1. أَأَللَهُ إِنّي خالِدٌ بَعدَ خالِدِ

    وَناسٍ سِراجَ المَجدِ نَجمَ المَحامِدِ

    O God, am I to live on after Khalid,

    and forget the lamp of glory, the star of praiseworthy deeds?

  2. وَقَد تُرِعَت إِثفِيَّةُ العَرَبِ الَّتي

    بِها صُدِعَت ما بَينَ تِلكَ الجَلامِدِ

    And the Arabs' hearthstone has been torn away,

    through whose loss they were shattered amid those boulders.

  3. أَلا غَربُ دَمعٍ ناصِرٍ لي عَلى الأَسى

    أَلا حُرُّ شِعرٍ في الغَليلِ مُساعِدي

    Is there no torrent of tears to help me against grief?

    Is there no noble verse to aid me in this burning anguish?

  4. فَلَم تَكرُمِ العَينانِ إِن لَم تُسامِحا

    وَلا طابَ فَرعُ الشِعرِ إِن لَم يُساعِدِ

    The two eyes are not generous unless they give freely,

    nor is poetry's bough pleasing unless it lends aid.

  5. لِتَبكِ القَوافي شَجوَها بَعدَ خالِدٍ

    بُكاءَ مُضِلّاتِ السَماحِ نَواشِدِ

    Let the rhymes weep their sorrow after Khalid,

    with the weeping of those who have lost generosity and seek it.

  6. لَكانَت عَذاراها إِذا هِيَ أُبرِزَت

    لَدى خالِدٍ مِثلَ العَذارى النَواهِدِ

    Indeed, their virgin verses, when brought forth

    before Khalid, were like maidens with budding breasts.

  7. وَكانَت لِصَيدِ الوَحشِ مِنها حَلاوَةٌ

    عَلى قَلبِهِ لَيسَت لِصَيدِ الأَوابِدِ

    And hunting the wild words within them held a sweetness

    for his heart unlike the hunting of untamed beasts.

  8. وَكانَ يَرى سَمَّ الكَلامِ كَأَنَّما

    يُقَشَّبُ أَحياناً بِسَمِّ الأَساوِدِ

    He felt the poison of speech as though

    at times he were poisoned with the venom of black snakes.

  9. تَقَلَّصَ ظِلُّ العُرفِ في كُلِّ بَلدَةٍ

    وَأُطفِئَ في الدُنيا سِراجُ القَصائِدِ

    The shade of generosity has shrunk in every town,

    and the lamp of poems has been extinguished in the world.

  10. فَيا عِيَّ مَرحولٍ إِلَيهِ وَراحِلٍ

    وَخَجلَةَ مَوفودٍ إِلَيهِ وَوافِدِ

    Oh, the helplessness of those sought by travelers, and of travelers,

    and the shame of those approached by envoys, and of envoys!

  11. وَيا ماجِداً أَوفى بِهِ المَوتُ نَذرَهُ

    فَأَشعَرَ رَوعاً كُلَّ أَروَعَ ماجِدِ

    O noble one, through whom Death fulfilled its vow,

    striking terror into every splendid nobleman!

  12. غَداً يَمنَعُ المَعروفُ بَعدَكَ دَرَّهُ

    وَتَغدِرُ غُدرانَ الأَكُفِّ الرَوافِدِ

    Tomorrow generosity will withhold its milk after you,

    and abandon the pools of beneficent hands.

  13. وَيا شائِماً بَرقاً خَدوعاً وَسامِعاً

    لِراعِدَةٍ دَجّالَةٍ في الرَواعِدِ

    O watcher of deceptive lightning, and listener

    to a deceitful thundercloud among the thunderclouds:

  14. أَقِم ثُمَّ حُطَّ الرَحلَ وَالظَنَّ إِنَّهُ

    مَضَت قِبلَةُ الأَسفارِ مِن بَعدِ خالِدِ

    Stay, then set down your saddle and your hopes, for

    the qibla of journeys has passed away after Khalid.

  15. تَكَفَّأَ مَتنُ الأَرضِ يَومَ تَعَطَّلَت

    مِنَ الجَبَلِ المُنهَدِّ تَحتَ الفَدافِدِ

    The earth's back lurched the day it was left bereft

    of the mountain collapsed beneath the barren plains.

  16. فَلِلثَغرِ لَونٌ قاتِمٌ بَعدَ مَنظَرٍ

    أَنيقٍ وَجَوٌّ سائِلٌ غَيرُ راكِدِ

    The frontier wears a dusky hue after a prospect

    once lovely, and its sky streams, no longer still.

