هاجت ومثلي نوله أن يربعا — Roba Bin Al Ajaj

هاجَتْ وَمِثْلِي نَوْلُهُ أَنْ يَرْبَعَا

حَمامةٌ هاجَتْ حَماماً سُجَّعَا

She stirred me, though one like me ought to hold back—

a dove that stirred other cooing doves.

أَبْكَتْ أَبَا الشَعْثاءِ وَالسَمَيْدَعا

وَعَهْدُ مَغْنَى دِمْنَةٍ بِضَلْفَعا

She made Abu al-Sha'tha and al-Sumayda' weep,

as did the memory of a dwelling's traces at Dalfa'.

بادَتْ وَأَمْسَى خَيْمُها تَذَعْذَعا

فَأَيُّهَا الغاشِي القِذاف الأَتْبَعَا

They vanished, and its tents became scattered.

O you who traverse far-flung lands in pursuit,

إِنْ كُنْتَ لِلَّهِ التَقِيَّ الأَطْوَعَا

فَلَيْسَ وَجْهُ الحَقِّ أَنْ تَبَدَّعا

if you are pious toward God and most obedient,

the way of truth is not to invent novelties,

وَقَدْ أَرَاكَ اللَّهُ حَقّاً مَقْنَعا

مَا كَالتُقَى زادٌ لِمَنْ تَمَتَّعا

when God has shown you convincing truth.

No provision equals piety for one enjoying life's journey.

وخَيْرُ ما وَرَّعَ حِلْمٌ وَرَعَا

ذَا الحِلْمِ أَنْ يَأْثَمَ أَوْ أَنْ يَطْبَعا

The best restraint is forbearance that restrains

its possessor from sinning or becoming base.

وإِنْ مُسِيءٌ بِالْخَنَا تَرَبَّعا

فَالتَرْكُ يَكْفِيكَ اللِئامَ اللُكَّعا

If a wrongdoer settles into foul speech,

ignoring him shields you from contemptible, foolish men.

لَمَّا رَأَتْنِي أَمُّ عَمْرٍو أَصْلَعا

وَقَدْ تَرَانِي لَيِّناً سَرَعْرَعا

When Umm 'Amr saw me bald,

though she had seen me tender and youthful,

أَمْسَحُ بِالأَدْهانِ وَحْفاً أَفْرَعَا

قالَتْ وَلاَ تَأْلُو بِهِ أَنْ تَنْفَعا

rubbing oils into thick, luxuriant hair,

she said, sparing no effort to help thereby:

يا هِنْدُ ما أَسْرَعَ ما تَسَعْسَعا

وَلَوْ رَجَا تَبْعَ الصِبَا تَتَبَّعا

'Hind, how quickly he has declined!

Had he hoped to follow youth, he would have pursued it.'

فَقُلْتُ يا هَنَّادَ لُومَا أَوْ دَعَا

رَأَيْتُ لَوْعاتِ الفِراقِ اللُوَّعا

I said, 'Hannad, blame me or leave me be.

I have known the searing pangs of separation,

وَالبَيْنَ إِنْ شَعْبُ النَوَى تَصَدَّعا

بِمِثْلِ هَذَا أَوْ بِهَذا مُولَعا

and parting, when separation's branches split apart,

preoccupied with something like this, or this itself.

قَدْ خِفْتُ أَيّاماً عَلَيَّ رُجَّعَا

وَاللَيْلُ يَهْوِي تابِعاً وَمُتْبَعا

I have feared days returning upon me,

while night plunges onward, following and followed.

وَالدَّهْرُ يَهْوِي بِالفَتَى ما أَسْرَعَا

إِلَى رَدَى غُولٍ يَصِيرُ المَضْجَعا

How swiftly time hurls a young man

toward ghoul-like destruction that becomes his resting place!

