سماط ما أراه أم مناخ

لا بعرة تقام وتستناخ

Is what I see a banquet spread, or a camel encampment

For camels made to stand and kneel?

تراها وهي مشوية قياما

صحاحا ما بمفصلها انفتاخ

You see them standing, though they are roasted,

Intact, with no looseness in their joints.

قياما في السماط وحولتيها

طيور ماحواليها فراخ

Standing on the spread, and on either side of them

Are birds, with chicks surrounding those.

تحاول أن تطير وأين منها

مطار والأكف لها فخاخ

They try to fly—but where can they find

Flight, when hands are traps for them?

وضأن فيه تأكل من كلاها

وما ببطونها منه انتفاخ

And sheep there feed on their own kidneys,

Yet their bellies are not swollen by it.

وذاك الميل من تيه وزموا

بقرب منك فهي به بذاخ

That leaning comes from pride and swagger

At being near you; in this they exult.

ولم لا تزدهي كبراً وتيها

وقد ظهرت وزال الاتساخ

And why should they not exult in pride and haughtiness,

Now that they are revealed and the dirt is gone?

وأوطاها البساط تمام طهر

فقمن وبالحلوق لها انظماخ

The completion of purification set them upon the carpet,

So they stood, while throats were smeared by them.

تعرت عن غواشيها فأبدى

محاسنها تعر وانسلاخ

They shed their coverings, and revealed

Their beauties through baring and flaying.

يصاح بها فتعطي من ينادي

بها أذنابها ارتتق الصماخ

They are called to, and offer whoever calls

To them their tails—the ear-passages are blocked.

فبعض عقلت منها وبعض

قيام بالأنوف لها شماخ

Some of them are hobbled, while others

Stand with their noses held high.

تراها والأكف تنال منها

صموتا لارغاء ولا صراخ

You see them, while hands take from them,

Silent, with neither bellowing nor cries.

عظيمات الجسوم وليس فيها

دفاع إن دفعن ولا طباخ

Massive of body, yet possessing

No resistance when pushed, nor any vigor.

رأى جملاً سميطا

كما هو لا انكسار ولا انشداخ

He saw a camel roasted whole,

Just as it was, unbroken and uncrushed.

يقوم على قوائمه ويثني

فيبرك لا انحناء ولا انيراخ

It stands on its legs and folds them,

Then kneels, with neither bending nor sagging.

عجائب كل يوم منك تأتي

لأولادها بأخراها انتساخ

Wonders come from you every day,

Their offspring superseded by the latest of them.

وكان لحاتم قالوا قدور

بإحداهن للشاة انطباخ

They say Hatim had cauldrons,

In one of which a sheep was cooked.

فهل سمعت لحاتم قط أذن

بتنور به جمل يناخ

But has any ear ever heard that Hatim had

An oven where a camel was made to kneel?

وأخرى قائم شويا جميعاً

وما عضو ألمَّ به انفساخ

And another: standing, roasted whole,

With not one limb coming apart?

وأين إناء شاة من إناء

به جملان بينهما انفلاخ

What is a sheep’s vessel beside a vessel

Holding two camels, with a gap between them?

وهذا الملك فادر وما سواه

تراب الأرض والماء النقاخ

This is kingship—know it—and all else

Is the earth’s dust and clear water.

بحاتم شسع عبدالله يفدي

وألف مثل ذاك ولا ابتذاخ

Abdullah’s sandal-thong would be ransomed with Hatim,

And a thousand like him—and this is no boast.

وما كالمالك المنصور ملك

وشتان البيادق والرخاخ

No king is like the sovereign al-Mansur;

How far apart are pawns and rooks!

مليك لا يقاس إلى نظير

وأين من الرُبا الخضر السباخ

A sovereign who cannot be measured against a peer:

What are salt flats beside green hills?

وما فخر المباهي بالركايا

على من سيل مفخره جلاخ

What glory has one who boasts of wells

Over one whose glory flows in a roaring torrent?

