بالعفر دار من جميلة هيجت — Altofail Alghannoa

بِالعُفرِ دارٌ مِن جَميلَةَ هَيَّجَت

سَوالِفَ حُبٍّ في فُؤادِكَ مُنصِبِ

At al-ʿUfr, a dwelling left by Jamīla has stirred

bygone love in your weary heart.

وَكُنتَ إِذا بانَت بِها غِربَةُ النَوى

شَديدَ القُوى لَم تَدرِ ما قَولُ مُشغِبِ

And when separation's distant exile carried her away, you were

strong of spirit, knowing nothing of a troublemaker's words.

كَريمَةُ حُرِّ الوَجهِ لَم تَدعُ هالِكاً

مِنَ القَومِ هُلكاً في غَدٍ غَيرَ مُعقِبِ

Noble and pure-faced, she left no man to perish

among the folk tomorrow without leaving a successor.

أَسيلَةُ مَجرَى الدَمعِ خُمصانَةُ الحَشا

بَرودُ الثَنايا ذَاتُ خَلقٍ مُشَرعَبِ

Smooth-cheeked where tears flow, slender-waisted,

cool of front teeth, tall and graceful in form.

تَرى العَينُ ما تَهوى وَفيها زِيادَةٌ

مِنَ اليُمنِ إِذ تَبدو وَمَلهَىً لِملعَبِ

The eye sees what it desires, and in her is still more

good fortune when she appears, and delight for one at play.

وَبَيتٍ تَهُبُّ الريحُ في حَجَراتِهِ

بِأَرضِ فَضاءٍ بابُهُ لَم يُحَجَّبِ

And many a tent through whose chambers the wind blows,

on open ground, its doorway never screened,

سَماوَتُهُ أَسمالُ بُردٍ مُحَبَّرٍ

وَصَهوَتُهُ مِن أَتحَمِيٍّ مُعَصَّبِ

its canopy worn pieces of a patterned cloak,

and its ridge of banded Athamī cloth,

وَأَطنابُهُ أَرسانُ جُردٍ كأَنَّها

صُدورُ القَنا مِن بادِئٍ وَمُعَقِّبِ

its ropes the halters of sleek horses, resembling

the fronts of lances, leaders and followers alike,

نَصَبتُ عَلى قَومٍ تُدِرُّ رِماحُهُم

عُروقَ الأَعادي مِن غَريرٍ وَأَشيَبِ

I pitched over a people whose spears make flow

their enemies' veins, young and gray-haired alike.

وَفينا تَرى الطولى وَكُلَّ سَمَيدَعٍ

مُدَرَّبِ حَربٍ وَاِبنِ كُلِّ مُدَرَّبِ

Among us you see supremacy and every noble chief,

seasoned in war, and the son of every seasoned warrior,

طَويلِ نِجادِ السَيفِ لَم يَرضَ خُطَّةً

مِنَ الخَسفِ وَرّادٍ إِلى المَوتِ صَقعَبِ

long of sword-baldric, accepting no condition

of humiliation, ever charging toward death, tall and strong.

تَبيتُ كَعِقبانِ الشُرَيفِ رِجالُهُ

إِذا ما نَوَوا إِحدَاثَ أَمرٍ مُعَطِّبِ

Their men spend the night like the eagles of al-Sharīf

whenever they intend to undertake a destructive deed.

وَفينا رِباطُ الخَيلِ كُلَّ مُطَهَّمٍ

رَجيلٍ كَسِرحانِ الغَضا المُتَأَوِّبِ

Among us are tethered horses, every fine-formed steed,

strong-footed, like the wolf of the ghaḍā returning by night.

يُذيقُ الَّذي يَعلو عَلى ظَهرِ مَتنِهِ

ظِلالَ خَذاريفٍ مِنَ الشَدِّ مُلهِبِ

He makes whoever mounts the back of his spine taste

the shadows of spinning tops in a blazing gallop.

وَجَرداءَ مِمراحٍ نَبيلٍ حِزامُها

طَروحٍ كَعودِ النَبعَةِ المُتَنَخَّبِ

And a sleek, high-spirited mare, broad at the girth,

long-striding, like a carefully chosen stave of nabʿ-wood.

