فِدىً لَكُما رِجْلَيَّ أُمِّي وخَالَتِي

فِدىً لَكُما رِجْلَيَّ أُمِّي وخَالَتِي

بِسَعْيِكُما بَيْنَ الصَّفا والأَثَائِبِ

بِسَعْيِكُما بَيْنَ الصَّفا والأَثَائِبِ

May my mother and aunt be your ransom, my two legs,

My mother's and aunt's feet are a ransom for you both

for your running between the smooth rocks and the fig trees,

For your toil between al-Safa and al-Marwah's hills

أَوَانَ سَمِعْتُ الَقْومَ خَلْفيِ كَأَنَّهُمْ

أَوَانَ سَمِعْتُ الَقْومَ خَلْفيِ كَأَنَّهُمْ

حَرِيقُ أَباءٍ في الرياحِ الثَّواقِبِ

حَرِيقُ أَباءٍ في الرياحِ الثَّواقِبِ

when I heard the men behind me, as though they were

When I heard the people behind me, it was as if

a reed-bed blaze in piercing winds.

They were a blazing fire amidst the piercing winds

سُيُوفُهم تَغْشَى الجَبَانَ ونَبلُهُمْ

سُيُوفُهم تَغْشَى الجَبَانَ ونَبلُهُمْ

يُضِيُء لِدى الأَقْوام نَاَر الحُباحِبِ

يُضِيُء لِدى الأَقْوام نَاَر الحُباحِبِ

Their swords assail the coward, and their arrows

Their swords overwhelm the coward and their arrows

kindle Hubahib's fire among the bands.

Illuminate the tribes like the flames of embers

فَغَيْرُ قِتالي في المَضِيقِ أَغَاثَنيِ

فَغَيْرُ قِتالي في المَضِيقِ أَغَاثَنيِ

ولَكِنَّ بَذْلِي الشَّدَّ غَيْرَ الأكِاذِبِ

ولَكِنَّ بَذْلِي الشَّدَّ غَيْرَ الأكِاذِبِ

So it was not my fighting in the narrow pass that saved me,

But it was not my fighting in the narrow pass that saved me

but my giving all to running—not false boasts.

Rather my utmost effort not vain boasts

حَطَطْتُ على جَنْبِي الشِّمالِ وَعَيَّعُوا

حَطَطْتُ على جَنْبِي الشِّمالِ وَعَيَّعُوا

حُطُوطَ رَبَاعٍ مُحْضِر الجَرْيِ قَاربِ

حُطُوطَ رَبَاعٍ مُحْضِر الجَرْيِ قَاربِ

I sped away, leaning left, while they shouted,

I leaned on my left side and they shouted

with the headlong rush of a mature camel racing toward water.

The shouts of a poet composing near the well

نَجَوْتُ نجَاءً لا أَطُبُّكَ طِبَّه

نَجَوْتُ نجَاءً لا أَطُبُّكَ طِبَّه

ويَنْزو بَشِيرٌ نزْوَ أَزْعَرَ خَاضِبِ

ويَنْزو بَشِيرٌ نزْوَ أَزْعَرَ خَاضِبِ

I made a swift escape whose art I cannot teach you,

I escaped an escape I do not praise to you

and Bashir leapt like a sparsely feathered, red-legged ostrich.

While the harbinger heralds like a squint-eyed disputant

وَجَدْتُ بعيراً هامِلاً فرَكِبْتُه

وَجَدْتُ بعيراً هامِلاً فرَكِبْتُه

فَكاَدتْ تَكُونُ شَرَّ رَّكْبةِ رَاكِبِ

فَكاَدتْ تَكُونُ شَرَّ رَّكْبةِ رَاكِبِ

I found a stray camel and mounted it;

I found a burdened camel so I rode it

and it nearly proved the worst ride a rider ever had—

Nearly becoming the worst rider

أبَى وأَلاتٍ قَدْ تَحصْحَصَ ريشُهُ

أبَى وأَلاتٍ قَدْ تَحصْحَصَ ريشُهُ

يِجِيءَ بِأَوْبِ الشَّدِّ مِنْ كُلِّ جانِبِ

يِجِيءَ بِأَوْبِ الشَّدِّ مِنْ كُلِّ جانِبِ

on a sire of fleet-running ostrich hens, whose plumage had grown sparse,

It refused and twisted, its feathers rustling

coming with sweeping strides from every side.

Coming with the difficulty from every side

كَأنَّ رَوَاُقَيْ ظُلَّةٍ غَامِدِيَّة

كَأنَّ رَوَاُقَيْ ظُلَّةٍ غَامِدِيَّة

عَلى ماَ أَقَلَّ رأْسُه بالمناكِبِ

عَلى ماَ أَقَلَّ رأْسُه بالمناكِبِ

It was as though the two flaps of a Ghamidi canopy

As if its litters were a shadowed late morning

hung over the shoulders that held his head aloft.

Lowering its head to the camel litter