Ode XII: May God requite the mixed multitude

May God requite the mixed multitude of the tribe, all of them, in Darat Maudu', for their disloyalty and their sin !

—The sons of our uncle they, the nearest of them to us, of our own household, Fazarah, what time War hurled upon us a mighty mass of trouble,

Cousins of our cousins, of the same stock by birth, and a cousin knit to us by an oath, yet obstinate in wronging us, sworn together against us !

So, when I saw that love brought me no profit, and that there was upon me a Day that showed the stars at noon, dark as night,

We stood stoutly our ground — and endurance was from of old our inborn nature — with our swords that sever hand and wrist ;

They split the skulls of men once most dear — but they showed themselves most disloyal, doers of foul wrong :

Faces of enemies, yet in our breasts was but lately love— but all love has departed, and none is left !

Would that Abu Shibl had seen the charge of our horse against theirs between as-Sitar and Adhlam !

We thrust at them with our spears, taking as spoil the short-haired steeds spare as lances, while the spoil that fell to them was the hard lance-shafts straightened in the clip :

That even when the spears sufficed not for our rage of battle, nor the arrows — nought would serve us but the Mashrafite swords that cut straight through the bone.

From early dawn until night fell none couldst thou see but the warrior who knew his own spirit, marked with the blazon of valour,

And the short-haired steed like a wolf smitten by the chill dew of night, and the mare well-knit, like a she-wolf, long-bodied, hard as a rock.

They trample, the steeds, from the multitude of the slain and the splinters of the broken spears, as it were a soft soil full of burrows, and heavy is the running therein !

Mounted thereon are warriors whom Muharriq has equipped — and when he clothed any, fair and noble the outfit he gave !—

Broad blades of Busrh, which its smiths have polished so that they are without speck or blemish, and mail-coats unbroken from head to foot, of David's weaving, the rings set close ;

They poise tawny lances, the choicest of Kudainah's store : when they are set in motion, their fore-parts drip with blood.

O men of Tha'labah ! if ye had been our comrades in a war like this, then would we have defended your cistern from being broken down ;

And were it not for certain men of Kizam son of Mazin, and the house of Subai', or that I should pain thee, O 'Alqamah,

I would assuredly swear that Muharib should not cease to be through me in sore distress, until they came to a change of mind,

And until they beheld a people whose gums water [with desire for slaughter], as they brandish their spears, a mighty host !

At nought did I marvel but at the Blacks, the Blacks of Muharib, who went hither and thither about us, some mail-clad, some bare of mail ;

And Jihash too came, the small and great of them, and the crowd of 'Uwal — how puny and mean were they !

And Haribah the pied — their host was first of all the hosts, a troop put forward in front by common consent,

[Cousins of our cousins, that they might take captive our women. By my life ! verily ye came on an ill-omened way !]

In the close press of battle, wherein were splinters of spears — we stood firm therein, though it bathed our steeds in blood ;

And I said to them — ' Ye House of Dhubyan, what has come to you — may ye perish and find not one another ! — that ye advance not boldly ?

Have ye not in mind to-day the Oath of 'Urainah, and the covenant and the words sworn in the plain of ash-Shatun ? '

And bear this word to little Anas, the chief of his tribe, that his rule is not wholly that which were prudent ;

And verily, if thou hadst left us [by death] before these things came to pass, then had we sent a band of mourners to honour thy funeral !

And carry this message to Talld son of Malik, if thou lightest on him — but is schooling any profit but to him who lets himself be lessoned ? —

'If thou findest the disposition of thy people so repugnant to thee, then take refuge with Dubai', or 'Auf son of Asram.'

O men of 'Abd-'Amr, stand by yourselves, and attach yourselves to whomsoever ye will that pitch tent at a water in the midst of Dhubyan,

And take refuge with the mixed multitude of the tribe : verily the abject takes refuge with none but the strong when he needs protection !

May God requite with shame in respect of us 'Abd-'Amr and 'Udwan of Sahm — how mean and tongue-tied are they !

And the tribe of Manaf — already have we seen its case, and Qurran, what time he bridled his horse and galloped to meet us ;

And the house of Laqlt — surely I would never hurt them! Had I intended that, I would have clothed their company with a striped robe [of shame].

And they said : ' Consider — canst thou see between Darij and the pool of Akuff any crier for help that is not voiceless ? '

Then our horseman joined a folk mean of nature to the meanness from which they sprang, and they built up at the same time renown for themselves, and happed upon sudden spoil ;

And they rescued from death those of us whom they saved, having done our very utmost — unbesmirched our fame, painful though the warfare was !

What withholds the Son of Salmil [from baseness] is that he cannot live for ever, and must one day face his Doom whithersoever he turns his way :

Therefore am I not one to buy life at the price of disgrace, or to look for a ladder to climb for fear of Death.

No ! take me whatsoever day ye can lay hands on me, and cut off my head to stop my speech :

For that already I have wounded you to the quick by slaying a knight who, when all others blenched, advanced boldly to meet me, wearing a champion's token.