وهل للأسد في الغابات كفو

من البقر الجوامس والاراخ

Has the lion in the forests any equal

Among cattle, buffaloes, and wild calves?

لك الدنيا وجيش شقد ملاها

وأقطار البلاد بها تذاخ

The world is yours, and an army has already filled it,

And by it the lands’ far reaches are subdued.

لهم بك منة الطعن المزكي

إذا غاضوك والضرب القفاخ

Through you they receive the boon of purifying spear-thrusts,

When they provoke you—and skull-crushing blows.

وحليتك الذوابل والمواضي

بكف لا الخواتم والفتاخ

Your adornment is slender lances and keen blades

In hand, not rings and broad ring-bands.

حويت من المكارم كل بكر

إذا سمعت بكل الأعداء ساخوا

You have gained every virgin among noble virtues;

Whenever the enemies hear of each, they sink away.

وأولعت العلى بك في شباب

ولم ترغب إليهم حين شاخوا

Lofty glory fell in love with you in youth,

Yet did not desire them when they grew old.

تود الشهب خدمتك اعتياضا

إذا لم ترض منهم أن يواخوا

The bright stars wish to serve you as an alternative,

If you will not accept them as brothers.

وويل للعدا بك بعد ويل

إذا اضطرم الترامي والرضاخ

Woe upon woe to your enemies through you,

When the exchange of missiles and crushing blows blazes.

وما مثل الترامي بالمنايا

من الرشق الترشش والنضاخ

Exchanging death-dealing missiles cannot be matched

By the spray and splash of a volley.

فلا يطع الهوى منكم رشيد

فيحصل في الأمور الايتلاخ

Let no wise man among you obey desire,

Lest confusion arise in affairs.

فسيروا مثل سير الناس رفقاً

فأحسن سيرة الركب الوصاخ

Travel as people travel, gently;

For the finest pace for riders is a steady trot.

عجبت لجهلهم إن تغض ثاروا

وإن تفتح لهم عينيك باخوا

I marvel at their folly: if you lower your gaze, they rise;

And if you open your eyes on them, they die down.

وما بين العدى والموت مهما

غمدت السيف إلا الإِمتلاخ

Between the foes and death, whenever

You sheathe the sword, lies only its drawing.

وجُرد الخيل قد صبت عليهم

وأرماح وعقبان فتاخ

Sleek horses have been poured down upon them,

And lances, and broad-winged eagles.

تخون الأرض أخيلهم فتردى

قوائمهن في الأرض انسياخ

The earth betrays their horses, and down plunge

Their legs, sinking into the ground.

تدوس الأرض خيلك وهي أرض

وإن داسوا فآبار زلاخ

Your horses tread the earth, and it remains earth;

But when they tread it, it becomes slippery-sided wells.

إذا لم يكرموا ذلوا وهانوا

وإن أكرمتهم بطروا وطاخوا

If they are not honored, they become abject and despised;

Honor them, and they grow insolent and arrogant.

تصير الأرض بحرا من وعيد

إذا اركبتهم إياه داخوا

The earth becomes a sea of threats;

When you make them ride it, they reel.

وعيد لا يقر عليه رضوى

ولا يقوى لأضعفه اصاخ

A threat beneath which Radwa cannot stand firm,

Nor can Asakh withstand even its weakest force.

سيصطرخون والاسياف فيهم

تعاور حين لا يغنى اصطراخ

They will cry for help, while swords among them

Strike in turn, when cries for help avail nothing.

وظنوا تحت جلد البغي شحما

وغرهم من السمن النفاخ

They imagined fat beneath oppression’s hide,

And mere swelling deceived them into thinking it fat.

وفي إذن الجهول إذا تلمه

على تفريطه الصمم الصلاخ

In the fool’s ear, when you rebuke him

For his negligence, there is utter deafness.

فلا برحت سيوفك كل يوم

بها لرؤوس أعداك انفصاخ

May your swords never cease, each day,

To split the heads of your enemies.