وحَومَةٍ غادَرت فُرسانَها

وحَومَةٍ غادَرت فُرسانَها

في مَبْركٍ لِلحَربِ جَعْجاعِ

في مَبْركٍ لِلحَربِ جَعْجاعِ

And many a battlefield whose horsemen you left

A tribe whose horsemen left

in a rough, cramped encampment of war,

For a blessed war, clashing and stirring,

مُسْتَلْحمٍ بالمَوتِ مُسْتشعِرٍ

مُسْتَلْحمٍ بالمَوتِ مُسْتشعِرٍ

مُفَرّقٍ لِلشَّمْلِ جَمَّاعِ

مُفَرّقٍ لِلشَّمْلِ جَمَّاعِ

engulfed in slaughter, clothed in death,

Seeking death, feeling its imminence,

scattering the company, yet gathering together.

Scattering a united group.

وَبلدَةٍ صَحْصَحْتَ مِنها الرُّبا

وَبلدَةٍ صَحْصَحْتَ مِنها الرُّبا

بِفَيْلَقٍ كالسَّيْلِ دَفَّاعِ

بِفَيْلَقٍ كالسَّيْلِ دَفَّاعِ

And many a land whose hills you leveled

And a town whose milch-camels you made desolate

with an army surging like a torrent.

With a torrent-like raid, pouring forth.

كأَنَّما باضَتْ نَعامُ الفَلا

كأَنَّما باضَتْ نَعامُ الفَلا

مِنهُمْ بهامٍ فوقَ أَدْراعِ

مِنهُمْ بهامٍ فوقَ أَدْراعِ

As though the ostriches of the wilderness had laid eggs

As if the ostriches of the wilderness

among them—heads above coats of mail.

Fled from them in fright, above the hill-tracks.

تَراهُمُ عِنْدَ احْتِماسِ الوَغى

تَراهُمُ عِنْدَ احْتِماسِ الوَغى

كَأَنَّهُم جِنٌّ بِأَجْراعِ

كَأَنَّهُم جِنٌّ بِأَجْراعِ

You see them, when battle grows fierce,

You see them when war’s kindling flares up

as though they were jinn on sandy flats,

Like fiery demons with braziers.

بِكُلِّ مَأثورٍ على مَتنِهِ

بِكُلِّ مَأثورٍ على مَتنِهِ

مِثْلُ مَدَبِّ النَّمْلِ في القاعِ

مِثْلُ مَدَبِّ النَّمْلِ في القاعِ

each with a patterned sword, upon whose flat

Each man mounted on his steed

lies a tracery like ants' trails on level ground.

Is like swarming ants on the earth.

يَرتَدُّ طَرفُ العَيْنِ مِنْ حدّهِ

يَرتَدُّ طَرفُ العَيْنِ مِنْ حدّهِ

عَنْ كَوْكَبٍ للموتِ لَمَّاعِ

عَنْ كَوْكَبٍ للموتِ لَمَّاعِ

The eye's gaze recoils from its edge,

The onlooker’s eye recoils in fear

from a brightly flashing star of death.

From their gleaming, death-dealing blades.