1. نبأ له تَصلى القلوبُ وتخشعُ

    وتفيض بالعَبرِ الجفونَ وتَهْمَعُ

    News at which hearts burn and bow humbly,

    and eyelids overflow with tears and stream.

  2. نبأ تكادُ الأرض ترجف عنده

    وتكاد ثَمَّ جبالها تتصدَّعُ

    News at which the earth almost trembles,

    and there its mountains almost split apart.

  3. نبأ له طَفقَ الملوكُ بُغمَّةٍ

    حيراءً تلهف ليلها وتفجَّعُ

    News that left kings in a cloud of grief,

    bewildered, lamenting and mourning through the night.

  4. أحسامُ أوصبَ هَمُّ يومكَ خاطري

    والهمُّ يخطر بالقلوبِ فيلذعُ

    O Husam, the grief of your day has sickened my mind;

    grief passes through hearts and sears them.

  5. أحسامُ أوجعني رَداكَ ولم أكن

    قِدماً ليُوجعني مَصابٌ موجعُ

    O Husam, your death has pained me; never before

    had a grievous calamity brought me pain.

  6. أحسامُ عَزَّ عليَّ فقدكَ من أخٍ

    عَفِ الشَّمائلِ جوده ما يُقلعُ

    O Husam, hard for me is losing you, a brother

    of chaste character, whose generosity never ceases.

  7. للهِ أنتَ رَبيبَ تختٍ أرْوَعاً

    قِدْماً نماه ربيبُ تختٍ أروعُ

    God be praised for you, an awe-inspiring scion of a throne,

    reared long ago by an awe-inspiring scion of a throne.

  8. سحقاً ليومكَ كم أراقَ وكم شَجا

    دمعاً وقلباً قبله لا يجزعَ

    Accursed be your day! How much it spilled, how deeply it grieved—

    tears, and a heart that had never quailed before it.

  9. ما خِلت أن الطودَ يُحمل قبل ذا

    حتى يمرَّ عليَّ نعشك يُرفعُ

    Before this, I never thought a mountain could be carried,

    until your bier passed me, borne aloft.

  10. لا كانَ يومكَ يا ابن أُمّ فإنه

    يوم أمَرُّ من الحمام وأفجعُ

    Would that your day had never been, O son of my mother! For it

    is a day more bitter than death, more grievous.

  11. لهفي عليكَ كلهفِ جيلٍ أصبحوا

    تجتاحُهم نُوب الزمانِ وتقرعُ

    My anguish for you is like that of a people who awoke

    to the ravages and blows of time's calamities.

  12. لهفي عليكَ كلهفِ ضيف طارق

    ألفى مُناخكَ وهو صِفر بَلْقَعُ

    My anguish for you is like that of a guest arriving by night,

    who found your encampment empty, a desolate waste.

  13. لهفي عليكَ كلهفِ راجٍ أصبحت

    آماله بكَ وهي حَسرِي ظلَّعُ

    My anguish for you is like that of a hopeful man whose

    hopes in you have grown exhausted and lame.

  14. لهفي عليكَ كلهفِ حيَّ لم يقُم

    فيهم يضُّرك ما ذهبتَ وينفعُ

    My anguish for you is like that of a tribe with no one left

    among them to harm you or help you while you are gone [wording unclear].

  15. لهفي عليكَ كلهفِ أُمٍ بَرَّةٍ

    فقدت جنيناً فهي ثكلى تنزعُ

    My anguish for you is like that of a loving mother

    who lost an unborn child, bereaved and yearning.

  16. لهفي عليكَ كلهِفِ طفلٍ قطعّت

    منه العلائقُ فهو باكٍ يفجَعُ

    My anguish for you is like that of a child whose

    bonds were severed, leaving him weeping in grief.

  17. لهفي عليك كلهفِ خيلٍ أصبحت

    آذانُها لمصابِها بكَ تجدعُ

    My anguish for you is like that of horses whose

    ears are cropped in mourning for their loss of you.

  18. ضَعضعتنا أسفاً عليكَ ولم نكن

    لولا رَدَاكَ لنكبةٍ نتضعضعُ

    You have broken us with grief for you; we would not

    have crumbled before calamity, but for your death.