  17. لَأَبرَحتَ يا عامَ المَصائِبِ بَعدَما

    دَعَتكَ بَنو الآمالِ عامَ الفَوائِدِ

    How sorely you have afflicted us, O year of calamities, after

    the children of hope called you the year of benefits!

  18. لَقَد نَهَسَ الدَهرُ القَبائِلَ بَعدَهُ

    بِنابٍ حَديدٍ يَقطُرُ السَمَّ عانِدِ

    Time has bitten the tribes since his passing

    with a sharp, relentless fang dripping venom.

  19. فَجَلَّلَ قَحطاً آلَ قَحطانَ وَاِنثَنَت

    نِزارٌ بِمَنزورٍ مِنَ العَيشِ جاحِدِ

    It cloaked the house of Qahtan in drought, and

    Nizar returned with scant, grudging sustenance.

  20. عَلى أَيِّ عِرنينٍ غُلِبنا وَمارِنٍ

    وَأَيَّةُ كَفٍّ فارَقَتنا وَساعِدِ

    What a noble nose—bridge and tip—we have been robbed of!

    And what a hand and forearm have left us!

  21. كَأَنّا فَقَدنا أَلفَ أَلفِ مُدَجَّجٍ

    عَلى أَلفِ أَلفٍ مُقرَبٍ لا مُباعَدِ

    It is as though we have lost a million armored warriors,

    mounted on a million steeds kept close, not sent afar.

  22. فَيا وَحشَةَ الدُنيا وَكانَت أَنيسَةً

    وَوَحدَةَ مَن فيها لِمَصرَعِ واحِدِ

    Oh, the world's desolation, when once it was companionable,

    and the loneliness of all within it at the fall of one!

  23. مَضَت خُيَلاءُ الخَيلِ وَاِنصَرَفَ الرَدى

    بِأَنفَسِ نَفسٍ مِن مَعَدٍّ وَوالِدِ

    The horses' proud swagger is gone, and Death has departed

    with the most precious soul of Ma'add and his sire.

  24. فَأَينَ شِفاءُ الثَغرِ أَينَ إِذا القَنا

    خَطَرنَ عَلى عُضوٍ مِنَ المُلكِ فاسِدِ

    Where is the frontier's healing—where, when the spears

    sway over an ailing limb of the realm?

  25. وَأَينَ الجِلادُ الهَبرُ إِذ لَيسَ سَيِّدٌ

    يَقي جِلدَةَ الأَحسابِ إِن لَم يُجالِدِ

    And where is the cleaving swordplay, since no lord

    protects the skin of ancestral honor unless he fights?

  26. وَمَن يَجعَلُ السُلطانَ حَبلَ وَريدِهِ

    وَمَن يَنظِمِ الأَطرافَ نَظمَ القَلائِدِ

    And where is he who makes sovereign power his jugular vein,

    and strings the borderlands as necklaces are strung,

  27. وَمَن لَم يَكُن يَنفَكُّ يَغبِقُ سَيفَهُ

    دَماً عانِداً مِن نَحرِ لَيثٍ مُعانِدِ

    and never ceased to give his sword its evening draught

    of blood spurting from the throat of a defiant lion?

  28. بِنَفسِيَ مَن خَطَّت رَبيعَةُ لَحدَهُ

    وَلازالَ مُهتَزَّ الرُبى غَيرَ هامِدِ

    My life be ransom for him whose grave Rabi'ah marked out,

    and may its hillocks ever sway, never lie lifeless!

  29. أَقامَ بِهِ مِن حَيِّ بَكرِ بنِ وائِلٍ

    هَنِيَّ النَدى مُخضَرَّ إِثرَ المَواعِدِ

    He settled there, of the clan of Bakr ibn Wa'il,

    sweet with the dew of bounty, green in the wake of promises.

  30. فَماذا حَوَت أَكفانُهُ مِن شَمائِلٍ

    مَناهِلَ أَعدادٍ عِذابَ المَوارِدِ

    What qualities his shrouds have enclosed:

    watering places of perennial springs, sweet at their approaches!

  31. خَلائِقُ كانَت كَالثُغورِ تَخَرَّمَت

    وَكانَ عَلَيها واقِفاً كَالمُجاهِدِ

    Virtues that were like frontier posts have been breached,

    and he had stood guard over them like a warrior for the faith.

  32. فَكَم غالَ ذاكَ التُربُ لي وَلِمَعشَري

    وَلِلناسِ طُرّاً مِن طَريفٍ وَتالِدِ

    How much that earth has stolen from me and my people,

    and all mankind, of new and inherited treasure!

