1. وفتيان صدق من تميم تنَاثلوا

    دروعهمُ والليل ضافي الوشائعِ

    And true young men of Tamim cast off

    their armor, while night spread its ample woven folds.

  2. وقِيذينَ من عرقِ السري وقلوبهم

    شدادٌ على مرِّ الخطوب الصَوادع

    Exhausted by the sweat of night travel, their hearts

    were steadfast against bitter, shattering misfortunes.

  3. يقودون جُرْداً مضمراتٍ كأنها

    كواسرُ عقبانِ الشُريفِ الأباقعِ

    They lead short-coated, lean horses, as though they were

    swooping, mottled eagles of al-Sharif.

  4. تجارى إلى شعواء إلا السيف عندها

    بصادٍ ولا ظامي الرجال بناقِع

    They race toward a savage battle; there the sword alone

    is thirsty, and no thirsty warrior is quenched.

  5. ضمنتُ لهم مُلك العراق فأوسعوا

    ضِرابَ الطُّلى بالمرهفات القواطعِ

    I pledged them dominion over Iraq, so they multiplied

    their blows to necks with keen, cleaving blades.

  6. وكنتُ إذا ما ساورتني كريهةٌ

    برزتُ لها في جحفلٍ من مجاشعِ

    And whenever an ordeal assailed me,

    I went forth to meet it amid a mighty host of Mujashiʿ.

  7. فلم أستكن من صرف دهرٍ لحادثٍ

    ولا ارتعتُ من وقع الخطوب لرائع

    I never submitted to a calamity from time's vicissitudes,

    nor did misfortunes' impact make me quake at any terror.

  8. قدعك ما اسْطَعْتِ الغداةَ فإِنها

    صبابةُ مجدٍ لا هوىَ بالبراقِعِ

    Restrain me as much as you can this morning, for this

    is longing for glory, not love of veils.

  9. سَلي غانيات الحيِّ عن مُتخَمِّطٍ

    إذا السجف ميطت عن ظباء الأجارع

    Ask the tribe's beauties about a proud, fierce man

    when curtains were drawn aside from the gazelles of sandy flats.

  10. وكم زوْرة قابلتُّها بتجنُّبٍ

    ومبذولِ وصلٍ رعتُه بالقطائعِ

    And how many a visit I met with avoidance,

    and offered intimacy I frightened off by severing ties!

  11. وسَكرى من الوجد الدخيل أبحتها

    عَفافَ تقيٍّ لا عفاف مُخادعِ

    And to a woman drunk with deep-seated passion I granted

    a pious man's chastity, not a deceiver's chastity.

  12. إذا المرءُ لم يعتدَّ إلا لصَبْوةٍ

    أتاهُ الردى ما بين ناءٍ وقاطعِ

    If a man prepares himself for nothing but infatuation,

    death comes to him between one absent and one who severs ties.

  13. وإنْ هو لم يجهدْ إلى العزِّ نفسه

    تحمَّل أَوْقَ الذلِّ في زيِّ وادعِ

    And if he does not strain his soul toward honor,

    he bears the burden of abasement in a carefree man's guise.

  14. أبي اللهُ إلا وثْبةً مُضريَّةً

    تُبيحُ المواضي من دماءِ الأخادعِ

    God allowed nothing but a Mudarite leap into battle,

    giving keen blades free access to blood from the neck-veins,

  15. تعمُّ الفضا من أدْكن البُرْد قاتمٍ

    وتكسو الثَّرى من أحمر اللون ناصع

    blanketing the open air in dusky, dark-mantled gloom,

    and clothing the earth in vivid crimson.

  16. فلا تاجَ إلا وهو في رُسْغ سابحٍ

    ولا رأس إلا وهو في كفِّ قاطعِ

    No crown remains but at a galloping steed's fetlock,

    and no head but in a severer's hand.

  17. إذا ما حَموا أرواحهم بدروعِهم

    أبحْنا حِماها بالرماح الشَّوارعِ

    When they protected their lives with their armor,

    we laid their sanctuary open with leveled spears.