وَمَثَلُ الدُنْيا لِمَنْ تَرَوَّعا

ضبابَةٌ لَا بُدَّ أَنْ تَقَشَّعا

To one who takes alarm, this world is like

a mist that must disperse,

أَوْ حَصْدُ حَصْدٍ بَعْدَ زَرْعٍ أَزْرَعَا

فَإِنْ تَرَى عَهْدَ الصِبَا مُوَدَّعا

or the reaping of a crop after its sowing has grown tall.

Though you see the days of youth bade farewell,

فَقَدْ أُدَاهِي خِدْعَ مَنْ تَخَدَّعا

بِالوَصْلِ أَوْ أَقْطَعُ ذاك الأَقْطَعَا

I can still outwit the deceiver's tricks

through union, or cut off that breaker of ties.

وَإِنْ تَخالَجْنَا العُيُونَ الظُلَّعا

أَتَيْتُ مِنْ ذاكَ العِفاف الأَوْرَعَا

Though we exchange sidelong glances,

I practice the most scrupulous chastity in that,

كَمَا اتَّقَى مُحْرِمُ حَجٍّ أَيْدَعا

إِذَا امْرُؤٌ ذُو سَوْءَةٍ تَهَقَّعَا

as a pilgrim in consecration avoids red dye.

When a man of shameful conduct sprawls shamelessly,

أَوْ قَالَ أَقْوالاً تَقُودُ الخُنَّعا

مِنْ خَالِباتٍ يَخْتَلِبْنَ الخُضَّعا

or speaks words that lead the abased astray—

beguiling words that captivate the submissive—

فَقَدْ أَرَى لِي مِنْ حَلالٍ مَشْرَعا

كَمُسْتَهِلِّ الثَلْجِ عَذْباً مُنْقَعا

I see a lawful watering place open to me,

sweet and thirst-quenching as fresh-falling snow.

وَقَدْ أَقُدُّ الصَحْصَحانَ البَلْقَعا

فَأَذْعَرُ الوَحْشَ وَأَطْوِي المَسْبَعا

I have often cleaved the barren, level waste,

startling wild creatures and traversing predator-haunted land,

فِي الوَفْدِ مَعْرُوفَ السَنَا مُشَفَّعا

وَقَد أُقَضِّي هَمَّ هَمٍّ أَشْيَعا

among the delegation, known for distinction, my intercession accepted.

I carry through a bold resolve,

عَزْماً إِذَا هَمَّ بِعَزْمٍ أَزْمَعَا

وَبَلْدَةٍ تَمْطُو العِتاقَ الضُبَّعا

determined: when a purpose stirs, I resolve upon it.

Many a land stretches out long-striding, thoroughbred camels:

تِيهٍ إِذَا مَا آلُهَا تَمَيَّعا

بَلَّغْنَ فَوْقَ الخِمْسِ أَوْ تَشَنَّعا

a trackless waste whose mirage turns fluid.

They push beyond the fifth-day watering interval, or there grows daunting

سِدْسٌ إِذَا كَمَّشْنَهُ تَقَعْقَعا

تَرَى بِهَا ماءَ السَراب الأَسْيَعا

a sixth-day interval, rattling when they hasten through it.

There you see the mirage's spreading water,

شَبِيهَ يَمٍّ بَيْنَ عِبْرَيْنِ مَعَا

إِذَا الصَدَا أَمْسَى بِهَا تَفَجَّعا

like a sea between its two banks.

When the owl spends evening there lamenting,

كَلَّفْتُهَا ذا هَبَّةٍ هَجَنَّعا

غَوْجاً يَبُذُّ الذامِلاتِ الهُبَّعا

I entrust its crossing to a spirited, hulking mount,

a swaying camel that outstrips the neck-stretching trotters.

تَرَى لَهُ آلاً وَنِضْواً شَرْجَعا

عَرِيضَ أَلْواحِ العِظامِ أَتْلَعا

You see his silhouette and long, lean body,

broad in the plates of his bones, long-necked,

أَكْبَدَ زَفَّاراً يَمُدّ الأَنْسُعا

مِنْهُ حَرَابِيّ تَمُدُّ المَدْسَعا

massive-bellied and snorting, stretching his harness straps,

his jutting bones extending toward the throat.

