الا حييت عنا يا مدينا

وهل بأس بقول مسلَّمينا

Lo, may you be greeted on our behalf, O Madina!

Is there any harm in the words of those offering greetings?

لنا قمر السماء وكل نجم

تشير إليه أيدي المهتدينا

Ours are the moon of heaven and every star

toward which the hands of those seeking guidance point.

وجدت الله إذ سمى نزاراً

واسكنهم بمكة قاطنينا

I found that God, when He named Nizar

and settled them as inhabitants in Mecca,

لنا جعل المكارم خالصات

وللناس القفا ولنا الجبينا

made noble virtues ours alone:

others have the nape, while we have the forehead.

وما ضربت هجائن من نزار

فوالج من فحول الأعجمينا

No purebred she-camels of Nizar were mounted

by great camel-stallions of foreign stock.

وما حملوا الحمير على عتاق

مطهرة فيلفوا مبغلينا

They never mounted asses upon noble mares,

undefiled, to be found breeding mules.

وما سمَّوا بأبرهة اغتباطاً

بشر ختونة متزينينا

They never proudly named their children Abraha,

adorning themselves with a shameful marriage alliance.

وما وجدت نساء بني نزار

حلائل أسودين وأحمرينا

Nor have I found the women of Nizar's sons

wives of black-skinned or red-skinned men.

ومن عجب عليّ لعمر أمٍ

غذتك وغيرها تتايمنينا

A marvel to me—by the life of the mother

who nourished you—is your claiming Yemen through another.

تجاوزت المياه بلا دليل

ولا علم تَعَسَّفُ مخطئينا

You passed the watering places without a guide

or landmark, wandering blindly and going astray.

فإنك والتحول من معد

كهيلة قبلنا والحالبينا

For you, in abandoning Ma‘add,

are like Hayla before our time and the milkers.

تخطت خيرهم حلباً ونَسئا

إلى الوالي المغادر هاربينا

She passed over their best for milk and watered milk

for the protector who abandons those fleeing to him.

كعنز السوء تنطح عالفيها

وترميها عِصيّ الذابحينا

Like a wicked she-goat that butts those feeding her,

while the slaughterers' sticks rain down upon her.

هم أولاد عمران بن عمرو

مضيعي نسبة أو حافظينا

They are the offspring of ‘Imran ibn ‘Amr,

whether neglecting their lineage or preserving it.

فإما الأزدُ أزدُ أبي سعيد

فاكره أن أسمِّيها المزونا

As for the Azd, the Azd of Abu Sa‘id,

I dislike calling them al-Mazun.

فأي عمارة كالحي بكر

إذا اللزبات لقبت السنينا

What tribal host is like the clan of Bakr

when calamities give the years their names—

اكر غداة اباس ونقر

واكشف للأصائل إن عرينا

fiercer in attack on the morning of Abas and Naqr,

and better at sheltering noble women when left bare?

تضيق بنا الفجاج وهنَّ فِيحٌ

ونهجرُ ماءَها السدم الدفينا

The mountain passes grow narrow with us, though they are broad,

and we forsake their neglected, buried water.

ويأرِم كلَّ نابتةٍ رعاء

وحشاشاً لهن وحاطبينا

Shepherds strip away every growing plant,

with fodder-gatherers for them and woodcutters.

وكان يقال إن بني نزار

لَعلاَّت فأمسوا توأمينا

It used to be said that Nizar's sons

were half-brothers; now they have become twins.

تنبه بعد رقدته نزار

لهم بالملحفات معاندينا

Nizar awakened after his slumber,

defying them with relentless assaults.

وينصُبْن القدور مشمِّرات

يُخالسن العَجاهنة الرِئينا

The women set up the pots with their garments tucked up,

stealing glances at the hulking men [final epithet unclear].

ولو جهَّزت قافية شروداً

لقد دخلت بيوت الأشعرينا

Were I to send out a far-ranging rhyme,

it would surely enter the houses of the Ash‘aris.