تُنيفُ إِذا اِقوَرَّت مِنَ القَودِ وَاِنطَوَت

بِهادٍ رَفيعٍ يَقهَرُ الخَيلَ صَلهَبِ

She towers when grown lean from being led and drawn tight,

with a lofty neck, tall and powerful, surpassing the horses.

وَعوجٍ كَأَحناءِ السَراءِ مَطَت بِها

مَطارِدُ تَهديها أَسِنَّةُ قَعضَبِ

And bowed mares, like bends of sarā-wood, sped along by

long lances led by Qaʿḍab's spearheads.

إِذا قيلَ نَهنِهها وَقَد جَدَّ جِدُّها

تَرامَت كَخُذروفِ الوَليدِ المُثَقَّبِ

When someone says, 'Rein her in!' and her effort has grown fierce,

she shoots onward like a boy's pierced spinning top.

قَبائِلُ مِن فَرعَي غَنِيٍّ تَواهَقَت

بِها الخَيلُ لا عُزلٍ وَلا مُتَأَشَّبِ

Clans from Ghani's two branches race neck and neck,

borne by horses, neither unarmed nor a mixed rabble.

أَلا هَل أَتى أَهلَ الحِجازِ مُغارُنا

عَلى حَيِّ وَردٍ وَاِبنِ رَيّا المُضَرَّبِ

Has news of our raid reached the people of the Hijaz,

upon Ward's clan and the battered Ibn Rayyā?

جَلَبنا مِنَ الأَعرافِ أَعرافِ غَمرَةٍ

وَأَعرافِ لُبنى الخَيلَ يا بُعدَ مَجلَبِ

We brought horses from the heights—the heights of Ghamra

and the heights of Lubnā—how far a place to fetch them from!

بناتِ الغُرابِ وَالوَجيهِ وَلاحِقٍ

وَأَعوَجَ تَنمي نِسبَةَ المُتَنَسِّبِ

Daughters of al-Ghurāb, al-Wajīh, Lāḥiq,

and Aʿwaj, ennobling the lineage of those who trace their descent.

وِراداً وَحُوّاً مُشرِفاً حَجَباتُها

بَناتِ حِصانٍ قَد تُعولِمَ مُنجِبِ

Red bays and dark bays, their hipbones standing high,

daughters of a stallion widely known to sire fine offspring.

وَكُمتاً مُدَمّاةً كَأَنَّ مُتونَها

جَرى فَوقَها وَاِستَشعَرَت لَونَ مُذهَبِ

And blood-red bays, as though their backs

had been washed over and clothed in the color of gilding.

نَزائِعَ مَقذوفاً عَلى سَرَواتِها

بِما لَم تُخالِسها الغُزاةُ وَتُسهَبِ

Mares of distant stock, their backs heaped with flesh,

for raiders had neither snatched them away nor driven them far.

تُباري مَراخيها الزِجاجَ كَأَنَّها

ضِراءٌ أَحَسَّت نَبأَةً مِن مُكَلِّبِ

Their slack reins race the spear-butts, as though they were

hunting hounds sensing a faint sound from their trainer.

كَأَنَّ يَبيسَ الماءِ فَوقَ مُتونِها

أَشاريرُ مَلحٍ في مَباءَةِ مُجرِبِ

As though the dried moisture upon their backs

were scatterings of salt at the camp of an owner of mangy beasts.

مِنَ الغَزوِ وَاِقوَرَّت كَأَنَّ مُتونَها

زَحاليفُ وِلدانٍ عَفَتَ بَعدَ مَلعَبِ

From raiding they had grown lean, as though their backs

were children's slides, worn smooth after play.

وَأَذنابُها وُحفٌ كَأَنَّ ذُيولَها

مَجَرُّ أَشاءٍمِن سُمَيحَةَ مُرطِبِ

Their tails are thick-haired, as though their trailing lengths

were a train of date-palms from Sumayḥa, bearing ripe fruit.

وَتَمَّت إِلى أَجوازِها وَتَقَلقَلَت

قَلائِدُ في أَعناقِها لَم تُقَضَّبِ

And they reached to their middles, while necklaces swayed

upon their necks, not cut short.

