Ode LXXXIX: Far away has Salma gone, and

Far away has Salma gone, and taken up her abode among enemies, towards whom thou urgest on the unbroken young she-camels ;

And my people inhabit the mountain-side of Qanawan, while she dwells in the meadows of Bishah and ar-Rubab.

And my sword it was that cut the tie between me and her, when I dealt, with full purpose, a sudden blow upon Kilab by killing Khalid,

And when al-Ahwas and his son took charge of her : already were they wroth with me, but they hit not the mark.

Yea, of set purpose I clothed those twain with a robe of shame, even as I clothe their women with mourning garb ;

And in sooth on the Day of Ghamrah — this is no vain boast ! — I left the booty and the many captives to others.

Nay, never will I revile Quraish, let whomsoever it may concern take offence thereat or no !

My people are not in truth Tha'labah son of Sa'd, nor the men of Fazarah with hairy necks :

My people, if thou askest, are the Sons of Lu'ayy in Mecca, they who taught mankind how to smite with the sword.

Foolish were we when we followed the Sons of Baghid, and left those nearest to us as men count kinship,

Like the folly of one sent on ahead [to arrange for watering the herds], who, when he has drunk his fill, pours the water on the ground and follows the mirage.

By thy life ! verily I love Ka'b and Samah my brothers as I love wine !

Ghatafan was no father to me, but Lu'ayy was my begetter in very truth ;

And when I looked on the Sons of Lu'ayy, I felt in me the glow of affection due to close ties of kinship.

I raised my spear when they cried ' Quraish ', and I recognized the like-ness in disposition and in lofty rank.

My company is a piece split off from them [and planted] in Najd, who are a torment to those who war against them.

Every day they hold opposed to the [enemy's] hosts their Mashrafite swords and their javelins.

Yea, by God ! I never incurred the guilt of any crime, nor did I ever rend the veil of one of my own kin.

And if I had wished, I had been one of them, [a settled townsman], and had not wandered [over the wilderness], following the clouds [for pasture] ;

I had not spent the summer in ash-Sharabbah, every day keeping the flies away from their waters—

Brackish waters in an evil lodging, where their camel-calves pass the night shivering and hungry.

It is as though a crown were bound on [my tribesmen's] brows, when their camels, lean and emaciated, come down to the water to drink.

And Rawahah the Quraishite filled my camel-saddle with his own camel, and looked not for requital—

[A beast on which the saddle-trees, the girth, and my keen sword [in its bag], seemed as though they were bound upon a slender-waisted sturdy wild-ass.]