Sol 6.1

  1. أَتَجعَلُ إِقدامي إِذا الخَيلُ أَحجَمَت

    وَكَرّي إِذا لَم يَمنَعِ الدَبرَ مانِعُ

    Do you set my advance, when the horses draw back,

    And my countercharge, when no one guards the wealth,

  2. سَواءً وَمَن لا يُقدِمُ المُهرَ في الوَغى

    وَمِن دَبرُهُ عِندَ الهَزاهِزِ ضائِعُ

    On a par with one who will not send his colt into battle,

    And one whose wealth is lost amid upheaval?

  3. إِذا قيلَ يا اِبنَ الوَردِ أَقدِم إِلى الوَغى

    أَجَبتُ فَلاقاني كَمِيٌّ مُقارِعُ

    When they say, 'O son of al-Ward, advance to battle!'

    I answer, and a mailed warrior meets me in combat.

  4. بِكَفّي مِنَ المَأثورِ كَالمِلحِ لَونُهُ

    حَديثٌ بِإِخلاصِ الذُكورَةِ قاطِعُ

    In my hand is a patterned blade, its color like salt,

    Newly forged of pure, hard steel, keen to cut.

  5. فَأَترُكُهُ بِالقاعِ رَهناً بِبَلدَةٍ

    تَعاوَرُهُ فيها الضِباعُ الخَوامِعُ

    So I leave him on the plain, a hostage in a land

    Where limping hyenas fall upon him in turn,

  6. مُحالِفَ قاعٍ كانَ عَنهُ بِمَعزِلٍ

    وَلَكِنَّ حَينَ المَرءُ لا بُدَّ واقِعُ

    An ally of a plain he once lived far from;

    Yet a man's doom must surely come.

  7. فَلا أَنا مِمّا جَرَّتِ الحَربُ مُشتَكٍ

    وَلا أَنا مِمّا أَحدَثَ الدَهرُ جازِعُ

    So I do not complain of what war has brought,

    Nor am I dismayed by what time has wrought.

  8. وَلا بَصَري عِندَ الهِياجِ بِطامِحٍ

    كَأَنّي بَعيرٌ فارَقَ الشَولَ نازِعُ

    Nor, when battle rages, is my gaze cast afar,

    As though I were a camel parted from dry she-camels, yearning to return.