حي الغداة برامة الأطلالا — Jarir

حَيِّ الغَداةَ بِرامَةَ الأَطلالا

رَسماً تَحَمَّلَ أَهلُهُ فَأَحالا

Greet the ruins at Rama this morning,

a trace whose people departed, and it grew desolate.

إِنَّ السَوارِيَ وَالغَوادِيَ غادَرَت

لِلريحِ مُختَرَقاً بِهِ وَمَجالا

The night rains and morning rains have left

a passage there for the wind, and room to roam.

لَم أَلْقَ مِثلَكَ بَعدَ عَهدِكَ مَنزِلاً

فَسُقيتَ مِن سَبَلِ السِماكِ سِجالا

I have found no dwelling like you since the days I knew you;

so may al-Simak's rains drench you in brimming bucketfuls.

أَصبَحتَ بَعدَ جَميعِ أَهلِكَ دِمنَةً

قَفراً وَكُنتَ مَرَبَّةً مِحلالا

After all your people left, you became a dung-marked ruin,

a wasteland, though you had been a settled, much-inhabited home.

وَلَقَد عَجِبتُ مِنَ الدِيارِ وَأَهلِها

وَالدَهرِ كَيفَ يُبَدِّلُ الأَبدالا

And I have indeed marveled at dwellings and their people,

and at Time—how it replaces one lot with another!

وَرَأَيتَ راحِلَةَ الصِبا قَد أَقصَرَت

بَعدَ الوَجيفِ وَمَلَّتِ التِرحالا

And you have seen youth's riding-camel hold back

after rapid trotting, and grow weary of traveling.

إِنَّ الظَعائِنَ يَومَ بُرقَةِ عاقِلٍ

قَد هِجنَ ذا سَقَمٍ فَزِدنَ خِبالا

Indeed, the women in their litters, on the day at Burqat 'Aqil,

roused an ailing man and worsened his derangement.

طَرِبَ الفُؤادُ لِذِكرِهِنَّ وَقَد مَضَت

بِاللَيلِ أَجنِحَةُ النُجومِ فَمالا

The heart stirred with longing at their memory, though already

the stars' wings had passed through the night, and the heart inclined.

يَجعَلنَ مَدفَعَ عاقِلَينِ أَيامِناً

وَجَعَلنَ أَمعَزَ رامَتَينِ شِمالا

They keep the outlet of 'Aqilayn to their right,

and set Ramatayn's stony ground to their left.

لا يَتَّصِلنَ إِذا اِفتَخَرنَ بِتَغلِبٍ

وَرُزِقنَ زُخرُفَ نِعمَةٍ وَجَمالا

When they boast, they claim no kinship with Taghlib,

and were granted luxury's splendor and beauty.

طَرَقَ الخَيالُ لِأُمِّ حَزرَةَ مَوهِناً

وَلَحَبَّ بِالطَيفِ المُلِمِّ خَيالا

Umm Hazra's apparition visited late at night,

and how dear a vision was that visiting phantom!

يا لَيتَ شِعري يَومَ دارَةِ صُلصُلٍ

أَتُريدُ صُرمي أَم تُريدُ دَلالا

Oh, would that I knew, on the day at Darat Sulsul:

do you wish to cut me off, or merely to play coy?

لَو أَنَّ عُصمَ عَمايَتَينِ وَيَذبُلٍ

سَمِعَت حَديثَكِ أَنزَلَ الأَوعالا

If the white-legged ibex of 'Amayatayn and Yadhbul

heard your speech, it would bring the ibex down.

حُيِّيتِ لَستِ غَداً لَهُنَّ بِصاحِبٍ

بِحَزيزِ وَجرَةَ إِذ يَخِدنَ عِجالا

Greetings to you! Tomorrow you will not be their companion

on Wajra's rugged ridge, as they trot in haste.

أَجهَضنَ مُعجَلَةٌ لِسِتَّةِ أَشهُرٍ

وَحُذينَ بَعدَ نِعالِهِنَّ نِعالا

They miscarried prematurely at six months,

and were fitted with fresh soles after their own wore out.

