Sol 6.1

  1. دَايَنْت أَرْوَى وَالدُيُونُ تُقْضَى

    فَمَطَلَتْ بَعْضاً وَأَدَّتْ بَعْضَا

    I dealt with Arwa on credit, and debts are repaid.

    She delayed part of it and paid part,

  2. وَهْي تَرَى ذا حاجَةٍ مُؤْتَضَّا

    ذا مَعْضٍ لَولَا يَرُدُّ المَعْضَا

    Though she saw a needy man hard-pressed,

    A man in anguish—if only he could ward it off.

  3. فَقُلْتُ قَوْلاً عَرَبِيَّا غَضَّا

    لَوْ كَانَ خَرْزاً فِي الكُلاَ ما بَضَّا

    So I spoke words in fresh, pure Arabic:

    Had it been stitching in the kidneys, it would not have leaked.

  4. إِنْ كانَ خَيْرٌ مِنكِ مُسْتَنَضَّا

    فَاقْنَىْ فَشَر القَوْلِ ما أَمَضَّا

    If any good can be drawn from you,

    Then be modest: the worst words are those that sting.

  5. أَمَا تَرَى دَهْراً حَنَانِي حَفْضَا

    أَطْرَ الصَناعَيْنِ العَرِيشَ القَعْضَا

    Do you not see Time has bent me like a pack camel,

    As two craftsmen bend a sagging bower?

  6. مِنْ بَعْدِ جَذْبِي المِشْيَةَ الجِيَضَّي

    فِي سَلْوَةٍ عِشْنَا بِذاكَ أُبْضَا

    After I once strode with a swaggering gait,

    In carefree ease—we lived that way an age—

  7. خِدْنَ اللَّوَاتِي يَقْتَضِبْنَ النُعْضَا

    فَقَدْ أُفْدّي مِرْجَماً مُنْقضَّا

    A companion to women cutting nuʿd shrubs.

    I would indeed ransom a pounding, plunging camel,

  8. بِمَهْمَهٍ يَبْرِى الذُرى وَالنَحْضَا

    مِنَ المَهَارَى تَحْتَ قَيْظ أَغْضا

    In a trackless waste that wears away humps and flesh

    Of Mahri camels beneath scorching summer heat,

  9. أَخْرَجَ مِنْها عَرَقاً مُرْفَضَّا

    يَخْبِطْنَ رَمْضى بِالحِدابِ الرَمْضا

    Which drew streaming sweat from them.

    They tread with scorched feet over burning ridges,

  10. إِذَا امْتَطَيْنَا نِقْضَةً وَنِقْضا

    أَصْهَب أَجْرَى نِسْعَهُ وَالغَرْضا

    When we mount a travel-worn she-camel and he-camel,

    A tawny beast whose saddle-strap and girth were set slipping

  11. طُولُ التَهاوِي عُصَباً وَرَفْضا

    تَعْوِي البُرَى مُسْتَوْفِضاتٍ وَفْضا

    By long, headlong travel, in bands and scattered groups.

    Twisting their nose-rings, they hurry at speed,

  12. وَالخِمْسُ ناجٍ لا يُرِيدُ الخَفْضا

    إِذَا اعْتَسَفْنا رَهْوَة أَوْ غَمْضا

    And the five-day watering stage speeds on, seeking no ease.

    When we strike cross-country over a rise or hollow,

  13. فَيْفاً كَأَنَّ آلَهُ المُبْيَضّا

    مُلاءُ غَسّال أَجاد الرَحْضا

    A wide desert plain, its whitened mirage like

    A washerman's sheets, washed to perfection,

  14. عَنَّى المَهَارَى بُعْدُهُ وَأَنْضا

    جاوَزْتُهُ بِالْقَوْمِ حَتَّى أَفْضَى

    Its distance wearied the Mahri camels and wore them thin.

    I crossed it with the company, until it brought them out

  15. بِهِمْ وَأَمْضَى سَفَرٌ ما أَمْضَى

    يَا أَيُّها القائِلُ قَوْلاً حرْضا

    And carried them onward—a journey that drove on and on.

