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al-Muhalhil. ""Can you make out twilight's ruins?"." Global Medieval Sourcebook.Text based on Cheikho, L. 1890. Kitāb Shuʿarāʾ al-Naṣrāniyyah. Vol. 1. Beirut: Maṭbaʿat al-Ābāʾ al-Mursilīn al-Yasūʿiyyīn fī Bayrūt, pages 273-276. .
"هل عرفت الغداة من أطلال" | "Can you make out twilight's ruins?"
Source Information
"هل عرفت الغداة من أطلال" | "Can you make out twilight's ruins?"
by al-Muhalhil
Text Source:
Transcription based on Cheikho, L. 1890. Kitāb Shuʿarāʾ al-Naṣrāniyyah. Vol. 1. Beirut: Maṭbaʿat al-Ābāʾ al-Mursilīn al-Yasūʿiyyīn fī Bayrūt, pages 273-276.
Responsibility Statement:
- Text based on Cheikho, L. 1890. Kitāb Shuʿarāʾ al-Naṣrāniyyah. Vol. 1. Beirut: Maṭbaʿat al-Ābāʾ al-Mursilīn al-Yasūʿiyyīn fī Bayrūt, pages 273-276.
- Translation by Sherif Abdelkarim
- Encoded in TEI P5 XML by Danny Smith
Editorial Principles:
Transcriptions and translations are encoded in XML conforming to TEI (P5) guidelines. The original-language text is contained within <lem> tags and translations within <rdg> tags.
Texts are translated into modern American English with maximum fidelity to the original text, except where it would impair comprehension or good style. Archaisms are preserved where they do not conflict with the aesthetic of the original text. Scribal errors and creative translation choices are marked and discussed in the critical notes.
Arabic diacritics adjusted for readability.
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Published by The Global Medieval Sourcebook.
The Global Medieval Sourcebook is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
هل عرفْتَ الغداةَ مِن أطلال رَهْنِ ريحٍ ودِيمَةٍ مِهْطالِ Can you make out twilight’s ruins, Subject to windstorm and downpour?
يسْتبينُ الحليمُ فيها رُسُوماً دارساتٍ كصنْعَةِ العُمَّالِ A sensible person discerns effaced Traces—the craft of artisans;
قد رآها وأهلُها أهلُ صِدْقٍ لا يريدون نيَّةَ الارتحالِ He beheld them. Their people—a constant people— Desired no departure.
c
Critical note:
We may read these enigmatic opening lines as a threat to al-Ḥārith’s Bakr tribe. Presumably, al-Muhalhil will reduce the rival clan to the wasteland he has just described. Any sensible person who beholds these ruins must conclude that the land’s inhabitants were violently uprooted.
يا لَقَومي لِلَوْعَةِ البَلْبالِ ولِقَتْلِ الكُماةِ والأبطالِ O my kinfolk, o grief for their agony, The killing of heroes and champions.
5
ولِعيْنٍ تبادر الدَّمعُ منها لِكُلَيْبٍ إذ فاقها بانهمالِ O grief for eyes from which tears rushedc
For Kulayb, overwhelmed with a downpour. Critical note:
Literally, “And for an eye from which the tear rushed.”
لكليبٍ إذِ الرِّياحُ عليه ناسفاتُ التُّرابِ بالأذْيالِ For Kulayb, windswept, The dust-scatterers about him.
إنَّني زائرٌ جُمُوعاً لبكْرٍ بينهم حارثٌ يُريدُ نِضالي I’ll visit Bakr’s troops, Among them Ḥārith: he desires my strife.
قد شَفَيْتُ الغَلِيلَ من آلِ بكْرٍ آلِ شَيْبانَ بين عَمٍّ وخالِ I brought out rancor from Bakr’s family, The clan of Shaybān,
c
uncles between us.Critical note:
Shaybān: a sub-clan of the Bakr tribe.
c
Critical note:
Literally: “The family of Shaybān between paternal and maternal uncles,” a possible allusion to the shared blood of the Bakr and Taghlib tribes, derived from the siblings Bakr and Taghlib.
