يا بكر قد عجلت لوما باكرا — Roba Bin Al Ajaj

يا بَكْرُ قَدْ عَجَّلْتَ لَوْماً باكِرَا

يَتْرُكُ فِي القَلْبِ سُعَاراً ساعِرَا

O Bakr, you have hastened to blame me early,

leaving a blazing fever in the heart.

وَالعَقْبُ يَعْتَزُّ الدّهِيَّ الماكِرا

يُجْرِي دَهارِيسَ وَدَهْراً داهِرَا

And what follows overpowers the cunning schemer,

bringing calamities and relentless time.

وَالدَهْرُ مِنْ تَرْدادِه الأَطَاوِرَا

رَهْنٌ بِأَسْبابٍ تَصُورُ الصائِرا

And Time, through its recurring phases,

is bound to causes that turn what comes.

كَفَى بِتَكْرارِ اللَيالِي زاجِرا

وَكُلُّ ساعٍ يَجْتَبِي الذَخائِرا

The repetition of nights is warning enough,

and every striver gathers treasures.

لَقَدْ رَأَتْنِي لا أَنِي مُسَافِرا

أَلْقَى رِياحَ البَرْدِ وَالأَحارِرا

She indeed saw me traveling without flagging,

meeting the winds of cold and scorching heat,

أَشْعَثَ نَجْدِيّاً وَمَرّاً غائِرا

عَنِ التَصابِي وَالغَوانِي فاتِرا

disheveled, a Najdi, and sometimes descending to the lowlands,

grown indifferent to youthful dalliance and beautiful women,

وَالشَعْرَ عَنْ جَبْهَةِ راسِي حاسِرا

أَجْلَحَ إِلَّا قَزَعاً زَعائِرا

with the hair receding from my forehead,

bald except for a few sparse tufts.

صَدَّتْ وَيُبْدِي الكِبَرُ المَقَاذِرا

صُدُود أَمِّ البَوِّ أَمْسَتْ ذائِرا

She turned away—old age reveals repellent things—

like the mother of a dummy calf, grown averse,

مِن أَنْ رَأَتْ في لِحْيَتِي القَتَائِرا

لاَقَى غُرابُ الراسِ ذُعْراً ذاعِرا

because she saw the flecks of gray in my beard.

The crow upon my head met a startling fright

إِذْ نَزَلَ الشَيْبُ فَأَمْسَى نَافِرا

لا يُبْعِدُ اللَّهُ الغُرابَ الطائِرا

when gray hair descended, and it took flight.

May God not banish that flying crow!

فَإِنْ تَرَى فِي حَيْثُ كانَ واكِرا

مِنِّي بَغَاثَ الكِبَرِ الهَنابِرا

For if you see, where it once nested

upon me, the ungainly drab birds of age,

فَقَدْ أُرِي الأَدْمانَ وَالجَآذِرا

وَحَفْاً مِنَ الكَرْمِ عَلَيَّ ناشِرا

I once showed the dusky gazelles and wild calves

a luxuriant vine-growth spread over me,

وَلِينَ سَحْناءَ وَجِسْماً ماطِرا

إِذْ مَتْنُ قَوْسِي لَمْ يُنَازِعْ آطِرا

a soft complexion and a fresh, shapely body,

when the back of my bow had not contended with a bender.

وَقَدْ أَرَى لِي في الصِبا عَساكِرا

جِنِّيَ جِنٍّ أَضْرِبُ الأَسادِرا

I once saw armies at my command in youth,

a jinn among jinn, roaming heedlessly;

أَكَادُ مِنْ جَهْلٍ أُحِبُّ الهاجِرا

فِي عُصُرٍ عِشْنا بِه أَعاصِرا

in my folly I almost loved whoever shunned me,

in an age through which we lived for ages.