كَأَنَّ سَدى قُطنِ النَوادِفِ خَلفَها

إِذا اِستَودَعَتهُ كُلَّ قَاعٍ وَمِذنَبِ

As though the carders' loose cotton lay behind them

whenever they deposited it in every flat and watercourse.

إِذا هَبَطَت سَهلاً كَأَنَّ غُبارَهُ

بِجانِبِهِ الأَقصَى دَواخِنُ تَنضُبِ

When they descended onto a plain, its dust seemed

at its farthest edge like plumes of smoke from tanḍub-wood.

كَأَنَّ رِعالَ الخَيلِ لمّا تَبَدَّدَت

بَوادي جَرادِ الهَبوَةِ المُتَصَوِّبِ

As though the bands of horses, when scattered,

were leading swarms of locusts descending through the dust.

وَهَصنَ الحَصى حَتّى كَأَنَّ رُضاضَهُ

ذُرى بَرَدٍ مِن وابِلٍ مُتَحَلَّبِ

They crushed the pebbles until their fragments seemed

like crests of hail from a streaming downpour.

يُبادِرنَ بِالفُرسانِ كُلَّ ثَنِيَّةٍ

جُنوحاً كَفُرّاطِ القَطا المُتَسَرِّبِ

They race with their riders toward every mountain pass,

leaning forward like the leading sandgrouse streaming along.

وَعارَضتُها رَهواً عَلى مُتَتابِعٍ

شَديدِ القُصَيرى خارِجِيٍّ مُحَنَّبِ

I rode alongside them easily on a smooth-striding steed,

strong in the short ribs, surpassing his stock, curved of leg.

كَأَنَّ عَلى أَعرافِهِ وَلِجامِهِ

سَنا ضَرَمٍ مِن عَرفَجٍ مُتَلَهِّبِ

As though upon his mane and bridle

glowed the blaze of burning ʿarfaj brush.

كَأَنَّ عَلى أَعطافِهِ ثَوبَ مائِحٍ

وَإِن يُلقَ كَلبٌ بَينَ لِحيَيهِ يَذهَبِ

As though across his flanks lay a water-drawer's garment,

and if a dog were thrown between his jawbones, it would pass through.

إِذا اِنصَرَفَت مِن عَنَّةٍ بَعدَ عَنَّةٍ

وَجَرسٍ عَلى آثارِها كَالمُؤَلَّبِ

When they turned from one encounter after another,

with a clamor upon their tracks like a rallied host,

تُصانِعُ أَيديها السَريحَ كَأَنَّها

كِلابُ جَميعٍ غُرَّةَ الصَيفِ مُهرَبِ

their forelegs maneuver against the leather straps, as though they were

Jumayʿ's hounds, driven to flight at summer's onset.

إِذا اِنقَلَبَت أَدَّت وُجوهاً كَريمَةً

مُحَبَّبَةً أَدَّينَ كُلَّ مُحَبَّبِ

When they returned, they brought back noble faces,

dearly loved, bringing back every dearly loved man.

خَدَت حَولَ أَطنابِ البُيوتِ وَسَوَّفَت

مَراداً وَإِن تُقرَع عَصا الحَربِ تُركَبِ

They trotted around the tent ropes and sniffed

the pasture; if war's staff is struck, they are ridden.

فَلَمّا بَدا حَزمُ القَنانِ وَصارَةٌ

وَوازَنَّ مِن شَرقِيِّ سَلمى بِمَنكِبِ

When the rugged ridge of al-Qanān and Ṣāra came into view,

and they came abreast of a shoulder on Salmā's eastern side,

أَنَخنا فَسُمناها النِطافَ فَشارِبٌ

قَليلاً وَآبٍ صَدَّ عَن كُلِّ مَشرَبِ

we halted and offered them the pools: some drank

a little, and some refused, turning from every drinking-place.

يُرادي عَلى فَأسِ اللِجَامِ كَأَنَّما

يُرادي بِهِ مِرقاةُ جِذعٍ مُشَذَّبِ

He strains against the bit's iron crossbar, as though

a ladder-rung on a stripped trunk strained against him.

وَشَدَّ العَضاريطُ الرِحالَ وَأُسلِمَت

إِلى كُلِّ مِغوارِ الضُحَى مُتَلَبِّبِ

The servants tightened the saddles, and the mares were handed over

to every morning raider, girt for battle.