كَيْفَ صَبْري وقد قتلْتُم كليباً وشقِيتُم بِقتْله في الخوالي How be patient, and you killed Kulayb? You then suffered for his killing.
10
فلَعَمْري لَأقْتُلَنَّ بكليبٍ كلَّ قَيْلٍ يُسَمَّى من الأقيالِ By my life, I’ll kill for Kulayb Every chief named among the chiefs. ولعمري لقد وطِئْتُ بني بكرٍ م بما قد جنَوْهُ وَطْءَ النِّعالِ By my life, I stomped Bakr’s offspring For the crime they committed—the stomp of shoelaces.
c
Critical note:
al-Muhalhil reportedly killed Bujayr, al-Ḥārith’s son, in compensation for the mere shoelace of his brother, Kulayb. See Introduction.
لم أدَعْ غيْرَ أَكْلُبٍ ونِساءٍ وإماءٍ حواطِبٍ وعيالِ I went without dogs, women, Bondswomen, maidservants, dependents.
c
Critical note:
That is, al-Muhalhil vowed to renounce these and other pleasures until he took vengeance for his brother’s murder.
فاشربوا ما وردتُّمُ الآنَ منَّا واصْدِروا خاسرين عن شرِّ حالِ Now drink what you’ve come to
c
And flee badly defeated. Critical note:
Literally, “Drink what [body of water] you’ve arrived at now from us.”
زعمَ القوْمُ أنَّنا جارُ سُوءٍ كذبَ القومُ عندنا في المقالِ The nation
c
claimed we are a harmful neighbor; They maligned us in the claim. Critical note:
Presumably the Bakr tribe.
15
لَمْ يَرَ النَّاسُ مِثْلَنَا يَوْمَ سِرْنَا نَسْلُبُ المُلْكَ بِالرِّمَاحِ الطِّوَالِ The people hadn’t seen our likes the day we moved, Seizing the reign with long spears; يَوْمَ سِرْنَا إِلَى قَبَائِلِ عَوْفٍ بِجُمُوعٍ زُهَاؤُوهَا كَالجِبَالِ The day we moved into ʿAuf’s tribes With hordes high as mountains.
بَيْنَهُمْ مَالِكٌ وَعَمْرٌو وَعَوْفٌ وعُقَيْلٌ وصَالحُ بنُ هِلالِ Among them Mālik, and ʿAmr, and ʿAuf; ʿUqayl, and Ṣāliḥ ibn Hilāl.
لمْ يَقُمْ سِيْفُ حارِثٍ بِقِتالٍ أسْلَمَ الوالِداتِ في الأثقالِ Ḥārith’s sword rose not to fight, It surrendered mothers among the dead.
c
Critical note:
Ḥārith’s sword may here serve as a synecdoche for the Bakr tribe’s army, which failed to protect its women.
صَدَقَ الجَارُ إنَّنا قدْ قَتَلْنا بِقِبَالِ النِّعالِ رَهْطَ الرِّجالِ The neighbor averred: we surely slew For the sandal’s strap sundry kinsmen.
c
Critical note:
That is, many men were slain for Kulayb’s shoelace.
20
لا تَمَلَّ القِتالَ يا ابْنَ عُبادٍ صَبِّرِ النَّفْسَ إنَّني غَيْرُ سالِ Ibn ʿUbād!c
the killing will not weary. Take patience: I’ve neither forgotten nor calmed. Critical note:
That is, al-Ḥārith.
يا خَليلَيَّ قَرِّبا اليومَ مِنِّي كُلَّ وَرْدٍ وأدْهَمٍ صَهَّالِ Friends!
c
Draw near me this day Every neigher, red and black.Critical note:
In keeping with dramatic convention, Muhalhil calls out to two imagined companions, as did his rival, al-Ḥārith.
c
Critical note:
That is, horses, according to the color of their coats.
قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي لِكُلَيْبَ الَّذي أشابَ قذالي Draw Mushahhar’s harness near—
c
For Kulayb, who grayed my head. Critical note:
Muhalhil’s ride, Naʿāmah’s match.
قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي واسألاني ولا تطِيلا سُؤالي Draw Mushahhar’s harness near— Ask me, but don’t prolong my inquiry.
قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي سَوف تبدو لنا ذواتُ الحِجالِ Draw Mushahhar’s harness near— Brides will be revealed to us.
c
Critical note:
Bakr’s women, literally, “the ones of the curtained canopies,” “dhawāt al-ḥijāl,” prospective prisoners of war.
25
قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي إنَّ قولي مُطابِقٌ لِفِعالي Draw Mushahhar’s harness near— My speech matches my deeds indeed. قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي لِكُلَيْبٍ فداهُ عَمِّي وخالي Draw Mushahhar’s harness near— For Kulayb—may my uncles be ransomed!
c
Critical note:
To wish that a person (or persons) be ransomed for another conveys the seriousness of a subject or situation while communicating the latter’s dearness to the oathmaker.
قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي لاعتناق الكُماةِ والأبطالِ Draw Mushahhar’s harness near— For the embrace of soldiers and heroes.
قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي سَوف أصْلي نِيرانَ آلِ بِلالِ Draw Mushahhar’s harness near— I’ll feed the flames of Bilāl’s family.
قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي إن تلاقت رِجالُهُم ورِجالي Draw Mushahhar’s harness near— Should their men meet mine.
30
قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي طالَ لَيلي وأقْصَرَتْ عُذَّالي Draw Mushahhar’s harness near— My night stretched.c
My critics shrank. Critical note:
Probably from riding or raiding.
قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي يا لبكرٍ وأين منكم وِصالي Draw Mushahhar’s harness near— Bakr! where’s our rendezvous?
قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي لِنضالٍ إذا أرادوا نِضالي Draw Mushahhar’s harness near— For fighting, should they want my fight.
قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي لقتيلٍ سَفَتْهُ ريحُ الشَّمالِ Draw Mushahhar’s harness near— For a slain man scattered by the north wind.
c
Critical note:
Presumably, Kulayb’s corpse was left exposed to the elements.
قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي مع رُمْحٍ مُثَقَّفٍ عَسَّالِ Draw Mushahhar’s harness near— With a straight, supple spear.
35
قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي قَرِّباهُ وقَرِّبا سِرْبالي Draw Mushahhar’s harness near— Bring it, and bring my armor, ثُمَّ قولا لِكُلِّ كَهْلٍ وناشٍ من بني بَكْرَ جَرِّدُوا للقِتال Then tell every ready adult male From Bakr’s offspring: unsheathe for bloodshed.
قد مَلَكْناكمُ فكُونوا عَبيدًا ما لكم عن مِلاكِنا مِن مَجالِ We owned you, so become slaves! You have no leeway from our reign.
وخُذُوا حِذْرَكُم وشُدُّوا وجِدُّوا واصْبِرُوا للنِّزالِ بعد النِّزالِ Take heed, resolve, and vie; Brace for battle after battle.
فلقد أصبحت جمائعُ بكرٍ مِثلَ عادٍ إذ مُزِّقَتْ في الرِّمالِ Thus Bakr’s forces became As ʿĀd, torn up in the sands.
c
Critical note:
ʿĀd: the notorious tribe obliterated by windstorm.
40
يا كُليبًا أَجِبْ لِدَعْوَةِ داعٍ مُوجَعِ القَلبِ دائمِ البَلْبَالِ Kulayb: answer a suppliant’s plea, Heartsore, ever-anxious. فلقد كنتَ غيرَ نِكْسٍ لَدَى البَأْ سِ ولا واهنٍ ولا مِكْسالِ You were not one to shun the mighty, Neither weak nor lazy.