وَقَدْ ذَكَرْنا النِعَمَ الأحابِرَا

وصَبْوَةً لَمْ تُنْسِنا الأَخافِرا

We have recalled those delightful blessings,

and youthful longing that never made us forget the bashful women,

أَزْمان أَرْقِي الأُنَّسَ المَعاصِرا

رُقْيَةَ خَتَّالٍ وَطِبّاً ساحِرا

the days when I charmed the companionable, newly grown maidens

with a trickster's incantation and enchanting skill,

لَوْ نِيلَ زَلّالَ المَرَاقِي فادِرا

والعُصْمُ دَلّاهُنَّ عَنْ مَغَافِرا

even were a great buck reached on slippery heights,

and the white-footed does lured down from rocky refuges.

فَلَيْت أَيَّام الصِبَا عَواكِرا

وَلَيْتَ مُبْتاعَ الشَبابِ التاجِرا

Would that the days of youth returned!

Would that the merchant who traded in youth

نُعْطِيهِ حُكْراً قَبْل أَنْ يُحاكِرا

فِي البَيْعِ لَوْ رَدَّ الشَبَابَ النَاضِرا

could receive his profit from us before bargaining hard

over the sale, if he restored fresh youth,

يَصْقُل أَصْقالاً تُجِدُّ الداثِرا

وَبَلْدَةٍ يُمْسِي قَطَاها خادِرا

polishing it with a polish that renews what has faded.

And many a land whose sandgrouse grow languid at dusk

مِنْ وَلْقِ خِمْسٍ يَحْفِزُ الأكادِرا

إِذَا أَكْتَسَت أَعلامُها السَدائِرا

from the lash of a five-day thirst driving the dusky birds,

when its landmarks put on veils

مِنْ هَبْوَةٍ قُنُعَها السَمَادِرا

تَلَفَّعَتْ وَاجْتابَتِ البَقائِرا

of dust, their coverings a blinding haze,

wrapping themselves and donning sleeveless gowns;

وَاجْتَبْنَ إِلَّا ناقِعاً وَسائِرا

مُخَفِّضاً لَوْ يَرْفَع الأَقاصِرا

and they donned them, save what hung still or drifted,

lying low, even if it raised what was lowest;

يَكْسُونَ بَطْن الأَرْضِ وَالظَواهِرا

غُدْرانَ ضَحْضاحٍ وَمَوْجاً مائِرا

they clothed the earth's hollows and its open heights

with shallow pools and surging waves.

وَالقَيْظُ يُحْمِي شَمْسهُ الظَهائِرا

هَجْماً وَأَجَّاجَ سَهامٍ سَاجِرا

And summer's sun heats the noontides

with an onslaught and a blazing, kindled shimmer.

تَرَاهُ مِنْ إِيقادِهِ الوَغائِرا

يُولِج أَرْطَى الغِينَة اليَعافِرا

You see it, through its kindling of fierce heats,

driving gazelles into dense arta thickets,

وَفِي أَلاءِ الرَمْلَةِ المَحَافِرا

كَلَّفْتُها العِيدِيَّةَ الزَنانِرا

and burrowers into the sand's alā bushes.

I tasked the slender ʿĪdī camels with crossing it,

يَنْفُضْنَ لَوْثَ القَوْمِ وَالقواتِرا

نَفْضَ النَعامِ الزِفَف الأَزاعِرا

shaking off the riders' wrappings and dusty gear

as ostriches shake their sparse down.

دَانَى لَهُنَّ الطَّيُّ زَبْراً زابِرَا

كَمَا يُعَالِي الصَنَعُ الجَدَائِرا

Leanness drew their firm muscle close together,

as a craftsman raises walls,

رَازٌ بَنَاهَا آجُراً وَآجُرَا

وَقَدْ فَرَشْتُ الرَحْلَ حَرْفاً ضامِرا

a master builder laying brick upon brick.