    O you who utter worthless words,

  16. إِنَّا إِذَا نادَى مُنادٍ حَضّا

    وَجَدْتَ فِينَا مِرَّةً وَنَقْضا

    Indeed, when a summoner calls to spur us on,

    You find in us firm strength and the power to unravel.

  17. أَصْبَح أَعْداءُ تَمِيمٍ مَرْضَى

    ماتُوا جَوىً وَالمُفْلِتُونَ جَرْضَى

    Tamim's enemies have fallen sick;

    They died of anguish, and those who escaped are choking.

  18. إِنَّ تَمِيماً لا تُبالي البُغْضا

    مِن أَجْل أَنَّا المالِئُون الأَرضْا

    Indeed, Tamim pays no heed to hatred,

    Because we are the ones who fill the earth,

  19. طُولاً تَغَشَّى طُولَها وَالعَرْضا

    تَرَى إِذَا شَدَّ الأُمُورَ النَقْضَى

    With a reach that covers its length and breadth.

    You see, when crises knot up affairs,

  20. مِنَّا قُرُوماً يَقْتصِلْنَ العَضّا

    يَجْمَعْنَ زَأْراً وَهَدِيراً مَخْضا

    Mighty camel-stallions among us, cutting through tough browse,

    Combining a roar with a churning bellow,

  21. في عَلِكَاتٍ يَعْتَلِينَ النَهضا

    جَرَّتْ تِماماً لَمْ تُخَنّقْ جَهْضا

    Amid sturdy she-camels, high in flesh,

    That bore full-term calves, not choked, miscarried young.

  22. يَخْبِطْنَ خَبْطاً مشْدِحَا وَرَضّا

    بِمُطلَقاتٍ لَمْ تُعَلَّم أَبْضا

    They pound with wide-swinging blows and crushing force,

    With unbound legs that never learned the fetter.

  23. وَإِنْ وَهَى الدِينُ شَدَدْنَا القَبْضا

    عَلَى المُعَاصِينَ وَنَجْزِي القَرْضا

    And if the faith weakens, we tighten our grip

    On the disobedient, and repay the loan.

  24. قَوْماً وَأَقْواماً نُعِيرُ الغَرْضا

    إِنَّا إِذَا قُدْنَا لِقَوْمٍ عَرِضْا

    To one people and many, we offer ourselves as a target.

    Indeed, when we lead a vast host against a people,

  25. لَمْ نُبْقِ مَنْ بَغْي الأَعادِي عِضَّا

    نَشْذِبُ عَنْ خِنْدَفَ حَتَّى تَرْضا

    We leave no crafty foe amid our enemies' aggression.

    We cut foes away from Khindif until she is content,

  26. وَلَيْسَ دِينُ اللَّهِ بِالْمُعَضّا

    إِنَّ لَنَا هَوَّاسَةً عِرَبْضا

    And God's religion is not to be dismembered.

    Indeed, we have a trampling host, massive and fierce:

  27. ثَهْلانَ أَوْ دَمْخَ الحِمَى لارْفَضّا

    أَوْ رُكْنَ سَلْمَى أَو أَجَا لانْقَضَّا

    Thahlan, or Damkh of the preserve, would crumble,

    Or Salma's flank, or Aja, would collapse,

  28. أَوْ زُلْنَ فىِ مُسْتَرجِفَاتٍ نَفْضا

    نُذِلُّ بِالْوَطْءِ المَكانَ الدَحْضا

    Or shift away amid shuddering, shaking upheavals.

    We subdue slippery ground by trampling it,

  29. وَنُورِدُ المُسْتَورِدِينَ الحَمْضا

    وَالنَبْلُ تَهْوي خَطَأً وَحَبْضا

    And lead those seeking water to bitter salt-browse,

    While arrows hurtle down, missing or falling short,

  30. قَفْحاً عَلَى الهَامِ وَبَجّاً وخْضا

    أُولاَكَ يَحْمُونَ المُصَاصَ المَحْضا

    Smashing heads, gashing and piercing.

    Those men defend the pure, unmixed stock,

  31. في العِدِّ لَمْ يُقْدَحْ ثِماداً بَرْضا

    At an unfailing spring, not scooped from scant, trickling pools.