  18. وإنْ ناجَزونا بالطِّعان سفاهةً

    أبحْنا حِماها بالرماح الشَّوارعِ

    And if they foolishly met us in spear-combat,

    we laid their sanctuary open with leveled spears.

  19. وإنْ ناجَزونا بالطَّعان سفاهةً

    أعدناهم بالرق بعض البضائع

    And if they foolishly met us in spear-combat,

    we reduced them through bondage to so much merchandise.

  20. إِلامَ أذودُ النفس عما تَرومهُ

    ذيادَ المطايا عن عِذابِ المشارعِ

    How long shall I drive my soul away from what it seeks,

    as mounts are driven from sweet watering places?

  21. فإنْ أنا لم أَخبطْ لها الوعرَ عاسفاً

    بإكراهها بين السُّرى والوقائعِ

    For if I do not beat through rough terrain for it, forcing my way,

    compelling it through night marches and battles,

  22. فهمي من فرط الكآبة قاتلي

    وعزمي من حرِّ البسالة باخعي

    my anguish will kill me through sheer excess of sorrow,

    and my resolve will slay me with the heat of valor.

  23. بدا لأصحابي غمامٌ كما بدتْ

    أعيَلامُ رضْوى للمُجدِّ المتابِع

    A cloud appeared to my companions, as

    Radwa's towering heights appear to a traveler pressing on.

  24. تعرَّضَ نجدياً كأنَّ وميضَهُ

    سيوفٌ جلاها صاقلٌ غِبَّ طابعِ

    It spread across from Najd, its flashing seeming

    like swords a polisher had burnished after the smith.

  25. كأنَّ العِشارَ المُثْقلات أجاءَها

    مخاضٌ فجاءت بين موفٍ وواضع

    As though heavily pregnant she-camels had been driven

    by labor: some at full term, others giving birth.

  26. فما زعزعتهُ الريحُ حتى تصادمت

    على الأكم أعناقُ السيولِ الدوافع

    No sooner had the wind shaken it than there collided

    upon the hills the necks of rushing torrents.

  27. فآضتْ له البيداءُ يَمّاً وبُدِّلتْ

    يرابيعُ ذاك المُنحنى بالضفَّادعِ

    The desert became a sea because of it, and

    the jerboas of that bend were replaced with frogs.

  28. فلا موضعٌ إلا مُخيضُ ركابهِ

    ولا واضعٌ إلا فُويْقَ المناقِعِ

    No hastening rider but made his mounts wade,

    and none proceeded except just above the pools.

  29. فقال خبيرُ القوم عامٌ بغبطةٍ

    نديُّ الثرى والجوِّ غضُّ المراتعِ

    The party's seasoned man said: a year of prosperity,

    moist in earth and air, fresh in its pastures.

  30. فقلتُ لأنْدى منه لو تعلمونَهُ

    أناملُ نوشَرْوان تهمي لقانعِ

    I said: more lavish with moisture than it, if you knew,

    are Nusharwan's fingertips, pouring down for a petitioner:

  31. سحائبُ تَمْريها العُفاةُ فيَغتدي

    على القوم منها هامعٌ إِثرَ هامعٍ

    clouds milked by supplicants, so at dawn there comes

    upon the people from them downpour after downpour.

  32. صدوقُ الحيا للشَّائمينَ الْتماعهُ

    إذا كذبتْ غرُّ البروق اللَّوامعِ

    His gleam promises true rain to those who watch for it,

    when bright, flashing lightnings lie.

  33. يُضيءُ بها الَّلأواء أَبْلَجُ دأبُهُ

    بناءُ المعالي واصطناع المصانعِ

    A radiant man lights up hardship with them; his constant work is

    building eminence and bestowing favors.

  34. فتى الحيِّ أما دارهُ فَلِلاجيءٍ

    شريدٍ وأمَّا زادهُ فَلجائعِ

    The tribe's noble youth: his house is for a refugee,

    a homeless wanderer, and his provisions for the hungry.