I have spread the saddle on a lean, rock-hard she-camel,

هَوْجاءَ تَمْسِي لَقَحا أَوْ عاقِرا

كَأَنَّها وَالأَيْنُ يُنْدِي الذافِرا

headlong, whether pregnant or barren at dusk,

as though, when weariness moistens her nape,

قُرْواءُ مِنْ ساجٍ تُغَشِّي الثائِرا

مَشْتَقَّ مُسْتَنِّ الذُرَى وَساكِرا

she were a teak boat covering the rising water,

cleaving the course of crested waves and still waters.

وَإِنْ خَبَطْنَ البِيدَ وَالأَسامِرا

مِنْ صُلْبِ قُفٍّ أَوْجَع الأَماعِرا

And when they pound the deserts and dark, stony tracts,

the hard ridge hurts their bare pads;

نَكْبُ الحَصَى مِنْ رَهْصِهِ الجَماعِرا

وَمِنْ صَحَارِي بِيدِه الأَصاحِرا

the gravel's blows bruise even their thick footpads.

And through the wide wastes of its barren plains,

جَدْباً يُنَزِّي بُعْدُهُ الحَزاوِرا

تَرَى بِنَجْدَيْهِ المَهَا الغَرائِرا

a barrenness whose distance jolts the sturdy young men,

you see graceful white oryx upon its two uplands,

وَالعِينَ وَالأَلّالَةَ الأَواشِرا

وَإِن أَجَزْنا العِيسَ قَفْراً قافِرا

and wide-eyed beasts and sharp-toothed creatures.

And when we take the pale camels across an utterly empty waste,

ذا قُحَم أَمْسَتْ بِهِ سَوامِرا

شُهْباً تَشُقُّ الظُلَم الأَخاضِرا

full of hazards, they become our companions by night,

pale forms cleaving the green-black darkness.

كَانتْ لأَجْوازِ المَلَا مَسَابِرا

تَنَشَّطُ الخَرْقَ انْتِشاطاً عابِرا

They serve as probes through the midst of the wilderness,

swiftly traversing the broad expanse

بِالْقَوْمِ حَتَّى تُدْرِك الأَقاعِرا

مِنَ القُصَى وَالأُجَّن الأَصافِرا

with the riders, until they reach the deepest hollows

of the distant tracts and yellow stagnant pools.

بَلْ قَدْ رَكِبْتُ المَرْكَبَ المُغَامِرا

أَنْظُرُ مَوْلَى حُرْمَةٍ وَزائِرا

Indeed, I have ridden the perilous mount,

seeking a patron bound by honor, coming as a visitor:

خَلِيفَةً نَرْمِي بِهِ العَراعِرا

أَوْ مَلِكاً لا يُنْكِرُ المَنَابِرا

a caliph through whom we assail the great chiefs,

or a king who is no stranger to pulpits.

فَأَيُّها الغَضْبانُ أَنْ يُحاوِرا

سائِلْ أُنُوفَ النُعَّرِ النَواعِرا

So, you who rage at being answered,

ask the snouts of the loudly snorting braggarts

مِنَ العِدى وَالخُنْزُوانَ الشَاخِرا

وَالعَبْدُ وَالمَكْثُورُ يُلْقَى صاغِرا

among our enemies, and their snorting arrogance.

The slave and the outnumbered man are met with humiliation.

تُنْبِئْكَ إِنْ آنَسْتَ لَمْحاً باصِرا

أَنْ قَدْ نُقِيمُ الصَعَر الأَزاوِرا

They will tell you, if you perceive with a discerning glance,

that we straighten crooked, haughty necks

بِمقْرَمَاتٍ تَخْدِرُ المَخَادِرا

يَضْغَمْن أَوْ يَخْفِقْنَ رَأْساً نادِرا

with mighty beasts that lurk in their dens,

biting, or striking a head clean away.

وَبِالدَوَاهِي نُسْكِتُ النَخَاورا

فَاجْلُب إِلَيْنا مُفْحَماً أَوْ شاعِرا

With devastating blows we silence the great boasters.