وَإِذا النَهارُ تَقاصَرَت أَظلالُهُ

وَوَنى المَطِيُّ سَآمَةً وَكَلالا

And when daylight's shadows grew short

and the mounts flagged from weariness and exhaustion,

رَفَعَ المَطِيُّ بِكُلِّ أَبيَضَ شاحِبٍ

خَلَقِ القَميصِ تَخالُهُ مُختالا

the mounts hastened with every fair-skinned, gaunt rider,

wearing a threadbare shirt, whom you would think swaggering.

إِنّي جُعِلتُ فَلَن أُعافي تَغلِباً

لِلظالِمينَ عُقوبَةً وَنَكالا

I was made—and I shall not spare Taghlib—

a punishment and a deterrent for wrongdoers.

قَبَحَ الإِلَهُ وُجوهَ تَغلِبَ إِنَّها

هانَت عَلَيَّ مَراسِناً وَسِبالا

May God disfigure Taghlib's faces; indeed, they

have become contemptible to me, muzzles and moustaches alike.

قَبَحَ الإِلَهُ وُجوهَ تَغلِبَ كُلَّما

شَبَحَ الحَجيجُ وَكَبَّروا إِهلالا

May God disfigure Taghlib's faces whenever

the pilgrims raise their arms and loudly proclaim God's greatness.

عَبَدوا الصَليبَ وَكَذَّبوا بِمُحَمَّدٍ

وَبِجِبرَئيلَ وَكَذَّبوا ميكالا

They worshiped the cross and disbelieved in Muhammad,

and in Gabriel, and denied Michael.

وَالتَغلِبِيُّ إِذا تَنَحنَحَ لِلقِرى

حَكَّ اِستَهُ وَتَمَثَّلَ الأَمثالا

And when a Taghlibi clears his throat to offer hospitality,

he scratches his arse and quotes proverbs.

أَنَسيتَ يَومَكَ بِالجَزيرَةِ بَعدَما

كانَت عَواقِبُهُ عَلَيكَ وَبالا

Have you forgotten your day in al-Jazira, after

its aftermath proved a calamity for you?

حَمَلَت عَلَيكَ حُماةُ قَيسٍ خَيلَها

شُعثاً عَوابِسَ تَحمِلُ الأَبطالا

Qays's defenders drove their horses against you,

shaggy and grim-faced, bearing champions.

ما زِلتَ تَحسِبُ كُلَّ شَيءِ بَعدَهُم

خَيلاً تَشُدُّ عَلَيكُمُ وَرِجالا

Ever since them, you have kept taking everything

for horses charging against you, and men.

زُفَرُ الرَئيسِ أَبو الهُذَيلِ أَبادَكُم

فَسَبى النِساءَ وَأَحرَزَ الأَموالا

Zufar the chief, Abu al-Hudhayl, destroyed you,

then captured the women and secured the wealth.

قالَ الأُخَيطِلُ إِذ رَأى راياتِهِم

يا مارَ سَرجِسَ لا نُريدُ قِتالا

Al-Ukhaytil said, when he saw their banners:

'O Mar Sergius, we want no fighting!'

هَلّا سَأَلتَ غُثاءَ دِجلَةَ عَنكُمُ

وَالخامِعاتُ تُجَمِّعُ الأَوصالا

Why did you not ask the Tigris's flotsam about yourselves,

while the limping hyenas gathered the limbs?

تَرَكَ الأُخَيطِلُ أُمَّهُ وَكَأَنَّها

مَنحاةُ سانِيَةٍ تُديرُ مَحالا

Al-Ukhaytil abandoned his mother, as though she were

the track of a water-drawing camel turning pulley wheels.

وَرَجا الأُخَيطِلُ مِن سَفاهَةِ رَأيِهِ

ما لَم يَكُن وَأَبٌ لَهُ لِيَنالا

And al-Ukhaytil hoped, through the folly of his judgment,

for what neither he nor a father of his could attain.

خَلِّ الطَريقَ فَقَد رَأَيتَ قُرومَنا

تَنفي القُرومَ تَخَمُّطاً وَصِيالا

Clear the road: you have seen our camel-stallions

repel other stallions in fury and assault.

تَمَّت تَميمي يا أُخَيطِلُ فَاِحتَجِز

خَزِيَ الأُخَيطِلُ حينَ قُلتُ وَقالا

My Tamim has attained perfection, O al-Ukhaytil; gird yourself!

Al-Ukhaytil was disgraced when I spoke and he spoke.