  19. إن أمسِ مأثوماً بقتلكَ إنني

    بكَ يا ابنَ سيّدِ يعربٍ لمُفَجَّعُ

    If I have incurred guilt by killing you, truly I am

    stricken with grief for you, O son of the lord of Ya'rub.

  20. قطعت يدي عمداً يدي وتوهمي

    من قبل انَّ يداً يداً لا تَقطعُ

    My hand deliberately cut off my own hand, though I had thought

    before that one hand would not cut off another.

  21. لا يُبعدنكَ الله ربكَ راحلاً

    أضحى لنيَّةِ ذاهبٍ لا يرجعُ

    May God, your Lord, never send you far away, a traveler

    who has set out for a destination with no return.

  22. ولعاً بجدّكَ من جَوَادٍ عاثرٍ

    جَد الزمانِ له عَثور يَظلعُ

    And may your fortune rise again, noble steed that stumbled,

    for whom time's fortune stumbles and limps,

  23. لما أتاحَ لك الإله منَّية

    فإذا المنيةُ أقبلت لا تُدفعُ

    when God ordained a death for you;

    for once death approaches, it cannot be repelled.

  24. ولقد تقود الصافناتِ شَوازبا

    قُباً تَناقل في الشكيم وتَمزعُ

    Indeed, you would lead the poised steeds, lean-flanked,

    slim-bellied, moving nimbly against their bits and galloping.

  25. ولقد تجود بما ملكت وما اغتدى

    شَادٍ بمدحك في المحافلِ يِصدعُ

    Indeed, you gave freely of what you owned, even when no

    singer came forth proclaiming your praise in assemblies.

  26. حَسَّنْت تأتينَ المصاقعِ مثل ما

    حسنتُ مدحاً فيك كان يُرَّصعُ

    You beautified the orators' [eulogies?], just as

    I beautified the praise of you that was richly adorned.

  27. أأخي أذْلتَ مَصونَ دمعي فانبرى

    يطأُ الخدودَ إذا يجود ويَهْمَعُ

    O my brother, you humbled my guarded tears, and they sprang forth

    to tread my cheeks, pouring freely and streaming.

  28. أوحدتني وذهبتَ ثم تركتني

    أبكي لفقدكَ كلَّ قبرٍ يوضعُ

    You left me alone and departed, then left me

    weeping for your loss at every grave that is made.

  29. كم قد ظللت على ضريحكَ باكياً

    لو أن ذلكَ يا ابنَ تُبعَ ينفعُ

    How often I remained beside your tomb, weeping,

    if only that could help, O son of Tubba'!

  30. ولكم وقفت مسلمّاً ومكلماً

    لو كان يعقل ميتٌ أو يسمعُ

    How often I stood offering greetings and speaking,

    if only a dead man could understand or hear!

  31. تفديكَ من حَدَثِ المنيةِ أُسرتي

    يا ابنَ الملوكِ وكلُّ مالٍ أجمعُ

    May my family ransom you from death's calamity,

    O son of kings, and all the wealth I gather.

  32. قد كان سيفكَ قبل يومك قاطعاً

    فغدَا بيومكَ نائباً لا يقطعُ

    Before your day, your sword cut keenly,

    but on your day it grew blunt, unable to cut [uncertain reading].

  33. أحفظتني لفظاً أتيحَ منيَّةَ

    خطرت ولم يك ثمَّ عنها مدفعُ

    You angered me with an utterance; a death was decreed,

    it came, and there was no defense against it.

  34. فاللهُ يجزيكَ الجِنانَ مثوبةً

    منه ورَبَّكَ فهو نعمَ المفَزَعُ

    So may God reward you with the Gardens as recompense

    from Him; by your Lord, He is the finest refuge.

  35. فلأبكينَّك ما استحنَّ لإلفهِ

    إلف وما غدت الحمائمُ تسجَعُ

    I shall surely weep for you as long as there yearns for its mate

    a loving companion, and as long as doves keep cooing.

  36. أبلغْ بَني اللُّؤماءِ أن مهنَّدي

    أمضى السيوفِ وأن عزمي أقطعُ

    Tell the sons of the ignoble that my Indian-steel blade

    is the keenest of swords, and my resolve cuts deeper.