Bring us, then, a tongue-tied man or a poet,

إِنْ كُنْتَ بِالجِدِّ إِلَيْنا ناظِرا

فَقَدْ رَأَيْنا العُورَ وَالأَخازِرا

if you are seriously intent on confronting us.

We have seen the one-eyed and the squint-eyed

يَلْقَوْنَ تَعْوِيراً وَصَكّاً بادِرا

مِنَّا إِذَا الشَرُّ اكْتَسَى الأَنامِرا

meet mutilation and sudden blows

from us, when evil dons leopard skins,

وَالحَلَقَ الماذِيَّ وَالمَغافِرا

والمَشْرَفِيَّ وَالقَنَا العَواتِرا

shining mail and helmets,

Mashrafi swords and deadly spears,

وَالجُرْدَ يَعْلكْنَ الشَكِيمَ الثَاغِرا

قَدْ جَعَلَ اللَّهُ بِحَجْرٍ حاجِرا

and sleek steeds chewing the mouth-opening bit.

God has placed in Hajr a restrainer

عَلَى المُسِيئِينَ وَمُلْكاً قاهِرا

مِنْ ذِي حِفاظٍ يَحْفَظُ الذَمائِرا

of wrongdoers, and a conquering dominion,

from a man of honor who guards what must be defended:

دِعامَةً مِنَّا وَقَرْماً هادِرا

أَنْذَرَ يُبْدِي أَمْرَه النَذائِرا

a pillar from among us, a roaring chief.

He gives warning; his conduct displays the warning signs,

فَرَّاجَ غُمَّى لا يَنِي مُصاحِرا

وَإِن بَغَيْنا عِزَّ قَوْمٍ كاسِرا

a dispeller of gloom, never slackening in open confrontation,

and, when we seek it, a breaker of a people's might.

وَقَدْ شَدَدْنَا لِلْعُدَا المَآزِرا

سُمْنَاهُمُ غَيْظاً وَبُجْراً باجِرا

We have girded our waistcloths against our enemies,

inflicting fury upon them and tremendous calamity,

وَقَهْبَ عِزٍّ مُصْعَباً مُخاطِرا

بِهِ نَدُولُ الجِلَّةَ القَياسِرا

and a gray bull of might, untamed and venturesome,

through whom we overthrow the mighty Caesars.

وَالأُسْدَ إِنْ قَاسَرْنَنَا القَساوِرا

لاقَيْنَ قِرْضابَ الشَبَا قُناصِرا

And the fierce lions, if they strive to overpower us,

meet a massive beast with biting, sharpened fangs.

إِذا شَحَا الأَشْداقَ وَالحَناجِرا

لَهُن أَلْقاهُنَّ في جَرَاجِرا

When he opens his jaws and throats

toward them, he casts them into deep gullets,

كَأَنَّ مِنْ عادِيَّةٍ مَقَابِرا

أَوْ قَرْنَ حَيْدَى راسِهِ قبائِرا

as though into graves from ancient times,

or a horn by his head's two ridges, like great burial hollows.

إِذا تَقَبَّى يَشْحَذُ المَآشِرا

مَجامِع الأَعْناقِ وَالقَنابِرا

When he arches himself, he sharpens his serrated teeth

against the neck-joints and the great heads,

ضَغْماً لِمَا نالَ وَخَلْباً عاقِرا

بِسَرْطَمَاتٍ تُحْسَبُ الخَناجِرا

biting whatever he reaches and tearing with crippling claws,

with huge fangs taken for daggers.

