1. بكَرَت عليك مُغيرةُ الأَعرابِ

    فاحفَظْ ثيابَك يا أبا الخطَّابِ

    The Bedouin raiding band came upon you at dawn;

    so guard your garments, O Abu al-Khattab.

  2. وَرَدَ العراقَ رَبيعَةُ بنُ مُكَدَّمٍ

    وعُتيبَةُ بنُ الحارثِ بن شِهابِ

    Rabi‘a ibn Mukaddam has come to Iraq,

    and ‘Utayba ibn al-Harith ibn Shihab.

  3. أفعِنْدَنا شكٌّ بأنهما هما

    في الفَتْكِ لا في صِحَّةِ الأنسابِ

    Have we any doubt that they are those very two,

    in murderous assault, not in the truth of their descent?

  4. جلَبا إليكَ الشِّعْرَ من أوطانِه

    جَلْبَ التِّجارِ طرائفَ الأجلابِ

    They brought you poetry from its homelands,

    as merchants bring rare imported wares.

  5. فبدائعُ الشُّعراءِ فيما جَهَّزا

    مقرونةٌ بغَرائبِ الكُتَّابِ

    The poets’ marvels in what they brought

    are coupled with the writers’ rarities.

  6. تبّاً لقومٍ لا تَزَالُ حُلومُهم

    وعقولُهم في ضِلَّةِ وتَبابِ

    Perdition to a people whose judgment

    and minds remain in error and ruin!

  7. لهما من الحَظِّ الصوارمُ والقَنا

    ومن الطُّروسِ نفيسةُ الأسلابِ

    Their share consists of cutting swords and spears,

    and from manuscripts, the choicest spoils.

  8. شنَّا على الآدابِ أقبحَ غارةٍ

    جَرحَتْ قلوبَ محاسنِ الآدابِ

    They launched the foulest raid on letters,

    wounding the hearts of literature’s beauties.

  9. فحَذارِ من حركاتِ صِلِّي قَفرةٍ

    وحَذارِ من حَركاتِ لَيْثَيْ غابِ

    Beware, then, the movements of two vipers in a wasteland,

    and beware the movements of two lions in a thicket.

  10. لا يسلُبانِ أخا الثَّراءِ وإنما

    يَتناهبانِ نتائجَ الألبابِ

    They do not rob a wealthy man; instead,

    they plunder the fruits of minds.

  11. إنْ عَزَّ موجودُ الكلامِ عليهما

    فأنا الذي وقفَ الكلامُ ببابي

    If words at hand prove hard for them to find,

    I am the one at whose door eloquence stands.

  12. أو يَهبُطا من ذَلَّةٍ فأنا الذي

    ضُربَتْ على الشَّرَفِ المُطِلِّ قبابي

    Or if they sink in abasement, I am the one

    whose pavilions are pitched on the commanding height.

  13. كم حاولا أمدِي فطالَ عليهما

    أن يُدرِكا إلاّ مثار تُرابي

    How often they sought my reach, yet found it beyond them

    to catch anything but the dust I raised,

  14. عَجْزاً ولم تقِفِ العبيدُ إذا جرَتْ

    يومَ الرِّهانِ مواقفَ الأربابِ

    through helplessness; nor do slaves, when they race,

    stand where their masters stand on the day of the wager.

  15. ولقد حَمَيْتُ الشِّعْرَ وهو لِمَعشَرٍ

    رِمَمٍ سوى الأسماءِ والألقابِ

    Indeed, I defended poetry, though it belonged to a company

    of rotting remains, except for their names and titles.

  16. وضربْتُ عنه المُدَّعينَ وإنما

    عن صُورَةِ الآدابِ كان ضِرابي

    And I struck its pretenders away; my combat

    was only for the form of letters.

  17. فغدَت نبيطُ الخالديةِ تَدَّعي

    شِعري وتَرفُلُ في حَبيرِ ثيابي

    Then the Nabataeans of al-Khalidiyya began claiming

    my poetry, strutting in the embroidered finery of my garments.

  18. أشياخُ عُمْرِ الزَّعفرانِ تراهُمُ

    حولَ الصليبِ حَوانيَ الأصلابِ

    The elders of the al-Za‘faran monastery—you see them

    around the cross, with their backs bowed.

  19. نَزَلُوا ذَرَمَّةَ بين غَضِّ نواظرٍ

    لم تَسْمُ مُذْ خُلِقَتْ وذُلِّ رِقابِ

    They settled in Dharamma, amid lowered eyes

    that have never risen since creation, and humbled necks:

  20. وَطَنَ المُحرَّمَةِ الجسومِ نجاسةً

    في خيرِ صُحفٍ نُزِّلَتْ وكِتابِ

    the homeland of bodies forbidden for their uncleanness

    in the finest revealed scriptures and Book.