  33. أَشَيبانُ لا ذاكَ الهِلالُ بِطالِعٍ

    عَلَينا وَلا ذاكَ الغَمامُ بِعائِدِ

    O Shayban, that crescent will not rise

    over us, nor will that raincloud return.

  34. أَشَيبانُ ما جَدّي وَلا جَدُّ كاشِحٍ

    وَلا جَدُّ شَيءٍ يَومَ وَلّى بِصاعِدِ

    O Shayban, neither my fortune nor that of a foe,

    nor any fortune rose the day he departed.

  35. أَشَيبانُ عَمَّت نارُها مِن مُصيبَةٍ

    فَما يُشتَكى وَجدٌ إِلى غَيرِ واجِدِ

    O Shayban, how widespread the fire of this calamity!

    Grief cannot be lamented to one who does not grieve.

  36. لَئِن أَقرَحَت عَينَي صَديقٍ وَصاحِبٍ

    لَقَد زَعزَعَت رُكنَي عَدُوٍّ وَحاسِدِ

    If it has ulcerated the eyes of friend and companion,

    it has indeed shaken both pillars of enemy and envier.

  37. لَئِن هِيَ أَهدَت لِلأَقارِبِ تَرحَةً

    لَقَد جَلَّلَت تُرباً خُدودَ الأَباعِدِ

    If it has brought sorrow as a gift to kinsmen,

    it has indeed covered the cheeks of distant men with dust.

  38. فَما جانِبُ الدُنيا بِسَهلٍ وَلا الضُحى

    بِطَلقٍ وَلا ماءُ الحَياةِ بِبارِدِ

    The world's terrain is no longer smooth, nor is the morning

    radiant, nor the water of life cool.

  39. بَلى وَأَبي إِنَّ الأَميرَ مُحَمَّداً

    لَقُطبُ الرَحى مِصباحُ تِلكَ المَشاهِدِ

    Yet, by my father, the emir Muhammad

    is surely the millstone's pivot, the lamp of those gatherings.

  40. حَمِدتُ اللَيالي إِذ حَمَت سَرحَنا بِهِ

    وَلَستُ لَها في غَيرِ ذاكَ بِحامِدِ

    I praised the nights when they protected our grazing herd through him,

    but in nothing else do I praise them.

  41. عَلَيهِ دَليلٌ مِن يَزيدَ وَخالِدٍ

    وَنورانِ لاحا مِن نِجارٍ وَشاهِدِ

    Upon him is a sign from Yazid and Khalid,

    and two lights shine from lineage and living proof.

  42. مِنَ المُكرِمينَ الخَيلَ فيهِم وَلَم يَكُن

    لِيُكرِمَها إِلّا كِرامُ المَحاتِدِ

    He is of those among them who honor horses; none

    honor them save men of noble roots.

  43. أَخو الحَربِ يَكسوها نَجيعاً كَأَنَّما

    مُتونُ رُباها مِنهُ مِثلُ المَجاسِدِ

    A brother to war, he clothes her in blood, as though

    the backs of her hills were, through him, red-dyed garments.

  44. إِذا شَبَّ ناراً أَقعَدَت كُلَّ قائِمٍ

    وَقامَ لَها مِن خَوفِهِ كُلُّ قاعِدِ

    When he kindles a fire, it seats every standing man,

    and every seated man rises to it for fear of him.

  45. فَقُل لِمُلوكِ السيسَجانِ وَمَن غَدا

    بِأَرّانَ أَو جُرزانَ غَيرَ مُناشِدِ

    Tell the kings of Sisajan, and whoever goes forth

    in Arran or Jurzan without supplication:

  46. أَلا أَلقوا مَقاليدَ البِلادِ وَهَل لَها

    رِتاجٌ فَيُلقي أَهلُها بِالمَقالِدِ

    Come, surrender the keys of the lands! Have they

    a gate, that their people may cast down the keys?

  47. وَلا يُغوِكُم شَيطانُ حَربٍ فَإِنَّهُ

    مَعَ السَيفِ يَدمى نَصلُهُ غَيرُ مارِدِ

    Let no demon of war beguile you, for it,

    before the sword whose blade bleeds, is no rebel.

  48. وَلا تَفتَرِق أَعناقُكُم إِنَّ حَولَها

    رُدَينِيَّةً يَجمَعنَ هامَ الشَوارِدِ

    Do not let your necks scatter: around them

    are Rudayni spears that gather the heads of fugitives.

  49. وَما كَثَرَت في بَلدَةٍ قِصَدُ القَنا

    فَتُقلِعَ إِلّا عَن رِقابٍ قَواصِدِ

    Never have broken spear-shafts multiplied in a land,

    then withdrawn except from shattered necks.