  35. سليمُ دواعي الصدر مستهطل الندى

    قشيبُ رداءِ الحلم عَفُّ المسامعِ

    Pure in his heart's impulses, pouring down bounty,

    his robe of forbearance fresh, his hearing chaste,

  36. ينالُ خطيرَ المجد في زيِّ خاملٍ

    ويعلو العُلى في حِلْيةِ المُتواضعِ

    he wins weighty glory in an obscure man's guise,

    and climbs the heights in a humble man's garb.

  37. يَخيلُ بمْراقٍ من البشرِ كلما

    ألاحَ أَضاءَتْ مظلماتُ المطامعِ

    He promises rain with a gleam of good cheer; whenever

    he shines, the dark recesses of hope are lit.

  38. ويحتقرُ الوفْرَ الجزيلَ وأنَّهُ

    لبَاذِلهُ والعامُ يَبْسُ المَراتعِ

    He scorns abundant wealth, and indeed

    gives it away even when the year's pastures are dry.

  39. إذا احتبت الغلب الرقاب وجاذبت

    رادءَ العُلى والمجد أيدي المجامعِ

    When thick-necked men sit girded and compete,

    the hands of assemblies tugging at eminence and glory's mantle,

  40. أُقِرَّ لهُ بالسبقِ غيرَ مُنازعٍ

    وأُلْقِي عنانُ الفخرِ غير مُنازعِ

    his precedence is acknowledged without a challenger,

    and the reins of pride are yielded without a rival.

  41. كأَنَّ على أخلاقه من بَنانهِ

    ندىً حملتهُ من بساطِ الأشاجعِ

    As though upon his character, from his fingertips,

    lay dew carried from the spread of his knuckles.

  42. يُغيرُ عليه الحلمُ غير مُخذَّل

    ويمضي به الإِقِدامُ غيرَ مُراجعِ

    Forbearance assails him without leaving him helpless,

    and boldness carries him onward, never turning back.

  43. ويهتزُّ للمعروف عندَ انْتدائه

    تأَوُّدَ غُصنِ البانَة المُتتابعِ

    He sways with delight in kindness when giving,

    like the repeated bending of a bān-tree branch.

  44. له حليةُ الشَّهم الزميعِ مع العدى

    وفي الله كاسٍ ثوبَ خَشْيان خاشع

    He has the adornment of a bold, resolute man before his foes,

    and before God is clad in the robe of one fearful and humble.

  45. ودودٌ لو أنَّ الهجرَ زادٌ لساغبٍ

    لألْفيتهُ مُستهتراً بالمجاوعِ

    So loving that, were estrangement food for a hungry man,

    you would find him passionately devoted to hunger.

  46. طوى شرف الدين السًّرى لمحلقٍ

    من المجدِ مردٍ بالسُّرى والنزائع

    Sharaf al-Din traversed the night toward a soaring height

    of glory that defeats night marches and far-brought steeds.

  47. فغادر طُلاب المعالي رذيَّةً

    لإِدراكهِ ما بني مُعْيٍ وظالعِ

    He left the seekers of eminence like worn-out mounts,

    trying to catch him, some exhausted and others lame.

  48. هنيئاً لك النَّجْلُ الكريم فإنُه

    ضياءُ شهابٍ نوَّر الأفْقَ ساطعِ

    Joy to you in your noble son, for he is

    the light of a blazing meteor that illumined the horizon.

  49. عبدتَ وحاولت المزيدَ من التُّقى

    فجئتَ بعبدٍ مُسلمِ الدين طائعِ

    You worshiped and sought an increase in piety,

    and brought forth an obedient servant, submitting in faith.

  50. فأما التي أنْ نلْتها كنت رافِعاً

    لها وسَناها منك ليسَ برافعِ

    As for that which, if you attained it, you would bring elevation

    to it: its radiance comes from you; it does not elevate you.

  51. فتهنئتي للناسِ فيها لأنَّهم

    بك اعتصموا من مُردياتِ المصارع

    My congratulations for it are therefore to the people, for they

    have taken refuge in you from deadly downfalls.