لَو أَنَّ خِندِفَ زاحَمَت أَركانُها

جَبَلاً أَصَمَّ مِنَ الجِبالِ لَزالا

If Khindif's pillars jostled

a solid mountain among the mountains, it would shift.

إِنَّ القَوافِيَ قَد أُمِرَّ مَريرُها

لِبَني فَدَوكَسَ إِذ جَدَعنَ عِقالا

Indeed, the rhymes' cord has been twisted tight

for the sons of Fadawkas, when they cut off 'Iqal's nose.

وَلَقيتَ دوني مِن خُزَيمَةَ مَعشَراً

وَشَقاشِقاً بَذَخَت عَلَيكَ طِوالا

Before reaching me, you met a company from Khuzayma,

and long camel throat-sacs swelling proudly over you.

راحَت خُزَيمَةُ بِالجِيادِ كَأَنَّها

عِقبانُ مُدجِنَةٍ نَفَضنَ طِلالا

Khuzayma went forth with steeds that seemed

like eagles of a dark rain-cloud, shaking off fine rain.

إِنّا كَذاكَ لِمِثلِ ذاكَ نُعِدُّها

تُسقى الحَليبَ وَتُشعَرُ الأَجلالا

Indeed, thus we prepare them for the like of that,

given milk to drink and clad in horse-blankets.

ما كُنتَ تَلقى في الحُروبِ فَوارِسي

ميلاً إِذا رَكِبوا وَلا أَكفالا

You never found my horsemen in battle

unsteady when mounted, nor inept in the saddle.

صَبَّحنَ نِسوَةَ تَغلِبٍ فَسَبَينَها

وَرَأى الهُذَيلُ لِوِردِهِنَّ رِعالا

They raided Taghlib's women at dawn and captured them,

and al-Hudhayl saw squadrons as they came to water.

قَيسٌ وَخِندِفُ إِن عَدَدتَ فَعالَهُم

خَيرٌ وَأَكرَمُ مِن أَبيكَ فَعالا

Qays and Khindif, if you count their deeds,

are better and nobler in deeds than your father.

إِن حَرَّموكَ لَتَحرُمَنَّ عَلى العِدى

أَو حَلَّلوكَ لَتُؤكَلَنَّ حَلالا

If they declare you forbidden, you will surely be forbidden to enemies,

or, if they declare you lawful, you will surely be eaten lawfully.

هَل تَملِكونَ مِنَ المَشاعِرِ مَشعَراً

أَو تَنزِلونَ مِنَ الأَراكِ ظِلالا

Do you possess even one sacred precinct among the holy sites,

or lodge in the shade of the arak trees?

فَلَنَحنُ أَكرَمُ في المَنازِلِ مَنزِلًا

مِنكُم وَأَطوَلُ في السَماءِ جِبالا

Surely our dwelling is nobler among dwellings

than yours, and our mountains rise higher into the sky.

قُدنا خُزَيمَةَ قَد عَلِمتُم عَنوَةً

وَشَتا الهُذَيلُ يُمارِسُ الأَغلالا

We led Khuzayma by force, as you know,

and al-Hudhayl spent the winter struggling with fetters.

وَرَأَت حُسَينَةُ بِالعَدابِ فَوارِسي

تَحوي النِهابَ وَتَقسِمُ الأَنفالا

And Husayna saw my horsemen at the sand's edge,

gathering plunder and dividing spoils.

وَلَوَ انَّ تَغلِبَ جَمَّعَت أَحسابَها

يَومَ التَفاضُلِ لَم تَزِن مِثقالا

And if Taghlib gathered its ancestral honors,

on the day of comparison, they would not weigh a mithqal.

لا تَطلُبَنَّ خُؤولَةً في تَغلِبٍ

فَالزَنجُ أَكرَمُ مِنهُمُ أَخوالا

Never seek maternal kin among Taghlib,

for the Zanj are nobler maternal uncles than they.

وَرَمَيتَ هَضبَتَنا بِأَفوَقَ ناصِلٍ

تَبغي النِضالَ فَقَد لَقيتَ نِضالا

And you shot at our crag with a broken-nocked, headless arrow,

seeking an archery contest; now you have met one.

لَولا الجِزا قُسِمَ السَوادُ وَتَغلِبٌ

في المُسلِمينَ فَكُنتُمُ أَنفالا

Were it not for tribute, al-Sawad and Taghlib would have been divided

among the Muslims, and you would have been spoils.