ولارتحلت من العربان نضوا

غنياً عن رحالة منطفينا

It would journey from the Arabs like a worn-out camel,

needing no saddles from men wearing earrings.

ظعائنُ من بني الحُلاَّفِ تأوِي

إلى خُرسٍ نواطقَ كالفتينا

Women in litters from Banu al-Hullaf take shelter

with mute yet speaking men, like the bewitched [uncertain].

يرون الجوب ما نزلوه خِصباً

محافظةً وكالأُنُف الدرينا

They deem the hollow wherever they settle fertile,

out of loyalty, and its dry herbage like untouched pasture.

كأن الأم أمَ صداه لما

جلوا عنه غُطاطة حابلينا

It was as though the mother were the mother of his owl, when

they drew away its covering, acting as trappers.

ولا أكوي الصحاح براتعات

بهن العُرّ قبلي ما كوينا

I do not cauterize healthy beasts because of grazing ones

afflicted with mange; before me, we did not cauterize them.

اياد حين تنسب من معد

وإن رغمت أنوف الراغمينا

Iyad, when its lineage is reckoned, belongs to Ma‘add,

though the noses of those resentful be rubbed in dust.

وكانوا في الذؤابة من نزار

وأهل لوائها متنزرينا

They stood at the crest of Nizar,

the people of his banner, claiming descent from Nizar.

ترى أبناءنا غُرلاً عليها

وننكؤهم بهن مختنينا

You see our sons upon them, uncircumcised,

and we cut them with these, circumcising them.

وذلك ضرب أخماس أريُدت

لأسداسٍ عسى ألا يكونا

That is a reckoning of fifths intended

as sixths—may it never come to pass.

وضم قواصِيَ الأحياء منهم

فقد رجَعُوا كحي واحدينا

Their far-flung clans were gathered together;

they have returned as a single clan.

أراد الناس من خَلَفي نِزار

ضلالاً يمتنعن ويلتوينا

People sought from Nizar's two teats

in vain: they resisted and twisted away.

أرادوا أن تُزايلَ خالقات

أديمهم يقسِن ويمترينا

They wished the hide-cutting blades [uncertain] to part

their skins, measuring them and drawing milk.

بضرب لا دواء له وطعن

ترى منه الأساة مولينا

With blows for which there is no cure, and spear-thrusts

from which you see the healers turning away.

سقينا الأزرق اليزني منه

واكعب صعدة حتى روينا

We gave the blue Yazani blade a drink of it,

and the joints of a spear-shaft, until we were sated.

أَلُقطة هدهد وجنودَ أنثى

مبرشِمة ألحمي تأكلونا

O foundling of a hoopoe, and armies of a woman

heavy-lidded—do you eat my flesh?

ولولا آل علقمة اجتدعنا

بقايا من أنوف مُصَلَّمينا

But for the house of ‘Alqama, we would have cropped

what remained of the noses of those mutilated men.

وفي أيامِ هاتٍ بهاءِ نُلفى

إذا زرم الندى مُتَحلِّينا

In days of 'Give!', we are found answering 'Take!',

adorned with generosity when bounty runs dry.

وأضحكت الضباعَ سيوفُ سَعْد

بقتلى ما دُفن ولا ودينا

Sa‘d's swords made the hyenas laugh

with slain men neither buried nor compensated by blood-money.

وشطَّ ولي النوى أن النوى قُذفُ

تيَّاحة غربة بالدار أحيانا

The companion of separation grew distant; separation is far-flung,

restless exile, sometimes within one's very home.

علام تقول همدان احتذينا

وكندة بالقوارص مجلبينا

Why does Hamdan say, 'We were taken as models,'

with Kinda raising a clamor of biting taunts?

ضفادع جيأة حسِبت أضاةً

منضِّبةً ستمنعها وطينا

Frogs in a pool imagined that a puddle,

fast drying up, would shield them from our tread.

يرى الراؤون بالشَّفَرات منها

وَقودَِ أبي حُباحِب والظُّبينا

Those looking see upon its cutting edges

the fire of Abu Hubahib and the blades.

