ومَن كانَ لا تُعتَدُّ أيّامُهُ لهُ

فأيّامُنَا عَنَّا تُجَلِّي ، وتُعرِبُ

And he whose days are not numbered

Our days about us clarify and interpret

جَعلَنا لَهمْ ما بَينَ كُتلةَ رَوحةً

إلى حيثُ أوفى صوَّتيهِ مثقَّبُ

We made for them what lies between the lump of a soul

To where its two voices are most pierced

غداةَ تركنا في الغبار ابن جحدرٍ

صَرِيعا ، وأطرافُ العَوالي تَصَبَّبُ

The morn we left Ibn Juhdur’s son

Lying dead, while the hilltops oozed

وأفلتَ منا الحوفزانُ ، كأنَّهُ

برهوةَ قرنٌ ، أفلتَ الخيلَ ، أعضبُ

And al-Hawfazan escaped us, as though

He were a horned ram released from tether

غداةَ رغامِ ، حين ينجو بطعنةٍ

سؤوقِ المنايا ، قد تزلُّ وتعطبُ

The morn of Raghām, when one is saved by a stab

From the lord of deaths, he may slip or miss his step

لَقُوا مِثلَ ما لاقَى اللُّجَيمِيُّ قَبلَهُ

قتادةُ ، لمَّا جاءنا وهو يطلبُ

They met the same fate met by al-Lujaymi before

Qatādah, when he came to us seeking vengeance

فآبَ إل حجرٍ ، وقد فضَّ جمعهُ ،

بأخبثِ ما يأتي به متأوّبُ

So he returned to a rock, after his band was scattered

By the evilest of what a warrior brings

وقد نالَ حدُّ السيفِ منْ حرّ وجههِ

إلى حيثُ ساوى أنفهُ المتنقَّبُ

And the sword had reached from the heat of his face

To where his pierced nose met

وجشَّامةُ الذُّهليُّ ، قد وسجتْ به

إِلى أهلِنا مَخزومةٌ ، وهْوَ مُحقَبُ

And Jushshāmah al-Dhulayy took him

Back, fettered, to our kinsfolk, his head bleeding

تَعَرَّفُهُ وسْطَ البُيوتِ مُكَبَّلاً

ربائبُ ، من أحسابِ شيبانَ تثقبُ

They recognize him amid the houses, bound,

From the lines Shaybān's sword engraved

وهوذةَ نجَّى ، بعدَ ما مالَ رأسهُ ،

يَمانٍ ، إذا ما خالَطَ العَظمَ ، مِخدَبُ

And Hawdhah was saved, after his head tilted,

By a Yemeni, when the bone mixes with brain-pierced

فأَمسَكَهُ ، مِن بَعدِ ما مال رأسُهُ

حِزامٌ على ظَهرِ الأغَرِّ ، وقَيقَبُ

So a belt held him from behind

On the back of a skinny steed with cropped tail

غداةَ كأنَّ ابني لجيمِ ويشكراً

نعامٌ ، بصحراءِ الكديدينِ ، هرَّبُ

The morn was as if Ibn Layjim and Washkir

Were ostriches fleeing through Al-Kadīd’s desert