مارَسْنَ مِنْهُ عَرِكاً عُذَافِرا

كَأَنَّ أَوْجاماً وَصَخْراً صاخِرا

They encounter in him a battle-hardened, mighty beast,

as though thickets and massive rock,

وَحَيْد أَرْضامٍ عَلَى ضَمازِرا

لَثَّدْنَ مِن أَجْرازِهِ زَوافِرا

and jutting boulders upon mighty limbs,

had heaped stout flanks upon his bulky frame,

وَمِخْبَطاتٍ تَكْسِرُ المَكاسِرا

وَالأُسْدُ تَخْشَى وَقْعَهُ جَواحِرا

and hammering paws that shatter the stoutest bones.

The lions fear his blows, retreating into dens,

خُرْساً فَما تَسْمَعُ مِنْها زائِرا

يَرْهَبْنَ مِنْ صَوْلاتِهِ البَوادِرا

silent—you hear no roar from them.

They dread his sudden onslaughts;

قَدْ ذُقْنَ مِنْهُ عَرِكاً مُهاصِرا

هَوّاسَةً ذا لِبْدَةٍ هُزابِرا

they have tasted in him a battle-hardened, crushing wrestler,

a prowling, maned, mighty lion.

إِذا أَرَاد النَطْح أَوْ مُداسِرا

أَلْقَى اللُيُوثَ الحُمْسَ فِي مَجازِرا

When he means to butt or charge,

he casts the fierce lions into slaughtering grounds,

جَرى مَعَ الصَرعِ وَعَقراً عاقرا

مِن طُولِ ما جرَّرها المَجَاورا

coursing amid downfall and crippling slaughter,

after so long dragging them through their neighboring haunts.

بَلْ قَدْ حَلَفْتُ حَلَفاً وَناذِرا

وَكُنْتُ وَالإِخْبارُ تُحْفِي الخابِرا

Indeed, I have sworn an oath and made a vow,

and I was—reports press the informed man closely—

أَبِيتُ مِنْ هَمِّي إِلَيْكَ ساهِرا

فَوَالَّذِي يَطَّلِعُ السَرائِرا

spending the night awake with concern for you.

By Him who looks into secrets,

مِنْ حَيْثُ يَطْوِي المُضْمِرُ الضَمائِرا

مِنْ باطِنِ السِرِّ وَأَمْراً ظاهِرا

where the concealer folds away hidden thoughts,

into the innermost secret and the outward affair:

ما كانَ هَجْرِي أَن أَكُونَ هاجِرا

مُهاجِراً مُذْ لَم أَزُرْ مُهاجِرا

my absence was not meant as abandonment,

staying away since I had not visited Muhajir,

إِلَّا عَوَادٍ يَعْتَقِينَ الزائِرا

وَكَيْف أَنْسَى رَاجِياً وَناكِرا

but only adversities that bar the visitor.

How could I forget, whether hopeful or ungrateful,

قُرْبَاكَ مِنَّا وَأَمِيراً آمِرا

بِسُنَّةٍ العَدْلِ وَسَيْفاً ناصِرا

your kinship with us, and a commanding emir,

following the way of justice, a helping sword

لِلّه أَرْعَى دِينَهُ مُوازِرا

وَلأَمِيرِ المُؤْمِنِينَ آثِرا

for God, most vigilant over His faith, giving aid,

and devoted to the Commander of the Faithful,

عَنْ طَبَع الأَطْباعِ عَفّاً طاهِرا

يَنْجُو مِنَ الأَمْرِ عَلَى مَعَابِرا

free of the grime of base dispositions, chaste and pure,

passing safely through affairs by their crossings:

صِدْقاً وَتَقْوى وَعَفَافاً ساتِرا

وَشِيَماً جَنَّبْنَهُ القَناطِرا

truthfulness, piety, and shielding chastity,

and qualities that kept him clear of the bridges?

وَإِنْ شَدَدْتَ العِقْدَ إِصْراً آصِرا

لَمْ تُلْقَ عِنْدَ العَهْدِ فِيهِ غادِرا

If you bind the covenant with a binding bond,

you will find no betrayer in him when the pledge is due.