فَلَم يَرَها الراؤونَ إِلاّ فُجاءَةً

بِوادٍ تُناصيهِ العِضاةَ مُصَوَّبِ

The onlookers saw them only suddenly,

in a downward-sloping valley, thorn-trees crowding its brow.

ضَوابِعُ تَنوي بَيضَةَ الحَيِّ بَعدَما

أَذاعَت بِرَيعانِ السَوامِ المُعَزَّبِ

Forelegs outstretched, they aim for the heart of the clan, after

scattering the foremost of the livestock grazing far afield.

رَأى مُجتَنو الكُرّاثِ مِن رَملِ عالِجٍ

رِعالاً مَطَت مِن أَهلِ سَرحٍ وَتَنضُبِ

The leek-gatherers on the sands of ʿĀlij saw

bands that had galloped from the folk of sarḥ and tanḍub.

فَأَلوَت بَغاياهُم بِنا وَتَباشَرَت

إِلى عُرضِ جَيشٍ غَيرَ أَن لَم يُكَتَّبِ

Their scouts signaled at us and exchanged glad tidings,

toward a host's main body, though it was not marshaled.

فَقالوا أَلا ما هَؤُلاءِ وَقَد بَدَت

سَوابِقُها في ساطِعٍ مُتَنَصِّبِ

They said, 'Look—who are these?' Already in view

were their front-runners in a towering cloud of dust.

فَقال بَصيرٌ يَستَبينُ رِعالَها

هُمُ وَالإِلَهِ مَن تَخافينَ فَاِذهَبي

An observer who could discern their bands replied,

'By God, they are the ones you fear; go!'

عَلى كُلِّ مُنشَقٍّ نَساها طِمِرَّةٍ

وَمُنجَرِدٍ كَأَنَّهُ تَيسُ حُلَّبِ

On every fleet mare, wide-cleft beside her thigh-sinew,

and sleek stallion, like a goat of Ḥullab.

يَذُدنَ ذِيادَ الخامِساتِ وَقَد بَدا

ثَرى الماءِ مِن أَعطافِها المُتَحَلِّبِ

They press onward like camels driven to their fifth-day watering, while visible

upon their flanks is the wetness of streaming water.

وَقيلَ اِقدُمي وَاِقدُم وَأَخٍّ وَأَخِّري

وَهَل وَهَلا وَاِضرَح وَقادِعُها هَبِ

And came the cries: 'Advance! Advance! Kneel! Fall back!'

And 'Hal! Halā! Move aside!'—and their restrainer's 'Hab!'

فَما بَرِحوا حَتّى رَأَوا في دِيارِهِم

لِواءً كَظِلِّ الطائِرِ المُتَقَلِّبِ

They did not leave until they saw within their dwellings

a banner like the shadow of a wheeling bird.

رَمَت عَن قِسيِّ الماسِخِيِّ رِجالُنا

بِأَجوَدَ ما يُبتاعُ مِن نَبلِ يَثرِبِ

Our men shot from al-Māsikhī's bows

the finest arrows that can be bought in Yathrib.

كَأَنَّ عَراقيبَ القَطا أُطُرٌ لَها

حَديثُ نَواحيها بِوَقعٍ وَصُلَّبِ

As though sandgrouse hocks were the frames of those arrows,

their edges newly fashioned with sharpened, hardened steel.

كُسينَ ظُهارَ الريشِ مِن كُلِّ ناهِضٍ

إِلى وَكرِهِ وَكُلِّ جَونٍ مُقَشَّبِ

They were clad in back-feathers from every bird rising

toward its nest, and every poisoned dark bird.

فَلَمّا فَنا ما في الكَنائِنِ ضارَبوا

عَلى القُرعِ مِن جِلدِ الهِجانِ المُجَوَّبِ

When all that was in the quivers was spent, they struck with swords

against bare shields cut from white-camel hide.

فَذوقوا كَما ذُقنا غَداةَ مُحَجَّرٍ

مِنَ الغَيظِ في أَجوافِنا وَالتَحَوُّبِ

Taste, then, what we tasted on the morning at Muḥajjar,

of fury within our hearts and anguish.