كَأَنَّ ضَبْعَيْهِ إِذَا تَذَرَّعا

أَبْواعُ مَتّاحٍ إِذَا تَبَوَّعا

His two forearms, when he takes long strides, are like

the outstretched spans of a water-drawer,

ساقٍ يُسَاقِي ماتِحاً وَنُزَّعا

إِذَا الدَلِيلُ اعْوَجَّ أَوْ تَسَكَّعا

a waterer working with a drawer and men hauling buckets.

When the guide goes astray or wanders bewildered,

وَهَجَم الأَيْنُ الغُرُورَ النُبَّعا

وَرَقْرَق الأَبْصارَ حَتَّى أَقْدَعا

and exhaustion assails the unwary, sprightly mounts,

and makes eyes swim until it weakens them—

بِالبِيد إِيقادُ الحَرُورِ اليَرْمَعا

وَإِنْ خَبَطْنَ الشَرَكَ المُوَقَّعا

the fierce heat's kindling of pale stones in the wastes—

even if they pound the marked tracks,

أَمْعَر أَنْقاب الحَفَا أَنْ تُرْقَعا

سَيْراً إِذَا جاذَبْنَهُ تَنَوُّعا

bare, with holes from hoof-wear beyond patching:

a journey whose pace varies as they pull it onward.

يَقْطَعْنَ خِيلانَ الفَلاَ تَبَوُّعا

بِهِنَّ وَاجْتَبْنَ القِفافَ الخُشَّعا

They cross the desert's dark patches with great strides,

carried by those strides, and cut across low ridges,

عَواسِفاً مَجْهُولَها وَنُزَّعَا

أَقْفاف أَقْفافٍ وَرَمْلاً أَهْنَعا

taking trackless ways through unknown reaches and pressing onward:

ridges upon ridges, and sloping sand.

وَيَتوَرَّكْنَ النِجادَ اللُمَّعا

لَولا نَوَادِي ذِي عِراصٍ أَبْقَعا

They mount astride the gleaming uplands.

But for the outlying landmarks of that mottled, wide-open land,

أَعْيَت أَدِلاَّء الفَلاة الخُتَّعا

كَأَنَّ تَحْتِي ناشِطاً مُوَلَّعا

it would have defeated the desert's expert guides.

It is as though beneath me were a ranging, mottled wild bull,

بِالشَامِ حَتَّى خِلْتَهُ مُبَرْقَعا

بَنِيفَةً مِنْ مَرْجَلِيٍّ أَسْفَعا

marked with spots, till I thought it wore a veil:

a crest-like patch of dusky, cauldron-black coloring,

تَنْحالُ نِصْعاً فَوْقَهُ مُقَطَّعا

مُخالِطَ التَقْلِيصِ إِذْ تَدَرَّعا

wearing into patches of brilliant white above it,

mingling with its drawn-up limbs, as it clothed itself

سُوداً مِن الشامِ وبِيضاً نُصَّعا

أَشْرفَ رَوْقاهُ صَلِيفاً مُقْنَعا

in black markings and gleaming whites.

Its two horns rose, flat-sided and lifted high.

شَبَّهتُ ذاكَ الناشِطَ المُفَزَّعا

راحِلَتِي الّا شَوَاه الأَكْرَعا

I likened that startled, ranging bull

to my riding camel, save for its thin-shanked extremities.

بادَرَ مِنْ لَيْلٍ وَطَلٍّ أَهْمَعَا

أَجْوَفَ بَهَّى بَهْوَهُ فَاسْتَوْسَعا

It hurried away from night and streaming dew

to a hollow trunk whose recess had widened and grown spacious.

مِنْهُ كِناسٌ تَحْتَ غِينٍ أَيْنَعا

أَلْبَسَهُ الهُدَّابَ وَالمُصَرَّعا

Within it was a lair beneath foliage grown lush,

which clothed it in hanging leaves and fallen branches.

