قل لزيد قد كنت تؤثر بالحل — Amir Ibn Al Tufayl

قُل لِزَيدٍ قَد كُنتَ تُؤثَرُ بِالحِل

مِ إِذا سَفِهَت حُلومُ الرِجالِ

Tell Zayd: you were once famed for forbearance

when men's minds grew foolish.

لَيسَ هَذا القَتيلُ مِن سَلَفِ الحَي

يَ كَلاعٍ وَيَحصُبٍ وَكُلالِ

This slain man is not of the tribe's forebears—

Kalaʿ, Yahsub, and Kulal—

أَو بَني آكِلِ المُرارِ وَلا صي

دِ بَني جَفنَةَ المُلوكِ الطِوالِ

or the sons of Akil al-Murar, nor the proud

sons of Jafna, those towering kings,

وَاِبنِ ماءِ السَماءِ قَد عَلِمَ النا

سُ وَلا خَيرَ في مَقالَةِ غالي

nor Ibn Maʾ al-Samaʾ—as people well know;

and no good lies in an exaggerator's words.

إِنَّ في قَتلِ عامِرِ اِبنِ طُفَيلٍ

لَبَواءً لِطَيِّءِ الأَجبالِ

Indeed, in killing Amir ibn Tufayl

there is surely fitting requital for Tayy of the mountains.

إِنَّني وَالَّذي يَحُجُّ لَهُ النا

سُ قَليلٌ في عامِرٍ أَمثالي

Indeed I—by Him to whom people make pilgrimage—

have few equals among Amir,

يَومَ لا مالَ لِلمُحارِبِ في الحَر

بِ سِوى نَصلِ أَسمَرٍ عَسّالِ

on a day when the warrior has no wealth in war

except the point of a brown, swaying spear,

وَلِجامٍ في رَأسِ أَجرَدَ كَالجِذ

عِ طِوالٍ وَأَبيَضٍ قَصّالِ

and a bridle on the head of a sleek steed, like a palm trunk,

tall, and a white, keen-cutting sword,

وَدِلاصٍ كَالنَهيِ ذاتِ فُضولٍ

ذاكَ في حَلبَةِ الحَوادِثِ مالي

and smooth mail, like a pool, with trailing skirts:

that is my wealth in the arena of adversity.

وَلِعَمّي فَضلُ الرِئاسَةِ وَالسَن

نِ وَجَدٍّ عَلى هَوازِنَ عالي

And my uncle has precedence in chieftainship and age,

and a standing high above Hawazin;

غَيرَ أَنّي أُلى هَوازِنَ في الحَر

بِ بِضَربِ المُتَوَّجِ المُختالِ

but I am foremost among Hawazin in war,

by striking the swaggering, crowned one,

وَبِطَعنِ الكَمِيِّ في حَمَسِ النَق

عِ عَلى مَتنِ هَيكَلٍ جَوّالِ

and by spearing the armored warrior amid raging dust,

on the back of a mighty, wheeling steed.