  37. هل فيكم كأخي لديَّ جَلالةً

    وهو الذي أضحى بسيفي مُصرعُ

    Is there among you anyone as majestic in my eyes as my brother,

    though it was he who lay slain by my sword?

  38. فأنا النذيرُ لكلِّ قومٍ بعدها

    مني بفاقرةٍ تَسُحُّ وتهمعُ

    I am the warner to every people thereafter

    of a back-breaking scourge from me, pouring and streaming down.

  39. فذروا التعاظمَ واتّقوا مني فتى

    كل الكماةِ له تذِل وتخضعُ

    So abandon your pride, and beware of a warrior in me

    before whom all armored champions bow and submit.

  40. لا فرقَ بينكم وبين نسائكم

    عندي وهنَّ لديَّ منكم أشجعُ

    To me there is no difference between you and your women,

    and in my eyes they are braver than you.

  41. وكأنني بكمُ وقد جاءَتكمُ

    والبيضُ تلمعُ والأسنَّة شُرَّعُ

    It is as though I see you once it has come upon you,

    with bright swords flashing and spearheads leveled:

  42. كنعاجٍ توضحَ شَدَّ فيها ضَيغمٌ

    فغدت نَوَافر شَتُّها لا يجمعُ

    like the ewes of Tawdih, charged by a lion,

    scattering in flight, their scattered flock beyond gathering;

  43. أو كالجَرادِ علا ففرَّق شمله

    في ظلّ مُدْجَنةٍ حريقٌ زعزعُ

    or like locusts rising, their swarm scattered

    in a dark cloud's shadow by a raging blaze.

  44. فلأنقلنَّ إلى الطغاةِ رَحى رَدىً

    أبداً يدور بها الزمانُ المفجعُ

    I shall surely bring to tyrants a millstone of death,

    turned forever by grief-bringing time.

  45. ولأنشئَنَ غمائماً من نقمةٍ

    جُوناً ووابلها الذُّعاف المُنْقعُ

    And I shall surely raise clouds of vengeance,

    black, their downpour a potent, deadly poison,

  46. ثَهمي فأَيةُ لينةٍ لم تنقعر

    لهم وأية قلعةٍ لا تقلِعُ

    pouring down—what palm has not been uprooted

    of theirs, and what fortress will not be torn away?

  47. كيفَ التذاذى بالرُّقاد وها هنا

    بيضٌ معطَّشة وطيرُ جُوَّعُ

    How can I savor sleep, when here are

    thirsty blades and hungry birds,

  48. وفوارسُ كأسود بيشة في الوغى

    لا تنثني رَهَباً ولا تتكعكعُ

    and horsemen like the lions of Bishah in battle,

    who do not turn aside in fear or recoil,

  49. وقَناً خَواطرُ كلها خَطيَّةٌ

    فيها سِنانُ كالمنارةِ يلمعُ

    and swaying spear-shafts, all from al-Khatt,

    with points flashing like a beacon,

  50. وسَوابق قُبُّ البطونِ كأنها

    إن ثارَ عيثرها الذئابُ الهُرَّعُ

    and swift steeds, lean-bellied, seeming—

    if their dust rises—like wolves rushing headlong?

  51. شرفُ الملوكِ على العبادِ لأنهم

    قوم أبَاحهم الممالكَ تُبَّعُ

    Kings surpass their subjects in honor because they

    are a people to whom Tubba' granted kingdoms.

  52. قومي بنو ماءِ السماءِ ودَوحتي

    هُودُ النبيُّ نجارها والمَنبعُ

    My people are the sons of Ma' al-Sama', and my family tree—

    Hud the Prophet is its stock and source.

  53. ولنا إذا ضَنَّ الغَمامُ مواهب

    محمودة تشفي اللَّهاةَ وتنفعُ

    And when the clouds withhold their rain, ours are gifts

    worthy of praise, healing the throat and bringing benefit.

  54. رفع الإلهُ على النجومِ محلنا

    واللهُ يخفض من يشاء ويرفعُ

    God has raised our station above the stars,

    and God lowers whom He wills and raises them.