وَعاجَ مِنْ دَفَّيْهِ عُوجاً ضُجَّعا

مِمّا نَفَت أَظْلافُهُ وَوَضَّعا

Crooked branches bent from its two sides, lying low,

among what its hooves had swept aside and laid down.

كَأَنَّهُ عَطَّارُ طِيبٍ ضَوَّعا

أَكْلَفَ هِنْدِيّاً وَمِسْكاً مُنْقَعا

It was like a perfumer spreading fragrant scents:

dusky Indian incense and steeped musk.

فَبَاتَ يَأْذَى مِنْ رَذَاذٍ دَمَعا

مِنْ واكِف العِيدانِ حَتَّى أَقْلعَا

It spent the night troubled by weeping drizzle

from dripping branches, until it ceased,

مِنْ حَرْف أَحْنَى مِنْ حِفافَيْ مَرْوَعَا

حَتَّى إِذَا مَا دَجْنُهُ تَرَفَّعَا

from a curved brink along Marwa's two banks.

Then, when its cloud cover lifted,

وَلَيْلُهُ عَنْ فَرَدِيٍّ أَلْمَعا

غَدَا كَلَمْعِ البَرْقِ إِذْ تَرَوَّعا

and its night flashed away from the solitary, gleaming bull,

it set out like a flash of lightning when startled,

يَعْلُو جِبالَ رَمْلِهِ وأَجْرَعا

يَرْتادُ مِن أَرْبالِهِنَّ المَرْتَعا

climbing its hills of sand and bare sandy ground,

seeking pasture among their fresh-growing grasses.

حَتَّى إِذَا رَيْعُ الضُحَى تَرَيَّعا

آنَسَ ضَمّازاً إِذَا تَسَمَّعا

When the height of morning swelled,

it sensed a silent pack as it listened:

كَخُلُبِ الخَطِّيِّ زُرْقاً جُوَّعا

يَقْدُمْنَ سَوَّاسَ كِلابٍ شَعْشَعا

blue-grey and hungry, like the blades of Khatt spears.

They preceded a tall, slender keeper of dogs,

أَسْعَرَ ضَرْباً أَوْ طُوالاً هِجْرَعا

فَانْصاعَ يَكْسُوها الغُبار الأَصْيَعا

fierce and lean, or tall and lanky.

The bull darted off, covering them in pale dust,

بِأَرْبَعٍ فِي وُظْفِ غَيْر أَكْوَعا

نَدْفَ القِياسِ القُطُنَ المُوَشَّعا

on four legs with shanks that were not crooked,

like bows beating fluffed cotton.

وَالشَدُّ يُذْرِي لاحِقاً وَهِبْلَعا

وَصَاحِبَ الحِرْجِ وَيُذْرِي مَيْلَعا

Its sprint scattered Lahiq and Hibla',

and the litter's owner, and scattered Mayla'.

حَتَّى إِذَا أَدْرَكْنَهُ وَضَرَّعا

كَرَّ بِأَحْجَى مَانِعٍ أَنْ يَمْنَعا

When they caught it and it weakened,

it wheeled with the surest defense a defender could wield.

حَتَّى اقْشَعَرَّ جِلْدُهُ وَأَزْمَعَا

بِالشَرِّ إِذْ صَعْصَعْنَهُ وَصَعْصَعا

Its hide bristled, and it resolved

on violence, as they shook it and it shook them.

لَمْ تَرَ ذَوَّادَ مِصاعٍ أَمْصَعا

مِنْهُ وَأَحْمَى أَنْ يَكُون الأَضْيَعَا

You never saw a defender more skilled in combat

than it, or more determined not to be defenseless.

ثَقْفٌ إِذَا غَمَّ القِتال الأَوْرَعَا

يُهْوِي إِلَيْهَا ذَا جِذابٍ مِنْزَعا

Deft when battle overwhelms even the most cautious,

it drives at them a hooking, wrenching weapon:

أَسْحَمَ يَسْقِيها السِمامَ الأَسْلَعا

يَنْفُضُ عَنْهُ الضارِياتِ الطُمَّعا

a black horn that gives them corrosive poison to drink.

