفِتيانِ مَبسِمُهُ رَقيقُ

With every warrior whose gaping wounds

I left on a youth whose smile was kind and his speech gentle, mild,

فَأَشبَعنا السِباعَ وَأَشبَعوها

فَراحَت كُلُّها تَئِقٌ يَفوقُ

We sated the beasts, and they sated them

Till all withdrew, having eaten their fill - nay, more than their part,

تَرَكنا العُرجَ عاكِفَةً عَلَيهِم

وَللِغِربانِ مِن شِبَعٍ نَغيقُ

We left the lame crouching over them

While crows gloated, cawing their surfeit till they were distraught,

فَأَبكَينا نِساءَهُم وَأَبكوا

نِساءً ما يَسوغُ لَهُنَّ ريقُ

Their women wept and they wept for our women,

Unseemly their weeping and wild their cries and lamentations that start,

يُجاوِبنَ النِياحَ بِكُلِّ فَجرٍ

فَقَد صَحِلَت مِنَ النَوحِ الحُلوقُ

Answering keening with all sorts of wails

Till their voices were harsh and hoarse, broken from anguish of heart,

قَتَلنا الحارِثَ الوَضّاحَ مِنهُم

فَخَرَّ كَأَنَّ لِمَّتَهُ العُذوقُ

We killed Al-Harith Al-Waddah, that knight;

He fell as though his neck was cut with a sharp blade,

أَصابَتهُ رِماحُ بَني حِيَيٍّ

فَخَرَّ كَأَنَّهُ سَيفٌ دَلوقُ

Spears of Bani Huyay's sons reached him,

He fell like a bucket pulled up from a well by rope, unstrung,

وَقَد قَتلوا بِهِ مِنّا غُلاماً

كَريماً لَم تُؤَشِّبهُ العُروقُ

And they, with him, killed one of our lads,

A generous soul, untainted by sins that curse and malign,

وَسائِلَةٍ بِثَعلَبَةَ بنِ سَيرٍ

وَقَد أَودَت بِثَعلَبَةَ العَلوقُ

Tha'labah bin Sayr charged at Sa'ilah

And Sa'ilah destroyed Tha'labah, that fateful day.

وَأَفلَتَنا اِبنُ قُرّانٍ جَريضاً

تَمُرُّ بِهِ مُساعِفَةٌ حَروقُ

Yet Ibn Qurran escaped, wounded,

The holes gaping in him like the hollow of a flask scorched black as if coal-charred

تَشُقُّ الأَرضَ شائِلَةَ الذُنابى

وَهاديها كَأَن جِذعٌ سَحوقُ

His sturdy she-camel cleaved the earth

With her flowing tail, and he guided her steadily though his body was marred,

فَلَمّا اِستَيقَنوا بِالصَبرِ مِنّا

تُذُكِّرَتِ العَشائِرُ وَالحَزيقُ

When they despaired of our patience,

The tribes were reminded of their duties, pact, oath - honor's reward,

فَأَبقَينا وَلَو تَرَكنا

لُجَيماً لا تَقودُ وَلا تَسوقُ

We remained steadfast, though had we left

We'd be denounced as people who wouldn't lead or follow toward,

وَأَنعَمنا وَأَبأَسنا عَلَيهِم

لَنا في كُلِّ أَبياتٍ طَليقُ

We brought woe upon them and glory upon us

In every stance you will find us staunch, faithful to our word!