رأى أطلالَهم دَمعي فسالا
فأظمأني وقد رَوَّى الرِمالا
My tears flowed when I saw their ruins,
So it quenched my thirst as it moistened the sands.
عَرَفتُ لبعضِها أثراً وبعضٌ
عَفتْهُ الرِّيحُ إذْ عَصَفَتْ شَمَالا
I recognized the traces of some, while others
Were erased by the north wind when it blew.
ديارٌ للظِبا صارَتْ كِناساً
فما بَرِحتْ لها الغِزلانُ آلا
Homes of gazelles have become shacks,
Yet the fawns do not cease to return to them.
وأينَ ظِباؤها من ظَبْي إنسٍ
يَشُقُّ عليهِ أنْ يُدْعَى غَزالا
And where are their gazelles compared to human company
That would grieve being called a fawn?
من العَرَبِ الكِرامِ عزيزُ قومٍ
تَمضَّرَ بينَهُمْ عَمَّا وخالا
Among the generous Arabs was an honorable tribe
Whose tents were pitched between us.
وَثِقْنا مِنهُ بالتَّوحيد لمَّا
رأينا فوقَ وَجنتِهِ بِلالا
We trusted them in monotheism when
We saw Bilal above their tents.
أرِقتُ لعُصبَةٍ في الحيِّ زَمُّوا
فُؤَادي عِندَما زَمُّوا الجِمالا
I was troubled for a group who in war
Broke my heart when they loaded their camels.
وقد جَدَّ الرَّحيلَ جَميلُ صبري
غَداةَ البينِ إذْ شَدُّوا الرِحالا
And my patience found leaving hard
The morning after they departed.
وَقَفْنا في رُسومِ الدَّارِ ندعو
ولكنْ منْ يُجيبُ لَنا سُؤَالا
We stood at the site of the abode praying
But who would answer our call?
جَرَتْ عَبرَاتُنا دالاً وميماً
فأصبحَ جَزْرُها ميماً ودالا
Our tears flowed in circles
Until their ebb became Meem and Daal.
نُرَدِّدُ بينَ هاتيكَ الأثافي
حنينَ النُوقِ أبصَرَتِ الفِصالا
We repeat between these ruins,
The yearning of she-camels when they saw the departure.
ونَلقَى من عَواصِفِها غُباراً
حسِبناهُ لأوجُهِنا جَمالا
And we faced from its storms dust
That we mistook for the beauty of faces.
إذا ناحَ الحمامُ أصابَ قلبي
كأنَّ على حَناجِرهِ نِبالا
Whenever the pigeons cooed, my heart was struck
As if their throats were adorned with arrows.
وأذكُرُ من مُطوَّقِهِ أيادٍ
بِطَوْقِ البِرِّ قَلَّدَت الرِجالا
And I remember hands decorated
With the bracelets of righteousness worn by men.
أيادٍ ظلَّ يَبسُطُها كريمٌ
تتيهُ المَكرُماتُ بهِ دَلالا
Hands whose generous owner
Distributes favors continuously.
إذا قلتُ السَّحابُ كراحَتَيهِ
فقد شَبَّهتُ بالشَّمس الهِلالا
If I said, “the clouds are like his palms,”
I would compare the crescent to the sun.
فتىً يَستَغرِقُ الأموالَ جُوداً
ولو أنَّ الجِبالَ جُعِلنَ مالا
A man who spends his wealth freely,
Even if mountains were made his money.
تَزيدُ جبينَهُ الأضيافُ بِشراً
كنصلِ السَيفِ تُوسِعُهُ صِقالا
Guests increase the joy in his face
Like the whetstone expands the sword’s blade.
كريمٌ شَنَّ في الأموال حرباً
فما كانتْ ولا كانتْ سِجالا
A generous man who waged war on wealth,
And it mattered not whether he had it or struggled over it.
شَرَى بالمالِ بينَ الناسِ حمداً
ورَبُّ الحمدِ مَن بَذَلَ النَوالا
He bought praise among people with wealth,
While the Lord of Praise is He who bestowed the bounty.
وإنَّ المالَ كالصَهباءِ يُبدي
لَنا من نَفسِ صاحِبهِ خِصالا
Wealth is like a sword that reveals to us
The qualities of its owner.
فيكَتِسبُ اللئيمُ به هَواناً
ويكتسِبُ الكريمُ بهِ جَلالا
The despicable earns humiliation with it,
While the generous earns glory.
عرَفْنا القاسمَ الدِّرْعيَّ شَخصاً
تَوَهّمنْا الكرَامَ لهُ خَيالا
We knew Al-Qasim Adh-Dhuree to be a man
Whose generosity we imagined.
ينالُ دَمَ الفوَارِسِ يومَ حَرْبٍ
وليسَ يَنالُ من سَلَبٍ عِقالا
He attains the blood of knights in battle
But does not take spoils of war.
أشَدُّ الناسِ في الغَمَراتِ بأساً
وأحسَنُهم على الحَالين حالا
The fiercest of people in wars,
Yet the best of them in all conditions.
وأفصحُ كلِّ ذي قولٍ مَقالاً
وأنجَحُ كلِّ ذي فعلٍ فَعَالا
The most eloquent speaker of any saying,
And the most successful doer of any deed.
تُفاجي الوَفدَ نِعمتُهُ اغتيالاًُ
فتىً لا يَعرِفُ الحربَ اغتيالا
His generosity takes delegations by surprise,
A man who knows not war knows not ambush.
فليسَ القومُ ينتظِرونَ وَعداً
ولا يِشْكُونَ من وعدٍ مِطالا
So the people do not wait for a promise,
Nor complain of a delayed promise.
فتىً يُصلي الحُسامَ بنارِ حربٍ
فلو لم يَنطفِئْ بِدَمٍ لَسالا
A man who refines swords in the fires of war,
That were they not quenched with blood, would melt.
ويَفتخِرُ الحدِيدُ براحَتيهِ
على الحَجَرِ الكريمِ وإنْ تَغالَى
And iron takes pride in his grip
Over precious stones, however much it presumed.
إذا حَمَتِ النِصالُ دِيارَ قومٍ
فبعضُ القومِ يَحْمُون النِصالا
When swords protected the homes of a people,
Some of the people protected the swords.
وما تُجدِي النِصالُ بلا أكُفٍّ
تكونُ حُدُودُهنَّ لها مِثالا
But swords are useless without hands
That make them fitting examples.
تَكلَّفَ حاسدُوهُ لهُ طريقاً
فزَادَهم الضَّلالُ بها ضَلالا
His enviers undertook a path for him
But it increased their misguidance.
لَعَمْرُكَ لا يكونُ العَفْوُ مُهراً
ولو كانَ النُضارُ لهُ نِعالا
By your life, forgiveness cannot be a dowry,
Even if purity were his slippers!
وَفَدْنا بالقريضِ على ثَناهُ
نُطاوِلُهُ فَقَصَّرنا وطالا
We visited him with poetry at his encampment,
Trying to match him, but we fell short.
إذا مَرَّتْ قَوافينا بِهَضبٍ
أرانا من عَظائِمِهِ جِبالا
When our poems passed by a plateau,
It showed us its mighty mountains.