It shakes the greedy hunting dogs off itself

طَعْناً كَنَفْضِ الرِيحِ تُلْقِي الخَيْلَعا

عَنْ ضَعْف أَطْنابٍ وَسَمْكٍ أَفْرَعا

with thrusts like wind shaking loose and flinging a torn tent

from weak guy ropes and a lofty frame.

إِذَا مِئلَّا قَرْنِهِ تَزَعْزَعا

لِلْقَصْد أَوْ فِيه إِنْحِرافٌ أَوْجَعا

When its horn's two spearpoints shake,

whether thrust straight or at an angle, it wounds.

وَإِنْ دَنَتْ مِن أَرْضِهِ تَهَزَّعا

لَهُنَّ وَاجْتافَ الخِلاطَ الفَعْفَعا

If they approach its ground, it shakes itself

at them and plunges into the violent mêlée.

كَأَنَّهُ حامِلُ جَنْبٍ أَخْذَعا

مِنْ بَغْيِهِ وَالرِفْقِ حَتَّى أَكْنَعا

It seems to carry a wounded, crooked flank,

from its aggression and caution, until it crouches.

بَسْلٌ إِذَا صَرَّ الصِماخ الأَصْمَعا

وَمَعْمَعَت فِي وَعْكَةٍ وَمَعْمَعا

Grim when it clenches the opening of its pointed ear,

they rage in fevered turmoil, and it rages.

يَطْعَنُ مِنْهُنَّ الخُصُرَ النُبَّعا

لَمْ يَجْفُ عَن أَجْوازِها تَحْت أَلوَعَا

It stabs their protruding waists,

never missing their middles underneath, keen and fierce,

وَخْضاً إِلَى النِصْفِ وَطَعْناً أَرْصَعا

وَفَوْق أَغْياب الكُلَى وَكَسَّعا

piercing halfway through with deeply planted thrusts.

Above the kidneys' hidden hollows, it strikes from behind.

يَنْهَى بِهِ سَوَّارَهُن الأَجْشَعا

حَتَّى إِذَا ناهزُها تَهَوَّعَا

With that it checks their greediest assailant.

When their foremost attacker retches

بِالمَوْتِ وَاخْتَرْنَ النُبَاحَ الوَعْوَعا

وَقَدْ كَسَا فِيهِنَّ صِبْغاً مُرْدَعا

in death, they choose loud, clamorous barking.

It has clothed them in a splashed dye

وَبَلَّ مِن أَجْوافِهِن الأخْدَعَا

تَخاذَلَتْ وَانْقَضَّ يَهْوِي مِصْدَعا

and drenched its neck-vein with blood from their bellies.

They falter, and it shoots off, cleaving its way,

كَأَنَّهُ كَوْكَبُ غَيْمٍ أَطْلَعا

أَوْ لَمْعُ بَرْق أَوْ سِراجٌ أَشْمَعا

like a star emerging through cloud,

or a flash of lightning, or a brightly flaming lamp:

أَعْيَنُ فَرَّادٌ إِذَا تَقَمَّعا

بِرَمْلِ يَرْنَا أَوْ بِرَمْلِ بَوْزَعا

a wide-eyed solitary bull, when it takes shelter

in the sands of Yarna or the sands of Bowza'.

بَلْ أَيُّها القائِلُ قَوْلاً أَقْذَعا

أَصْبِحْ فَمَنْ نَادَى تَمِيما أَسْمَعا

But, you who speak a foul word,

come to your senses: whoever calls to Tamim makes himself heard.

وَكِلْ تَمِيماً وَالخُطُوبَ الوُزَّعا

لا تَكُ كَالرَامِي بِغَيْر أَهْزَعا

Leave Tamim to the scattered trials of fate.

Do not be like an archer without an arrow.

قَدْ ذاقَ مَن أَجْرَى بِهِ وَأَوْضَعا

مَا حَزَّ آذانَ العِدَى وَجَدَّعا

Whoever raced against it and hurried has tasted

what sliced the enemies' ears and cut them off.

