قال ابن معصار جواب الصنو من مسيب

قال ابن معصار جواب الصنو من مسيب

على القصيد التي جت من قدا جوله

على القصيد التي جت من قدا جوله

Ibn Miʿṣār said, replying to the brother from Musayyib,

Ibn Mua'sar answered the Poetry of Sin'an ibn Musayyib

To the poem that came from the direction of Jawlah:

About the poem that came from Qudaa Jawwalah

وطبعنا يا حضور بالشعر ما نتعب

وطبعنا يا حضور بالشعر ما نتعب

ولا نقول بالغنا والزمر والهجله

ولا نقول بالغنا والزمر والهجله

And by nature, O listeners, we do not tire of poetry.

And our nature, O presence, is not to tire of poetry

Nor do we recite with singing, piping, and dancing.

Nor do we speak of singing, music and trilling

ما عندنا الا رصاص أحمى من المكرب

ما عندنا الا رصاص أحمى من المكرب

وطعن يتعوذوا من وقعه القبله

وطعن يتعوذوا من وقعه القبله

We have nothing but bullets hotter than the brazier,

We have only bullets hotter than flames

And thrusts from whose blows the northerners seek refuge.

And stabbing from which the Qiblah seeks protection

ليتك ترى لقينا اصحاب عبد الرب

ليتك ترى لقينا اصحاب عبد الرب

في باب يفرس وكان ياقوت في جبله

في باب يفرس وكان ياقوت في جبله

If only you had seen us meet ʿAbd al-Rabb’s men

If only you could see us meeting the people of Abd al-Rab

At the gate of Yafrus, while Yāqūt was in Jiblah.

In the Bab Ifras gate which was ruby in its mountain

قال لك غزينا عليهم طلعت الكوكب

قال لك غزينا عليهم طلعت الكوكب

ولا دروا غير واحنا فوقهم شعله

ولا دروا غير واحنا فوقهم شعله

He said to you: we raided them at the star’s rising.

He said we raided them, planets appeared

They knew nothing until we were upon them, a blaze.

And they did not know except us above them a flame

واسم الله اليوم نطرح للديث مضرب

واسم الله اليوم نطرح للديث مضرب

نحط منهم يجي فوق اربعين كعله

نحط منهم يجي فوق اربعين كعله

In God’s name, today we give the cuckold a beating.

By God’s name today we strike with clubs

We bring down over forty heads from their ranks.

We bring down more than forty like leather skins

أظن الأول بقى يهرب إلى شرعب

أظن الأول بقى يهرب إلى شرعب

واحنا بالاعصى بنسعا بعدهم حمله

واحنا بالاعصى بنسعا بعدهم حمله

I think the first one kept fleeing toward Sharʿab.

I think the first remains fleeing to clefts

And we go charging after them with sticks.

While we with staffs drive them like a camel herd

وارجع نعاود وقد كلين يتسلحب

وارجع نعاود وقد كلين يتسلحب

وناس وصل واطر حراقد من الزبله

وناس وصل واطر حراقد من الزبله

Again we return to the attack, each man already slinking away.

We return and repeat when they are dragging away

And some arrived—[unclear dialect phrase]—from the dung heap.

And people arrived and the beds were discarded refuse

وانا توكلت لك واخرج رباعي حب

وانا توكلت لك واخرج رباعي حب

والله نعصد ونتعشى ذك الليله

والله نعصد ونتعشى ذك الليله

And I put my trust in God and bring out a rubāʿī measure of grain for you.

And I relied on You and went out with a beloved quatrain

By God, we make ʿaṣīdah and eat supper that night.

By God we will block and have supper this night

والصبح نرجع على ما احنا إلى المحرب

والصبح نرجع على ما احنا إلى المحرب

نجي وقد نصفهم محتاز في حله

نجي وقد نصفهم محتاز في حله

And in the morning, just as we are, we return to the battlefield.

And in the morning we will return to the battlefield

We arrive, and half of them are already holed up in a camp.

We will come and half of them confused in their wrappings

نحتاج نطرح ونتوالى على ملعب

نحتاج نطرح ونتوالى على ملعب

ما بيننا احنا وصالح صاحب الكوله

ما بيننا احنا وصالح صاحب الكوله

We must fire and take turns on a playing-field,

We need to strike them down and continue upon the field

Between us and Ṣāliḥ, the man of al-Kawlah.

None between us, we and Salih the owner of the fortress

ولا درينا العشى إلا بصوت يشعب

ولا درينا العشى إلا بصوت يشعب

من عندهم قلت والله قد هنا عكله

من عندهم قلت والله قد هنا عكله

And we did not notice dusk until a sound rang out

We did not know the evening meal except by the call to prayer

From their side; I said, ‘By God, there is already trouble here!’

Which echoes from their side, I said by God here is food

فلا يغرك تعس صاحب بلاد ارحب

فلا يغرك تعس صاحب بلاد ارحب

هو غريز بزب وبعد ايطرح الشمله

هو غريز بزب وبعد ايطرح الشمله

So do not let that wretch from the lands of Arḥab fool you.

So let not the miserable one of wide lands deceive you

He is a stake with a cock, and then he throws on his shawl.

He is an ape with a flaccid penis after losing his turban

وتبسره يوم يدندل سيرة المقطب

وتبسره يوم يدندل سيرة المقطب

تقول ذا عسكري يحرب على عزله

تقول ذا عسكري يحرب على عزله

And when you see him dangling the musket’s sling,

And when you see him with the demeanor of one devout

You would say: ‘This is a soldier waging war on a district.’

You would say this is a soldier fighting alone

واحنا الذي في الوغى والحرب ما نتعب

واحنا الذي في الوغى والحرب ما نتعب

ولا ترانا نميل في محرب الدوله

ولا ترانا نميل في محرب الدوله

And we are those who do not tire in the fray and war.

While we are the ones in the tumult and war not tiring

Nor will you see us waver on the state’s battlefront.

Nor do you see us waver in the battle of nations