Sol 6.1

  1. لَعَمرُ أَبيكَ يا زُفَرُ اِبنُ عَمرٍ

    لَقَد نَجّاكَ جَدُّ بَني مُعازِ

    By your father's life, O Zufar son of ʿAmr,

    The good fortune of Banu Muʿaz surely saved you,

  2. وَرَكضُكَ غَيرَ مُلتَفِتٍ إِلَينا

    كَأَنَّكَ مُمسِكٌ بِجَناحِ بازي

    And your galloping without a backward glance at us,

    As though you clutched a hawk's wing.

  3. فَلا وَأَبي هَوازِنَ ما جَزِعنا

    وَلا هَمَّ الظَعائِنُ بِاِنحِيازِ

    No, by Hawazin's forefather, we did not lose heart,

    Nor did the women in their litters think of retreat—

  4. ظَعائِنُنا غَداةَ غَدَت عَلَينا

    وَنِعمَت ساعَةُ السَيفِ الجُرازِ

    Our women, that morning the foe advanced against us—

    And splendid was the hour of the cleaving sword!

  5. وَلاقى اِبنُ الحُبابِ لَنا حُمَيّا

    كَفَتهُ كُلَّ راقِيَةٍ وَحازي

    And Ibn al-Hubab encountered our burning fury,

    Which spared him the need for any charm-healer or diviner.

  6. وَكانَ بِنا يَحُلُّ فَلا يُعانى

    وَيَرعى كُلَّ رَملٍ أَو عَزازِ

    And he used to dwell among us, suffering no harm,

    And graze on every sandy tract or stretch of hard ground.

  7. فَلَمّا أَن سَمِنتَ وَكُنتَ عَبداً

    نَزَت بِكَ يا اِبنَ صَمعاءَ النَوازي

    But when you grew fat, though you had been a slave,

    Wild impulses carried you away, O son of Samʿaʾ.

  8. عَمَدتَ إِلى رَبيعَةَ تَغتَزيها

    بِمِثلِ القَملِ مِن أَهلِ الحِجازِ

    You made for Rabiʿa, seeking to raid her,

    With men like lice from the people of the Hijaz.

  9. فَنِعمَ ذَوُ الحِبايَةِ كانَ قَومي

    لِقَومِكَ لَو جَزى بِالخَيرِ جازي

    How fine as benefactors my people were

    To your people—if only anyone repaid kindness with good!