إِنَّا إِذَا أَمْرُ العِدَى تَتَرَّعا

وَأَجمَعَتْ بِالشَرِّ أَن تَلَفَّعا

We, when the enemy's designs brim over,

and war resolves to wrap itself in evil—

حَرْبٌ تَضُمُّ الخَاذِلِينَ الشُسَّعا

كَالنَّارِ لَا تَشْبَعُ حَتَّى تَشْبَعَا

war that draws in far-flung deserters—

are like fire, unsated until it has had its fill.

إِنْ عَضَّ شَرٌّ لٍمْ تَجِدْنا الأَجْزَعا

قَدْ غَلَبَتْ مُرّاتُنا أَنْ تُجْرَعَا

If evil bites, you will not find us the most fearful.

Our bitter draughts have proved too hard to swallow.

مِنَّا وَفِينَا حامِلُوا مَا أَفْظَعا

عَنَّا إِذَا أَعْظَمُ أَمْرٍ أَضْلَعا

From us and among us are bearers of what terrifies,

on our behalf, when the greatest affair weighs upon the ribs.

وَإِنْ هَوَى العاثِرُ قُلْنَا دَعْدَعا

لَهُ وَعالَيْنَا بِتَنْعِيشٍ لَعا

If someone stumbles and falls, we say, 'Steady!'

to him, and call out 'Rise!' to revive him.

إِنَّ تَمِيماً لَمْ تُرَاضِعْ مُسْبَعا

وَلَمْ تَلِدْهُ أُمُّهُ مُقَنَّعا

Tamim did not share suckling with a fatherless child,

nor did its mother bear it veiled.

أَوْفَتْ بِهِ حَوْلاً وَحَوْلاً أَجْمَعا

حَتَّى إِذَا الراجِي لَهَا تَوَقَّعا

She carried it a year and another complete year,

until, when the one awaiting her expected the birth,

مَدَّتْ يَدَيْها جُمْعَةً وَأَرْبَعا

ثُمَّ ارْتَقَتْ فِي أَرْضِ طَوْد أَفْرَعا

she stretched out her hands for a week and four days.

Then she climbed onto a lofty mountain,

بَيْنَ حَوَامي ذِي قِلاع أَشْنَعا

فَافْتَرَشَتْ هَضْبَةَ عِزٍّ أَبْتَعا

among the defenses of a formidable, fortress-crowned height.

She made her bed on a vast hill of might,

فَوَلَدَت فَرَّاس أُسْدٍ أَشْجَعا

فَتَمَّ يُسْقَى وَأَبَى أَن يُرضَعا

and bore a most courageous slayer of lions.

It grew complete, given drink, but refused to suckle.

قال الحَوازي وَأَبَى أَن يُنشَعا

أَشَريَةٌ في قَريَةٍ ما أَشفَعا

The diviners said, as it refused to be spoon-fed:

'Bitter colocynth in a bird's crop—how abundant!

وَغَضْبَةٌ فِي هَضبَةٍ مَا أَمْنَعا

حَتَّى إِذَا أَمْر التِمام اسْتَجْمَعا

And anger upon a hill—how impregnable!'

When the process of completion had fully gathered,

حَدَرَهْ مِنْ ذِي صِماد أَفْرَعا

رَبٌّ رَأَى مِن أَمْرِه أَنْ يَصْنَعا

it was sent down from a lofty, peak-crowned height

by a Lord who chose, in its affairs, to fashion

لَهُ وَلِلْباقِينَ منَّا الأَرْفَعا

فَافْتَرَشُوا الأَرْضَ بِسَيْل أَتْرَعَا

the loftiest lot for it and for the rest of us.

They spread over the earth like a brimming torrent,

يَجْهَد أَجْوافَ البِلاد المَهْيَعا

إِذَا عَلَوْنَا شَرَفاً تَضَعْضَعا

straining the broad interiors of the lands.