  21. من كلِّ أشقرَ باحثٍ خُرطُومُه

    عن رِزقِه فتراه في إكْتابِ

    Of every tawny beast whose snout searches

    for its sustenance, you see it in a gathered herd.

  22. خُزرِ العُيونِ خَفيَّةٍ أصواتُها

    تُكْسي الرؤوسَ شوائلَ الأذنابِ

    Slant-eyed, their voices low,

    their heads are clothed by upraised tails.

  23. يحمي جَوانبَ سَرْحِها إيرادُها

    فيبيتُ عنها مُشْرَعَ الأنيابِ

    Their boar guards the edges of their grazing herd,

    and spends the night defending them, his tusks bared.

  24. رُعيَتْ لشيخِ الخالديةِ بُرهةً

    بل كان يَرعاها على الأحقابِ

    They were tended for the elder of al-Khalidiyya for a time;

    rather, he had tended them for ages.

  25. أَسعيدُ إنَّك لو بَصُرْتَ بهاشمٍ

    في العُمرِ غيرَ مُبجَّلِ الأصحابِ

    O Sa‘id, had you seen Hashim

    in the monastery, unhonored by his companions,

  26. مَحضَ المَذَلَّةِ راكباً عُكَّازَهُ

    رَثَّ المعيشةِ شاحبَ الجِلبابِ

    pure abasement, straddling his staff,

    ragged in his living, his cloak faded,

  27. لحلفْتَ أنكَ لا تُطيلُ عِمامةً

    مصقولةَ العَذبَاتِ والأهدابِ

    you would have sworn never to lengthen a turban

    with sleek hanging ends and fringes.

  28. نفقُوا بآلاتِ الخَنا وتوهَّمُوا

    أنَّ الزَّمانَ جَرى بهم وكَبَا بي

    They gained currency through instruments of obscenity, and imagined

    that time had sped them onward and made me stumble.

  29. قَوْمٌ إذا قَصدَوُا الملوكَ لمطلَبٍ

    نُفِضَتْ عمائمُهُم على الأبوابِ

    A people who, when they seek kings for a favor,

    have their turbans shaken out at the gates;

  30. من كلِّ كَهْلٍ يستطيرُ سِبالُه

    لَوْنَيْنِ بينَ أناملِ البَوَّابِ

    each middle-aged man’s mustaches flying

    in two colors between the doorkeeper’s fingertips,

  31. مُغْضٍ على ذُلِّ الحجابِ يَرُدُّه

    دامي الجبينِ تَجهُّمُ الحُجَّابِ

    eyes lowered at the disgrace of exclusion, driven back

    with bloodied brow by the gatekeepers’ scowls.

  32. ومُفَهَّهَيْنِ تعرَّضا لِحرابَتي

    فتعرَّضَتْ لهما صدورُ حِرابي

    And two tongue-tied men challenged me to war,

    so the points of my spears confronted them.

  33. نَظَرا إلى شِعري يروقُ فتَرَّبا

    منه خُدودَ كواعبٍ أترابِ

    They gazed at my delightful poetry, then smeared with dust

    the cheeks of its budding maidens, matched in age.

  34. شرباه فاعترفا له بعُذوبَةٍ

    ولرُبَّ عَذْبٍ عادَ سَوطَ عَذابِ

    They drank it and acknowledged its sweetness;

    yet many a sweet thing has become a scourge of torment.

  35. في غارةٍ لم تَنْثَلِمْ فيها الظُّبا

    ضَرْباً ولم تَنْدَ القَنا بخِضابِ

    In a raid in which the blade-edges were not notched

    by blows, nor were the spears moistened with dye,

  36. تركَتْ غرائبَ مَنْطِقي في غُربَةٍ

    مَسبيَّةً لا تَهْتَدي لإيابِ

    it left the wonders of my speech in exile,

    taken captive, unable to find their way home:

  37. جَرحى وما ضُرِبَتْ بحَدِّ مُهَنَّدٍ

    أسرَى وما حُمِلَتْ على الأقتابِ

    wounded, though never struck by an Indian blade;

    captives, though never carried on camel saddles.

  38. لَفْظٌ صقَلْتُ متونَه فكأنَّه

    في مُشرقاتِ النَّظْمِ دُرُّ سِخابِ

    Diction whose surfaces I polished, until it seemed,

    among radiant verses, the pearls of a necklace.

