سائِل فَوارِسَ يَربوعٍ بِشِدَّتِنا

سائِل فَوارِسَ يَربوعٍ بِشِدَّتِنا

أَهَل رَأَونا بِسَفح القاعِ ذي الأَكَمِ

أَهَل رَأَونا بِسَفح القاعِ ذي الأَكَمِ

Ask the horsemen of Yarbūʿ about our might.

I asked the horsemen at Rabu'a about our severity

Did they see us on the low slope of the hillock-strewn plain?

Did they see people at the foot of the barren valley?

أَهَل تَرَكتُ نَهيكاً فيهِ دامِيَةً

أَهَل تَرَكتُ نَهيكاً فيهِ دامِيَةً

قَلّاسُهُ تَنعَتُ الصَلاءَ بِالغَذَمِ

قَلّاسُهُ تَنعَتُ الصَلاءَ بِالغَذَمِ

Did I leave Nahīk there, bloodied,

Did they leave crying because of you there a bloodshed

his qallās—an uncertain word—telling of roasted flesh through ravenous bites?

Whose wounds sniff prey with greed?

وَالحارِثَ بنَ شِهابٍ عِندَ مُعتَركٍ

وَالحارِثَ بنَ شِهابٍ عِندَ مُعتَركٍ

رَهنُ المَقامَةِ لِلعَرجاءِ وَالرُخَمِ

رَهنُ المَقامَةِ لِلعَرجاءِ وَالرُخَمِ

And al-Ḥārith ibn Shihāb, amid the fray,

And Al-Harith ibn Shihab in the midst of battle

a captive of the battlefield, left to the limping hyena and the vultures?

As ransom, halted for the limping and the lame

إِنّا كَذلِكَ إِذ ما غارَةٌ لَحِقَت

إِنّا كَذلِكَ إِذ ما غارَةٌ لَحِقَت

يُفضي بِكُلِّ رَقيقٍ حُرَّةٍ خَدَمِ

يُفضي بِكُلِّ رَقيقٍ حُرَّةٍ خَدَمِ

Such are we whenever a raid overtakes us,

That is how when a raid befell

bringing into the open every fine-cheeked, white-fetlocked steed,

It unleashed every free and enslaved servant

وَكُلَّ مُستَرِقٍ نَهدَ وَسَلهَبَةٍ

وَكُلَّ مُستَرِقٍ نَهدَ وَسَلهَبَةٍ

يَكتُمنَ عِندَ اِعتراكِ المَوتِ بِاللَمَمِ

يَكتُمنَ عِندَ اِعتراكِ المَوتِ بِاللَمَمِ

and every slender-waisted, powerful steed and tall mare,

And every dishonest pillager, a soft and an easy prey

concealing [their riders] with their manes amid death’s clash.

Who hides when death clashes with destinies