Ode LXXXIII: Mayst thou be safe from the

Mayst thou be safe from the changes of Time, O Fatimah : and if thou askest me of them, thou askest in me one who knows them well !

We went forth in the morning to meet our foes, and the swords were our staves in our right hands, wherewith we test and try the skulls [of our enemies].

By my life ! we fed full the hyaenas of 'Unaizah for a year with them, and the old and feeble vultures.

[The hyaenas] suck out the marrow from the ends of the long bones in the early morning ; and we print [with our swords] an abiding mark on the noses [of our foes] ;

[And many the man despoiled of his mail-coat and his weapons have we left with the wolf standing over him, tearing his flesh.]

But as for the brother of Qurt, — I am not jesting — say to him : ' Be thou safe, so long as Murrah is safe ! '