وراج لين تغلبَ عن شِظافٍ

كَمتدن الصَّفا كيما يلينا

One hoping that Taghlib's harshness will soften

is like one approaching rock to make it yield.

وبالعَذَوات منبتنا نُضارٌ

ونبع لا فَصَافِصْ في كبُينا

On wholesome uplands, our stock grows as nudar wood

and nab‘ wood, with no clover in our bundles.

وغادرنا المقاوِل في مَكَرَ

كخُشب الأثأبِ المتغطرسينا

We left the chieftains in Makar,

those arrogant men, like logs of ath’ab trees.

نعلمها هَبِى وَهَلا وارحِبْ

وفي أبياتنا ولنا افتُلينا

We teach her 'Give!', 'Move!', and 'Make room!',

and, in our houses, 'Spin for us!'

وسيف الحارث المعلوب أردى

حُصَيْناُ في الجبابرة الرَّدِينا

Al-Harith's sword, al-Ma‘lub, brought down

Husayn among the fallen tyrants.

وغادرنا على حُجر بن عمرو

قشاعمَ ينتهشن وينتقينا

We left over Hujr ibn ‘Amr

old vultures tearing flesh and picking morsels.

ومن عجب بجيلَ لعمرُ أُمٍّ

غذتك وغيرها تتأممينا

A marvel, Bajil—by the life of the mother

who nourished you—that you take another as mother!

فجعجنا بهن وكان ضرب

ترى منها جماجمهم فيْنا

We penned them in with these, and there were blows

from which you see their skulls among us.

فإن أدع اللواتي من أناس

أصاغرهن لا أدع الذينا

Though I spare the women of certain folk,

their lesser ones, I will not spare the men.

ونحن غداةَ ساحوق تركنا

حماةَ الأجدلين مُجَدَّلينا

On the morning of Sahuq, we left

the defenders of al-Ajdalayn thrown to the ground.

وخضنا بالقُرات إلى عدى

وقد ظنت بنا مُضَرُ الظنونا

At al-Qurat we plunged toward foes,

while Mudar entertained its suspicions about us,

بحوراً تَغْرَق السُّبَحاء فيها

ترى الجُرْدَ العِتاقَ لها سفينا

into seas in which even swimmers drown:

you see sleek thoroughbreds serving as their ships.

ويبلغُ سُخنُها الاقدام منكم

إذا أرتَانِ هيجتا أرينا

Their heat reaches your feet

when two hearths stir up many fires.

فإني قد رأيت لكم صدودا

وَتحْسَاء بعلةِ مرتغينا

For I have seen your turning away,

and secret sipping under the pretext of skimming froth.

ولم نفتأ كذلك كل يوم

لشأفةِ واغرٍ مستأصلينا

Every day we have continued thus,

uprooting the very root of a resentful foe.

ولا أرمي البرىَّ بغير ذنب

ولا أقفو الحواصن إن قفينا

I do not accuse the innocent without a fault,

nor slander chaste women when they are slandered.

ونحن وجندلٌ باغٍ تركنا

كتائبَ جندلٍ شتى عزينا

We, while Jandal was the aggressor, left

Jandal's battalions scattered in separate bands.

كأن بني ذويبة رهط قرد

فراش حول نار يصطلينا

As though the sons of Dhuwayba, Qird's clan,

were moths warming themselves around a fire:

يطفُن بحَّرها ويقعن فيها

ولا يدرين ماذا يتقينا

they circle its heat and fall into it,

not knowing what they should avoid.

فما ابن الكيّس النمري فيكم

ولا أنتم هناك بدغفلينا

Ibn al-Kayyis al-Namari is not among you,

nor are you Daghfals in that matter.

ولا تلجن بيوت بني سعيد

ولو قالوا وراءك مصفحينا

Do not enter the houses of Banu Sa‘id,

even if they say 'Back!', using their swords' flat,

بضرب يتبع الألِلىّ منه

فتاة الحيَّ وسطهم الرنينا

with blows whose cries of pain make

the clan's girl echo them with wailing in their midst.