  39. وكأنما أجريْتُ في صفَحاتِه

    حُرَّ اللُّجَينِ وخالصَ الزِّريابِ

    And as though I had made flow over its pages

    pure silver and unalloyed gold.

  40. أغربتُ في تحبيرِه فُرواتُه

    في نُزهَةٍ منه وفي استغرابِ

    I wrought marvels in its adornment, so its reciters

    find in it delight and astonishment.

  41. وقطعتُ فيه شبيبةً لم تَشتغلْ

    عن حُسْنِه بِصَباً ولا بتصابي

    I spent my youth upon it, never distracted

    from its beauty by infatuation or youthful dalliance.

  42. فإذا ترقرَقَ في الصَّحيفةِ ماؤُه

    عَبِقَ النَّسيمُ فذاكَ ماءُ شبابي

    When its water shimmers on the page,

    the breeze grows fragrant: that is the water of my youth.

  43. يُصغي اللبيبُ له فيَقسِمُ لُبَّه

    بين التعجُّبِ منه والإعجابِ

    The discerning listener divides his mind

    between wonder at it and admiration.

  44. جِدٌّ يطيرُ شَرارُه وفُكاهَةٌ

    تَستعطِفُ الأحبابَ للأحبابِ

    Earnestness whose sparks fly, and humor

    that makes loved ones tender toward loved ones.

  45. أعزِزْ عليَّ بأن أرى أشلاءَه

    تَدْمَى بِظفْرٍ للعدوِّ وناب

    How grievous it is to me to see its torn limbs

    bleeding under an enemy’s claw and fang!

  46. أفن رماه بغارة مأفونة

    باعت ظباء الروم في الأعراب

    A fool assailed it with a witless raid

    that sold Rum’s gazelles among the Bedouins.

  47. أَأُخَيَّ قد عزَّيْتَني بحسيبةٍ

    منه فعَزِّ بها ذوي الأحسابِ

    O my little brother, you have consoled me for a noble piece

    of it; console those of noble lineage for it too.

  48. عَزِّ الأكارِمَ أنها حَسَبُ النَّدى

    فاضَتْ أنامِلُهم بغيرِ حسابِ

    Console the noble—it is generosity’s honor;

    their fingertips overflowed without reckoning.

  49. هم نافسوا في حَليهِ وبُرودِه

    وَهُمُ أُثيبُوا عنه خيرَ ثَوابِ

    They vied for its jewels and its striped cloaks,

    and for it they received the finest reward.

  50. وسَقَوه محتَفِلَ الحَيا رَيَّانَه

    ورأَوا ذُنوباً سقيَه بذنابِ

    They watered it with rain in full, drenching abundance,

    and deemed watering it with mere dregs a sin.

  51. إني أحذِّرُ مَنْ يقولُ قصيدةً

    غرّاءَ خِدْنَيْ غارةٍ ونِهابِ

    I warn anyone composing a poem

    of splendor against two companions of raiding and plunder:

  52. ذِئبَينِ إذ نَظَرا إلى سيَّارَةٍ

    بَعَثا لها يوماً كيومِ ذُؤَابِ

    two wolves who, when they sighted a traveling caravan,

    brought upon it a day like the Day of Dhu’ab;

  53. عِلْجينِ إذ حَنَّ النَّواقِسُ صرَّحا

    بالشَّوقِ أو حَنَّا حَنينَ النّابِ

    two foreign louts who, when church bells tolled, declared

    their longing, or moaned like an aged she-camel,

  54. شَغَفاً بذي القُربانِ يصدُقُ أنه

    ينشقُّ من نَسَبٍ إليه قُرابِ

    in passion for the master of the offering; truly, it

    branches from a lineage closely related to him;

  55. ورضىً عن الإنجيلِ يُظْهِرُ فيهما

    غَضبَاً على الفُرقانِ والأحزابِ

    and pleasure in the Gospel that reveals in them

    wrath against al-Furqan and al-Ahzab.

  56. إني نَبَذْتُ على السَّواءِ إليكما

    فتأهبَّا للفادحِ المُنتابِ

    I have cast the pact back to you both, on equal terms;

    so brace yourselves for the crushing calamity that comes.

  57. نُصِبَتْ مجانيقُ الهجاءِ وإن رأَتْ

    لكما ضُؤولَةَ مَنصِبٍ ونِصابِ

    The catapults of satire are set up, though they see

    how paltry are your station and ancestry.

  58. وإذا نَبذْتُ إلى امرئٍ ميثاقَه

    فليَستعِدَّ لسطوتي وعِقابي

    When I cast a man’s covenant back to him,

    let him prepare for my assault and punishment.