أَبَأنا بِقَتلانا مِنَ القَومِ مِثلَهُم

وَما لا يُعَدُّ مِن أَسيرٍ مُكَلَّبِ

For our slain we exacted an equal number from the foe,

and uncounted captives in fetters.

نُخَوّي صُدورَالمَشرَفِيَّةِ مِنهُمُ

وَكُلَّ شُراعِيٍّ مِنَ الهِندِ شَرعَبِ

We draw the Mashrafī sword-points free of them,

and every long, slender blade from India,

بِضَربٍ يُزيلُ الهامَ عَن سَكَناتِهِ

وَيَنقَعُ مِن هامِ الرِجالِ بِمَشرَبِ

with blows that dislodge heads from their resting-places

and slake thirst with a draught from men's heads.

فَبِالقَتلِ قَتلٌ وَالسَوامِ بِمِثلِهِ

وَبِالشَلِّ شَلُّ الغائِطِ المُتَصَوِّبِ

So killing answers killing, and livestock is matched by its like,

and driving off by driving off through the sloping lowland.

وَجَمَّعنَ خَيطاً مِن رِعاءٍ أَفَأنَهُم

وَأَسقَطنَ مِن أَقفائِهِم كُلَّ مِحلَبِ

They rounded up a band of herdsmen and took them as spoil,

knocking every milking-bowl from their napes.

فَرُحنَ يُبارينَ النِهابَ عَشِيَّةً

مُقَلَّدَةً أَرسانَها غَيرَ خُيَّبِ

At evening they went back racing beside the plundered herds,

wearing their halters like necklaces, not disappointed.

مُعَرَّقَةَ الأَلحي تَلوحُ مُتونُها

تُثيرُ القَطا في مَنقَلٍ بَعدَ مَقرَبِ

Lean-jawed, their backs gleaming,

they rouse sandgrouse on a long stage after a short one.

لِأَيّامِها قيدَت وَأَيّامِها جَرَت

لِغُنمٍ وَلَم تُؤخَذ بِأَرضٍ وَتُغصَبِ

For their battle-days they were led, and in their battle-days they ran

for booty, never seized in some land and taken by force.

كَأَنَّ خَيالَ السَخلِ في كُلِّ مَنزِلٍ

يَضَعنَ بِهِ الأَسلاءَ أَطلاءُ طُحلُبِ

As though the silhouettes of their foals at every stopping-place

where they dropped their birth-membranes were fawns of Ṭuḥlub.

طَوامِحُ بِالطَرفِ الظِرابِ إِذا بَدَت

مُحَجَّلَةَ الأَيدي دَماً بِالمُخَضَّبِ

Lifting their gaze toward the knolls when these appear,

their forelegs socked in blood at al-Mukhaḍḍab.

وَلِلخَيلِ أَيّامٌ فَمَن يَصطَبِر لَها

وَيعرِف لَها أَيّامَها الخَيرَ تُعقِبِ

And horses have their days; whoever bears them patiently

and recognizes the worth of their days, they reward with good.

وَقَد كانَ حَيّانا عَدُوَّينِ في الَّذي

خَلا فَعَلى ما كانَ في الدَهرِ فَاِرتُبِ

Our two clans were enemies in what

is past; keep, then, to what has held through time.

إِلى اليَومِ لَم نُحدِث إِليكُم وَسيلَةً

وَلَم تَجِدوها عِندَنا في التَنَسُّبِ

Until this day we have forged no bond toward you,

nor have you found one with us in kinship.

جَزَيناهُمُ أَمسِ الفَطيمَةِ إِنَّنا

مَتى ما تَكُن مِنّا الوَسيقَةُ نَطلُبِ

We paid them back yesterday at al-Faṭīma; indeed,

whenever a herd is driven off from us, we pursue it.

فَأَقلَعَتِ الأَيّامُ عَنّا ذُؤابَةً

بِمَوقِعِنا في مَحرَبٍ بَعدَ مَحرَبِ

So the days drew away, leaving us at the crest,

through our stand on battlefield after battlefield.

وَلَم يَجِدِ الأَقوامُ فينا مَسَبَّةً

إِذا اِستُدبِرَت أَيّامُنا بِالتَعَقُّبِ o

The peoples found no cause for reproach in us,

when our days were reviewed in retrospect. o