Sol 6.1

  1. أَلا يا لِهَمدانٍ فَجِدّوا وَشَمِّروا

    فَقَد ضافَكُم في القَومِ إِحدى الكَبائِرِ

    Listen, O Hamdan! Be resolute and gird yourselves.

    For a great calamity has visited you among the people.

  2. وَنادوا مُراداً ثُمَّ زُمّوا سِلاحَكُم

    وَضُمّوا جِيادَ الخَيلِ ضَمَّ المُكاثِرِ

    And summon Murad, then bind on your weapons,

    and gather noble steeds as one seeking strength in numbers.

  3. فَإِنّي أَرى قَوماً أَقادوا نُفوسَهُم

    وَصاحِبُهُم فيما يُرى أَيُّ غادِرِ

    For I see a people who have made their own lives forfeit,

    and their leader, to all appearances, is a traitor indeed.

  4. وَنادوا سَحارا يا لكَعبُ سَراتِكُم

    فَلَيسَ جَهولٌ بِالأُمورِ كخابر

    And summon Sahar; call on Ka'b, your chieftains.

    For one ignorant of affairs is not like one who knows.

  5. فَفي حِميَرٍ أَربابُ مُلكٍ وَنَخوَةٍ

    جَبابِرَةٌ ما فَوقَها مِن جَبابِرِ

    For among Himyar are lords of sovereignty and pride,

    mighty rulers with none mightier above them.

  6. وَنادوا زُبَيداً غابَ عَنها زَعيمُها

    وَما هُوَ فيها مُذ أَجالَ بِصادِرِ

    And summon Zubayd, whose leader has gone away;

    and he has not returned to it since he went roaming.

  7. فَمَن مُبلِغٌ عَنّي عَدِيّاً رِسالَةً

    وَيُخبِرهُ عَنّي وَلَستُ بِحاضِرِ

    Who, then, will carry a message from me to 'Adi,

    and tell him on my behalf, though I am not present,

  8. بِأَنَّكُم أَمكَنتُمُ مِن نُفوسِكُم

    وَفي عَقِبِ الأَيّامِ السَرائِرِ

    that you have put your own lives within others' grasp,

    and in the wake of days lie secrets?

  9. بَني مازِنٍ هَلّا عَذَلتُم أَخاكُم

    وَقُلتُم لَهُ قَولَ الشَفيقِ المُحاذِرِ

    Sons of Mazin, why did you not admonish your brother,

    and speak to him with the words of one caring and wary:

  10. هَلُمَّ وَلا تَطرَح يَدَيكَ إِلى العِدى

    فَتوعِبَ أُذنٌ بَعدَ جَدعِ المَناخِرِ

    Come, and do not cast your hands toward the enemy,

    lest an ear be severed outright after the nostrils are mutilated.

  11. فَإِن تَسلَموا مِنّا نَرَ الأَمرَ مُقبِلاً

    وَإِن تَعطَبوا نَثأَر بِبيضٍ بَواتِرِ

    For if you escape us, we shall see the affair prospering;

    and if you perish, we shall take vengeance with white, cleaving blades,

  12. وَكُلِّ رُدَينِيٍّ أَصَمَّ عَنَطنَطٍ

    يَلوحُ كنَجمٍ في المَجَرَّةِ زاهِرِ

    and with every solid, towering Rudayni spear,

    gleaming like a bright star in the Milky Way,

  13. وَالجوفِ مِن هَمدانَ ما عادَلَ الحَصا

    فَوارِسُ هَيجٍ غَيرُ ميلٍ عَواوِرِ

    and with al-Jawf of Hamdan, as numerous as the pebbles—

    horsemen of battle, neither unsteady riders nor cowards.

  14. إِذا اِستَلأَموا شُبّاكَهُم فَتَواثَبوا

    كَمُردَفِ عِقبانِ الشُرَيفِ الكَواسِرِ

    When they don their meshed mail, they spring forward,

    like al-Sharif's swooping eagles, one following another.

  15. وَتَنظرُ أَهلُ الظاهِرَينِ رَديفَهُ

    فَمِن بَينِ ذي دِرعٍ وَمِن بَينِ حاسِرِ

    And you see the people of al-Zahirayn following him,

    some clad in mail and others without armor.

  16. كَأَنَّ عَزيفَ الجِنِّ بَينَ قِسِيِّهِم

    إِذا ضَبَحَت بِالمُحصَداتِ الجَبائِرِ

    As though the eerie cries of jinn were among their bows,

    when the bow splints groan against tightly twisted strings.