  59. حاولتُما جبلاً كأنَّ رِعانَه

    فَوقَ السَّحابِ الغُرِّ غُرُّ سحابِ

    You two assailed a mountain whose peaks seem

    white clouds above the white clouds.

  60. فإذا أصابَكما غضابُ سِهامِها

    غَبَرتْ مدى الأيام غيرَ غِضابِ

    And when its angry arrows strike you both,

    they remain through the days, no longer angry.

  61. حاولتما جبلا كأنّ رعانه

    فوق السحاب الغر غر سحاب

    You two assailed a mountain whose peaks seem

    white clouds above the white clouds.

  62. وجريتُما في غِرَّةٍ فَنكصتُما

    من سَوءةِ العُقبَى على الأعقابِ

    You raced in heedlessness, then retreated

    back on your heels from the disgrace of the outcome.

  63. ورميتُما المِسكَ الذَكيذَ بغَيْبةٍ

    وذَكاؤه يُربي على المُغتابِ

    You cast slander at the fragrant musk,

    yet its fragrance surpasses the slanderer.

  64. فَلْتَلْفَحَنَّكُما سمائمُ مَنطِقي

    ولتُغْرِقَنَّكُما سُيولُ شِعابي

    Let the scorching winds of my speech sear you both,

    and the torrents of my ravines drown you both.

  65. ولْتَسريَنَّ مع الجَنوبِ إليكما

    مغموسةً في الشَّرْي أو في الصَّابِ

    And let it travel by night to you with the south wind,

    dipped in colocynth or bitter sap.

  66. ولْتَطْلْعَنَّ من الفِجاجِ كأنها

    غُرَرُ الجيادِ لواحِقُ الأقرابِ

    And let it rise from the mountain passes as though it were

    the white blazes of lean-flanked steeds.

  67. ولأَضْرِبَنَّكُما على ما خُنْتُما

    بصوارمٍ للشِّعرِ غيرِ نَوَابِي

    And I shall strike you both for your betrayal

    with poetry’s swords that never fail to cut,

  68. متواتراتٍ لا تغُبُّكما وهل

    للصُّبحِ راعي الليلِ من إغبابِ

    in succession, leaving you no respite—and is there

    any day’s respite for dawn, the shepherd of night?

  69. تشتقُّ أجبالُ الشَّقيقِ فإن سَرَت

    ذاتَ اليمين خطَتْ غِمارَ الزَّابِ

    They cleave the mountains of al-Shaqiq; if they travel by night

    to the right, they cross the deep waters of al-Zab.

  70. نبلٌ أُغلغلُ منكما مسومةً

    بمكامنِ الأحقادِ والأطرابِ

    Arrows I drive deep into you both, aimed

    at the lurking places of grudges and raptures.

  71. فأريكما الدنيا به مُغبرَّةً

    حتى يُظَنَّ اليومُ يومَ ضَبابِ

    With it I show you both the world dust-darkened,

    until the day is thought a day of fog.

  72. فلْتَعْلَما إن لم تَهُبَّ عليكما

    أبداً نسيمَ جِنايتي وجَنابي

    So take heed, should there fail to blow upon you

    ever a breeze from my harvest and my domain.

  73. وَلْيَحْذَرِ الكّذابُ تِربُكُما يداً

    باتتْ تَحِنُّ إلى طَلَى الكذَّابِ

    And let the liar, your peer, beware a hand

    that spends the night yearning for liars’ throats.

  74. فَلَكَمْ عدوٍّ قد أطلْتُ عَذابَه

    بِكُلومِ رَيِّقَةِ الكلامِ عِذابِ

    How many an enemy’s torment I have prolonged

    with sweet wounds dealt by the choicest speech!

  75. وشَّيْتُها قبلَ الحُتوفِ كما ارتدى

    بالوَشْيِ ظهرُ الحيَّةِ المُنسابِ

    I embroidered them before death, as

    the gliding snake’s back is clothed in embroidery.

  76. لولا أبو الخطَّابِ طالَ تنكُّري

    للخَطْبِ يظلِمُني وساءَ خِطابي

    But for Abu al-Khattab, my rancor would have lasted

    against misfortune that wrongs me, and my speech would have soured.

  77. وهبَتْ شمائلُه الجزيلَ وأَبرأَتْ

    يُمناه من نَدَبِ الزَّمانِ إهابي

    His qualities bestowed abundance, and

    his right hand healed my skin of time’s scars.

  78. وكفاكَ أنَّ الدَّهرَ أَعْتَبَنِي به

    فَكَفَيْتُ عَتْبي عنده وعِتابي

    It is enough that time made amends to me through him,

    so I was spared my grievance and reproaches in his presence.