When we mount an elevation, it sinks

لَنَا وَلاَ يَدْفَعُ قَوْمٌ مَدْفَعا

مثْل الجِبال الشُهْبِ لَا بَل أَبْشَعا

before us, and no people repel our advance.

Like pale mountains—no, more terrifying—

نَمْلأُ مِنْ عَرْضِ البِلاد الأَوْسَعا

حَتَّى أَنَخْنَا عِزَّنَا فَجَعْجَعا

we fill the widest reaches of the land,

until we settle our might and it takes firm ground

بِوَسَطِ الأَرْضِ وَمَا تَكَعْكَعا

إِنْ رامَ غَصباً أَو أَرادَ مَطْلَعَا

in the earth's midst, never drawing back.

If anyone sought to seize by force or desired an ascent,

حُزْنَا فَأَحْمَيْنا الحِمَى وَالأَمْرُعا

إِنَّ لَنَا عِزّاً رَسَى أَنْ يُنْزَعا

we possessed and protected the preserve and lush pasture.

We have a might too firmly anchored to be torn away,

فِي الخِنْدِفِيِّينَ وَمَجْداً أَسْنَعا

عِزّاً إِذَا أَوْعَدَ قَوْما أَوْقَعا

among the Khindifites, and lofty glory:

a might that strikes when it threatens a people,

إِذَا الضَعيفُ المُزْدَرَى تَصَرَّعا

لَوْ أَنَّ يَاجُوجَ وَمَاجُوجَ مَعَا

while the despised weakling falls.

If Gog and Magog together,

وَالناس أَحْلافاً عَلَيْنا شِيَعا

وَعَادَ عادٍ وَاسْتَجاشُوا تُبَّعا

and all people, allied in factions against us,

and 'Ad returned, and they summoned Tubba's armies,

وَالجِنَّ أَمْسَى أَوْقُهُمْ مُجَمَّعا

عَلَى تَمِيمٍ لَأَبَى أَنْ يَخْضَعا

and the jinn's strength became massed

against Tamim, it would still refuse to submit.

مَا مَلَؤُوا أَشْدَاقَهُ وَالْمَبْلَعا

هَيْهات أَعْيَا جَدَّنَا أَنْ يُصْرعَا

They would not fill its jaws and throat.

Far from it! Our forefather has proved impossible to fell.

وَلَوْ يُلاقَى غَيْرُهُ تَتَعْتَعَا

أَعْيَا المُرَادِينَ وَأَعْيَا الدُفَّعا

If another met what it meets, he would stagger.

It has frustrated attackers and frustrated defenders.

تَرَى لَهُ جَوْزاً وَرَأْساً مِصْقَعا

لا عَنِتَ القَرْنِ وَلاَ مُصَدَّعا

You see its trunk and a crushing head,

with neither an injured horn nor a split skull.

يَهْوُونَ فَرْسَى حَوْلَهُ وَرُكَّعا

عَنْ ذِي شَنَاخِيتَ طِوَال أَسْطَعَا

They fall slaughtered around it, and on their knees,

before one with lofty peaks, towering high,

كَالشَمْسِ إِلّا أَنْ تَمُدَّ الإِصْبَعا

مِنْ حَيْثُ يُهْوِي القاذِفاتُ الوُضَّعا

like the sun, save that you may point a finger,

from where the low-flying missiles swoop,

وَالصُلْبُ مِنْ صُمِّ القَنَا تَجَزَّعا

وَمَنْ هَمَزْنَا رَأْسَهُ تَلَعْلَعَا

and the hard cores of solid spears splinter.

Whomever we strike upon the head, it splits apart.

وَمَن أَبَحْنَا عِزَّهُ تَبَرْكَعا

عَلَى اسْتِهِ رَوْبَعَةً أَوْ رَبَعَا

Whose might we lay open sinks sprawling

on his backside, splayed or crouched:

زَحْفَى مَزَاحِيفَ وَصَرْعَى خُفَّعا

crawling and dragging, fallen and flung flat.