وَإِنْ رَأَى باخِعَ كُفْرٍ كافِرا

مُحَكِّماً لا يَعْرِفُ البَصَائِرا

And if he sees an unbeliever wholly yielded to disbelief,

a proclaimer of judgment who knows no insight,

مِمَّنْ يَرُدُّ البَغْيُ في مَحائِرا

تَغْيِيقَ مَنْ ضَلَّ السَبِيلَ دَاجِرا

one whom rebellion sends into bewilderment,

astray like one who has lost the road, confounded,

في مُخسَراتٍ يَسْتَثِرْنَ الخاسِرا

وَمُسْتَسِرّاً يَرْقُبُ الدَوائِرا

in ruinous undertakings that rouse the loser,

or a secret lurker watching for reversals,

صَبَّ عَلَيْهِ اللَّهُ صَقْراً صاقرا

وَناسِراتٍ تُعْلِقُ المَنَاسِرا

God pours upon him a striking falcon,

and tearing birds that fasten their beaks,

تَنْتَظِم الأَجْوازَ وَالكَعابِرا

أَوْ سِجْنَ دَوَّارٍ فَأَمْسَى دَاثِرا

piercing torsos and great joints,

or Dawwar's prison, where he becomes forgotten,

مُحْتَنِيَ البَغْيِ مُهَاناً صاغِرا

تَسْحَبُ رِجْلاهُ قِمِطْراً شاغِرا

harboring rebellion, dishonored and abased,

his legs dragging a splayed set of stocks.

إِذا اشْتَكَى في الحَلَقِ المَحافِرا

شَدُّوا عَلَى أَطْرافِه المَسامِرا

When he complains of his feet inside the fetter-rings,

they fasten nails upon his extremities.

هُناكَ يَشْكُو جازِعا أَوْ صابِرا

وَإِنْ رَأَى في الحَقِّ خَصْماً شاجِرا

There he complains, whether distressed or patient.

And if he sees a contentious opponent in a matter of right,

أَعْوَجَ لا يَعْرِفُ حَقّاً فاطِرا

مُشْتَقَّ جَوْرٍ لَم يَدَعْهُ جائِرا

crooked, recognizing no original right,

taking the path of injustice, he does not leave him unjust,

وَإِنْ تَنَمَّى يَرْكَب الأَواعِرا

وَقَدْ يُصِيبُ المِخْصَرُ المَخاصِرا

even if he grows bold and rides the roughest ways.

The staff may strike the flanks,

وَفْقَ صَلاحٍ وَقَضاءً قاهِرا

عَزْمَ امْرِىءٍ لَمْ يَرْتَدِ الدَغَامِرا

in keeping with rectitude and a compelling judgment:

the resolve of a man who never clothed himself in hidden malice,

يَأتِي بِأَمْرِ اليَسَرِ المُيَاسِرا

وَإِنْ رَأَى أَعْسَر أَوْ مُعاسِرا

bringing ease to the accommodating man.

And if he sees someone difficult or obstructive,

أَلْقَى عَلَيْهِ الزَوْرَ وَالكَرَاكِرا

قَدْ عالَجَتْ مِنْهُ العُدَا قُناسِرا

he brings his chest and crushing breastpads down upon him.

His enemies have encountered in him a mighty beast,

أَشْوَس أَبّاءً وَعَضْباً باتِرا

إِذا اسْتَجاشَ الطَبْخَ غَلْياً آفِرا

fierce-eyed and defiant, and a keen, severing sword.

When he stirs the cooking to a bubbling boil,

دَاوَى بِأَرْضِ العِرْضِ عَرّاً باثِرا

بِالنَفط إِحراقاً وشَعلاً ساجرا

he treats blistering mange in the land of al-ʿIrḍ

with naphtha, burning and blazing flame;

وَالشَعْلُ يَشْفِي الجَرَبَ القُسابِرا

بَعْدَ احْتِكاكٍ يَقْشِرُ المَقاشِرا

the flame cures the hardened scab

after rubbing that strips away its crusts.

