أَهَمٌّ سَرى أَم عادَ لِلعَينِ عائِرُ
أَم اِنتابَنا مِن آخِرِ اللَيلِ زائِرُ
Is it a nocturnal vision or a visitor towards the end of night
Who came to see me, or one who returned to my eyes after being gone?
وَنَحنُ بِأَرضٍ قَلَّ ما يَجشُمُ السُرى
بِها العَرَبِيّاتُ الحِسانُ الحَرائِرُ
While we're in a land rarely traversed at night
With beautiful Arabian mares and free women
كَثيرٌ بِها الأَعداءُ يَحصُرُ دونَها
بَريدُ الأَميرِ المُستَحِثُّ المُثابِرُ
Many enemies surround it
Messages come continually from the persistent, well-prepared prince
فَبِتُّ أُلهى في المَنامِ كَما أَرى
وَفي الشَيبِ عَن بَعضِ البَطالَةِ زاجِرُ
I spend the night distracted as if in a dream
And my gray hair prevents some heedlessness
بِساجِيَةِ العَينَينِ خَودس يَلَذُّها
إِذا أَطرَقَ اللَيلُ الضَجيعُ المُباشِرُ
With eyes whose sleepy languor gives pleasure
When night falls with intimacy and directness
كَأَنَّ ثَناياها بَناتُ سَحابَةٍ
حَداهُنَّ شُؤبوبٌ مِنَ الغَيثِ باكِرُ
As if their eyelids are daughters of a small cloud
Whose limit was made early rain
فَهُنَّ مَعاً أَو إِقحِوانٌ بِرَوضَةٍ
تَعاوَرَها يَومَينِ طَلٌّ وَماطِرُ
So they are together or twins in a meadow
Sent rain for two days and a third was clear
فَقُلتُ لَها كَيفَ اِهتَدَيتِ وَدونَنا
دَلوكٌ وَأَشرافُ الجِبالِ القَواهِرُ
So I said to her, how did you find your way to us
When we have valleys and lofty, shaking mountains around us
وَجَيحانُ جَيحانُ الجُيوشِ وَالسُنٌ
وَحَزمُ خَزازي وَالشُعوبُ القَواسِرُ
And Jayhan, Jayhan of armies and steeds
And determined, hardy men and strong, unflinching troops
أَفَرَّ يَرى الأَعلامَ عاصِبَةً بِهِ
كَما عَصَبَت بِالمَرزِ بانِ الأَساوِرِ
Does he see the standards tied around it
As bracelets are bound around wrists
إِذا أَلبَسَ الأَرضَ القَتامُ تَفَرَّجَت
شَماريخُهُ فَالآلُ عَنهُنَّ حاسِرُ
When the darkness clothes the land, its
Tent ropes are loosened and the tents laid bare
يُسامي السَحابَ الغرَّ حَتّى تظلّهُ
غَمائِمُ مِنهُ فَهوَ أَخضَرُ ناضِرُ
It competes with the clouds in elevation until
Some of its clouds shade it, so it is green and flourishing
أَجَدَّ أَبو حَفصٍ بِنا السَيرُ وَاِرتَمَت
بنا الأَرضُ حَتّى ما تُعَدُّ المَسائِرُ
Travel became difficult, and the land narrowed around us
Until the routes could not be counted
فَسارَ بِعُظمِ الجَيشِ لَيسَ يَروعُهُ
مَضيقٌ وَلا نَهرٌ مِنَ الماءِ غامِرُ
But he marched with the might of the army undaunted
By narrow straits or a river full of water
إِذا ما هَبَطنا بَلدَةً غَصَّ فَرجُها
بِنا وَكَسا الأَحدابَ أَصهَبُ ثائِرُ
When we descend on a town, its expanse is filled by us
And the winding mountain paths around it blaze into commotion
فَمَن يَلتَمِسنا أَو يَردِنا يَقُم لَهُ
إِلَينا طَريقٌ يَقسِمُ الأَرضَ فاقِرُ
Whoever seeks to find us or stop us
A path divides the land to reach us
يَخوضُ بنا أَرضَ العَدُوِّ فَتىً لَهُ
مَآثِرُ لا تجزي بِهِنَّ مآثِرُ
Taking us through enemy territory, the feats of the man
Leading us are unmatched by any feats
إِذا ذَكَرَ الأَقوامُ أَحسابَهُم نَما
إِلى خَيرِ ما تَنمي إِلَيهِ المَعاشِرُ
When people recount their genealogies
They lead back to the best of noble ancestors
فَتىً يَملَأُ الأَبصارَ حينَ يَرَينَهُ
فَما تَشتَفي مِنهُ العُيونُ النَواظِرُ
A man who fills visions when he is seen
Eyes are not sated from looking at him
فَمَن يَرَهُ لا يُنكِرُ الدَهرَ وَجهَهُ
وَلا صَوتَهُ إِنَّ الخَليطَ المُجاهِرُ
Whoever sees him does not deny his face is timeless
Nor his voice—he is loud and audacious
وَثيقُ القُوى لا يَنقُضُ القَولُ عُقدَهُ
وَلا يَنكُثُ الأَمرَ القَوِيُّ المُشاوِرُ
Firm in strength, no argument shakes his resolve
Nor does the powerful man of counsel break his word
يَلينُ إِلى مَن لَم يُرِبهُ بِريبَةٍ
وَمِنهُ شِماسُ النَفسِ حينَ يُناكِرُ
He is gentle with whoever does not offend
But obstinate when opposed
لَهُ رايَةٌ تَهدي الجُموعَ كَأَنَّها