لَمّا رَأَى الأَضْغانَ وَالمَآئِرا

يَسْقِين أَمْراراً وَغَيْظاً واجِرا

When he saw grudges and enmities

giving bitter draughts and pouring fury,

سَدَّ سَتَى النَسْجِ وَشَدَّ النائِرا

رَبٌّ كَفَاُ العَسْفَ وَالجَوائِرا

he closed the weaving's warp and tightened the heddle:

a lord who warded off violence and injustices.

ما زالَ حَتَّى وَثَّقَ الضَبائِرا

وَلَوَّح الأَعْداءَ صَهْراً صاهِرا

He persisted until he secured the bundles,

and scorched his enemies with melting heat.

تَراهُ يُهْوِيهمْ عَلَى مَشازِرا

فِي المَوْت أَوْ يَهْوُونَ عَنْ مَطامِرا

You see him plunging them down perilous slopes

into death, or they fall from their hidden retreats.

وَإِن أَمَرَّ العُقَد الشَزائِرا

في عُنْقِ عاصٍ يَجْتَنِي المَغَادِرا

And if he tightens the twisted knots

around the neck of a rebel who gathers treacheries,

أَعْمَى عُمَاة كَلِباً أَوْ داعِرا

أَلْوَى به أَوْ جاذَبَ العَتائِرا

utterly blind, rabid or depraved,

he twists him away, or tugs the stout lances,

سُمْرَ القَنا مَلْوِيَّةً سَماهِرا

وَإِنْ هَوَى الهاوِي عَلَى تَراتِرا

the brown spears, twisted and rigid.

And if one plunges down the headlong slopes,

لمَْ تَلْقَهُ ذاكَ الذَلُولَ العاثِرا

مُعاقِباً في كُنْهِه أَوْ غافِرا

you will not find him that abject, stumbling man,

whether punishing according to the deed's true measure or forgiving.

تَرَى لَهُ في كُلِّ يَوْمٍ حاصِرَا

وِرْداً مِنَ الحَقِّ وَحَقّاً صادِرا

You see for him, each day, something present:

an incoming draught of truth, and truth going forth,

وأَمْرَ جُلٍّ يَجْمَعُ المَعَاشِرا

إِذا أَجْتَلَت أَيّامُه المَفَاخِرا

and a great affair that brings the clans together.

When his days reveal glorious deeds,

مَدَّ ابْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ شِبْراً شابِرا

إِلَى عُلا الأَعْلا وَضَوْءاً زاهِرا

the son of Abd Allah stretches a measuring span

toward the highest heights and a shining light,

كَالصُبْح أَجْلَى وَالسِرَاجَ باهِرا

أَنْتَ امْرُؤٌ تَعْمُرُ مَجْداً عامِرا

clearer than dawn, a dazzling lamp.

You are a man who builds flourishing glory,

وَالأَشْرَف الأَشْرَف وَالأَخايِرا

وَالاَطْيَبِينَ الطِيبَ وَالاَكاثِرا

and the noblest of the noble, and the best,

and the purest in purity, and the most numerous,

وَالأَكْرَمِينَ أَوَّلاً وَآخِرا

إِذْ حَسَبُوا الآباءَ وَالضَرائِرا

and the most generous, first and last,

when they reckon forefathers and rivals,

في عامِرٍ مَجْداً وَعِرْضاً وافِرا

وَسَدَّ أَيّام العُدَى المَخَاصِرا

with abundant glory and honor in ʿAmir.

In battle-days against foes, he closed the weak spots.

فَقَدْ وَسَطْتَ البَزَرَى الآبازِرا

أَشْرافَها وَالسادَةَ البَهازِرا

You have taken the central place in the populous, mighty stock,

among its nobles and its mighty lords:

مَجْداً تَلِيداً لَسْتَ عَنْهُ قاصِرا

في الإِرْثِ وَالعادِيَّةَ الجَماهِرا

inherited glory of which you fall not short,

in the inheritance, and among the ancient multitudes.