إِذا خَطَرَت في ثَعلَبِ الرُمحِ طائِرُ
He has a banner that guides the masses as if it were
A bird fluttering on the tip of a spear
وَأَعرَنَ جرّارٍ تَواضَعَ بِالضُحى
لَهُ الأَرضُ حَتّى تَطمَئِنَّ الظَواهِرُ
He humbled a stalwart in the mid-morning
The ground beneath stills from fear of him
رَمى بِالسَرايا كُلَّ ثَغرٍ وَقادَها
هُوَ الرَأسُ يَهدينا وَنحنُ الأَباهِرُ
He dispatched elite campaigns to every border
He is the head guiding us and we are the weapons
فَكانو هُم الأَظفارُ وَالرَأسُ فَوقَهُم
وَلَولا مَكانُ الرَأسِ طاحَ الأَظافِرُ
They were claws and he was above them
Without the place of the head, the claws would fall
يُفَرِّقُهُم طَوراً وَطَوراً يَلُفُّهُم
كَما لَفَّ شَذّانَ القِداحِ المُقامِرُ
He separates them for a time and then regroups them
As if gathering gambling arrows scattered about
إِذا اِنفَرَجَت عَن حاجِبَيهِ عَجاجَةٌ
تَعَطَّفُ أُخرى أَنشَأَتها الحَوافِرُ
When severity departs from his frown
Another appears, created by his steed
حَوافِرُ كَالخَيلِ الرَعانِ فَكُلِّمَت
سَنابِكُها وَاِنحَصَّ مِنها الأَشاعِرُ
Whose hooves strike like untethered racehorses
Their joints emitted sparks and their manes scattered
وَأَفضى النُسورَ المُجمِراتِ حَوافِر
إِلى الأَرضِ حَتّى أَوجَعَتها الدَوابِرُ
And blazing hooves poured down destruction
Until their constant attacks wearied it
سَواهِمُ مِن هَولِ الغَزاهِ كَأَنَّها
مِنَ الجُهدِ يَبريها سُلالٌ مَخامِرُ
As a wild cat becomes soaked from repeated lunges
Their horsemen vie with pride in every battle
وَفي كُلَّ حينٍ يبتَلينَ بغارَةٍ
كَما غَلِسَ الوُدُّ القَطا المُتواتِرُ
They are the sincere, burning with purpose
Running through enemy land has thinned them
يَلِكنَ فُؤوسَ اللجمِ في كُلِّ مَوقِفٍ
تَباهى بِها فُرسانُ صِدقٍ مَساعِرُ
Where the waist wraps are loosened
When dawn cools, their attire is
طَوى الرَكضُ في أَرضِ العَدُوِّ بُطونَهُم
فَقَد خَفَّ مِنهُم حَيثُ تُلوى المَآزِرُ
Light armor, sharp swords, and piercing arrows
Quivers whose straps they loose
إِذا بَرَدَ الأَسحارُ كانَ لَبوسُهُم
خِفافَ الدُروعِ وَالسُيوفِ البَواتِرُ
Tanned skins seeped in oil
Left with a beauty the heat made radiant
وَأَقبِيَةِ ما يُطلِقونَ زُرورَها
فَقَد حَلَبَت فيها الجُلودَ الهَواجِرُ
Umar al-Mansur fought with his soul and appointed successor
No helper remains for one who does not aid God
تَرَكنَ مِنَ الصابونِ حُسناً وَمَسَّها
مَعَ اليَبسِ قَيظِيٌّ مِنَ الحَرِّ ناجِرُ
With an army whose packs get lost inside its quarters
Wandering visible and the seeker bewildered within it
غَزا عُمَرُ المَنصورُ نَفساً وَوالِهاً
وَلَيسَ لِمَن لَم يَنصُرِ اللَهَ ناصِرُ
It camped next to enemies, its location unknown to them
In an open land, while being patient with the Romans
بِجَيشٍ تَضلُّ البُلقُ في حَجَراتِهِ
عَلانِيَةً وَالمُبتَغي فيهِ حائِرُ
Confining groups as captives there
As ships were confined at Dhi Majaz
وَعَسكَرَ جَنباً ما يَريمُ مَكانَهُ
بِأَرضِ فَضاءٍ وَهوَ لِلرومِ واتِرُ
Not lodging for years in the spot where lodged
During the vacant campaigns, the armies
تُحَبِّسُ أَفواجاً عَلَيهِ سَبِيُّهُم
كَما حُبِسَت في ذي المَجازِ الأَباعِرُ
Their outstretched palms at his door
When spread out are sleeveless
وَما كانَ يَثوي في المَكانِ الَّذي ثَوى
بِهِ في السِنينِ الخالِياتِ العَساكِرُ
Like palm tree heads, supported
By irrigating buckets, streaming from holes
كَأَنَّ أَكُفَّ السائِلينَ بِبابِهِ
إِذا بُسِطَت وَالقُمصُ عَنها حَواسِرُ
When a messenger turns to leave, his replacement nears
As troops pour out continuously from headquarters
رُؤوسُ نَهالٍ خامِساتٍ تُعينُها
دَلاءُ السُقاةِ وَالحِياضُ الدَعاثِرُ
So excellent the leader of a people when a raider
So excellent the stalwart youth at home and when traveling
إِذا رُسُلٌ وَلّى أَتى الحَوضَ مِثلُهُ
وَقَد تَعقُبُ المُستَورِكاتِ الصَوادِرُ
فَنِعمَ إِمامُ القَومِ إِذا كانَ غازِياً
وَنِعمَ الفَتى في أَهلِهِ وَالمُسافِرُ