وَازدَدْتَ مِنْ قَيْسٍ عَدِيداً زاخِرا

طُولَ دِعاماتٍ وَضَبْراً ضابِرا

From Qays you gained still more abundant numbers,

tall pillars and a closely massed array,

وَالسَيْلَ ذا الدُفّاعِ وَالأَباجِرا

قَدْ قامَرُوا المَجْدَ فَكُنْتَ القامِرا

and a torrent full of surges and swollen floods.

They gambled for glory, and you were the winner.

أَصْبَحْتَ تَجْزِي اللَّهَ شُكْراً شاجِرا

مِيزانَ عَدْلٍ وَإِماماً خابِرا

You have come to repay God with ever-growing gratitude,

a balance of justice and an experienced leader,

عارِفَ عُرْفٍ يُنْكِر الأَناكِرَا

إِذا الأَمُورُ اعْرَوْرَتِ الأَكَابِرا

knowing what is good, rejecting abominations.

When affairs ride down the great men

بِمُعْضلاتٍ تُبْطِل الأَهاتِرا

يُنْتَجْن أو يُلْقَحْنَ شَرّاً باسِرا

with difficult problems that render babble futile,

bringing forth, or conceiving, grim evil,

أَوْ خُضْنَ يَوْمَ الكَلِبِ المَغَامِرا

نَهَّضْتَ حَمّالاً بِهِنَّ جاسِرا

or plunging into the venturesome day of fury,

you raised a fearless bearer of their burdens.

وَإِنْ عَلَوْبَ الخَشَبَ الشَواجِرا

أَشْرَفَ سَامٍ يَرْفَعُ النَواظِرا

And if you ascend the branching timbers,

a lofty man towers, drawing eyes upward,

يَسْتَنُّ في القَوْمِ اسْتِنَاناً ماهِرا

مُقْتَضِباً مِنْ قَوْلِهِ وَآثِرا

taking a skillful course among the people,

speaking extemporaneously and quoting received words,

وَمِنْ كِتابِ اللَّهِ ذِكْراً ذاكِرا

جَوامِع الأَشْتاتِ وَالأَشاطِرا

and reciting a reminder from God's Book,

gathering scattered things and separated portions.

أَوْ نَجْدَةً كُنْتَ الشُجَاعَ الآصِرا

يَدُقُّ رُكْنَاكَ الهِقَبَّ الخاطِرا

Or, in a rescue, you are the courageous protector;

your two strong supports crush the towering, swaggering brute.

إِذا أَعاد الزِيرَ وَالبَرابِرا

في جَوْفِ ذِي ضَغْمٍ وَذِي أَظافِرا

When he repeats the shrill note and the growls

within a creature that bites and bears claws,

يَتْرُكُ ما أَهْوَى لَهُ شراشِرا

وَحِينَ تُجْرِي يُرْزَقُ البَشائِرا

he leaves whatever he lunges at in shreds.

And when you set him running, he is granted glad tidings,

إِذا الجِيادُ عَمَّتِ المَحَامِرا

وَأَوْخَفَ العَدْوُ العَجاجَ الثَائِرا

when the steeds cover the racing grounds

and the gallop churns up the rising dust,

أَعْطَيْتَ مِنْهُ غَيِّثاً مُثابِرَا

عَفْواً وَإِنْ طاوَلْتَهُ مُهامِرا

you give from him a persistent rain of speed,

freely, and, if you prolong the contest, in a torrent,

بَعْدَ اغْتِراقٍ يُغْرِقُ المَحَاضِرا

يَحْمِي تَأَوِّي كَعْتِهِ الدَوابِرا

after a deep exertion that floods the racing courses.

His gathered, bounding stride keeps the trailing hooves at bay.