قد ذبحنا الأطفالَ من آلِ بكرٍ وقهرنا كُماتَهُم بالنِّضالِ We butchered Bakr’s family’s children, Thrashed their militia viciously,
وكَرَرْنا عليهم وانثنيْنا بِسُيوفٍ تقُدُّ في الأوْصالِ Charged them repeatedly, leaned in With swords slitting joints.
أسْلَموا كلَّ ذاتِ بَعْلٍ وأُخْرى ذاتَ خِدرٍ غرَّاءَ مِثْلَ الهلالِ They submitted, every wife and others Enclosed, white as the crescent.
c
Critical note:
Collectively, Bakr’s women, screened by a green veil. See note 15 above.
45
يا لَبَكْرٍ فأوْعِدُوا ما أرَدتُّم واستطعتم فما لِذا مِن زوالِ So threaten, Bakr, all you wish Or can, for there’s no end to our plunder. هل عرفْتَ الغداةَ مِن أطلال رَهْنِ ريحٍ ودِيمَةٍ مِهْطالِ Can you make out twilight’s ruins, Subject to windstorm and downpour?
يسْتبينُ الحليمُ فيها رُسُوماً دارساتٍ كصنْعَةِ العُمَّالِ A sensible person discerns effaced Traces—the craft of artisans;
قد رآها وأهلُها أهلُ صِدْقٍ لا يريدون نيَّةَ الارتحالِ He beheld them. Their people—a constant people— Desired no departure.
c
Critical note:
We may read these enigmatic opening lines as a threat to al-Ḥārith’s Bakr tribe. Presumably, al-Muhalhil will reduce the rival clan to the wasteland he has just described. Any sensible person who beholds these ruins must conclude that the land’s inhabitants were violently uprooted.
يا لَقَومي لِلَوْعَةِ البَلْبالِ ولِقَتْلِ الكُماةِ والأبطالِ O my kinfolk, o grief for their agony, The killing of heroes and champions.
5
ولِعيْنٍ تبادر الدَّمعُ منها لِكُلَيْبٍ إذ فاقها بانهمالِ O grief for eyes from which tears rushedc
For Kulayb, overwhelmed with a downpour. Critical note:
Literally, “And for an eye from which the tear rushed.”
لكليبٍ إذِ الرِّياحُ عليه ناسفاتُ التُّرابِ بالأذْيالِ For Kulayb, windswept, The dust-scatterers about him.
إنَّني زائرٌ جُمُوعاً لبكْرٍ بينهم حارثٌ يُريدُ نِضالي I’ll visit Bakr’s troops, Among them Ḥārith: he desires my strife.
قد شَفَيْتُ الغَلِيلَ من آلِ بكْرٍ آلِ شَيْبانَ بين عَمٍّ وخالِ I brought out rancor from Bakr’s family, The clan of Shaybān,
c
uncles between us.Critical note:
Shaybān: a sub-clan of the Bakr tribe.
c
Critical note:
Literally: “The family of Shaybān between paternal and maternal uncles,” a possible allusion to the shared blood of the Bakr and Taghlib tribes, derived from the siblings Bakr and Taghlib.
كَيْفَ صَبْري وقد قتلْتُم كليباً وشقِيتُم بِقتْله في الخوالي How be patient, and you killed Kulayb? You then suffered for his killing.
10
فلَعَمْري لَأقْتُلَنَّ بكليبٍ كلَّ قَيْلٍ يُسَمَّى من الأقيالِ By my life, I’ll kill for Kulayb Every chief named among the chiefs. ولعمري لقد وطِئْتُ بني بكرٍ م بما قد جنَوْهُ وَطْءَ النِّعالِ By my life, I stomped Bakr’s offspring For the crime they committed—the stomp of shoelaces.
c
Critical note:
al-Muhalhil reportedly killed Bujayr, al-Ḥārith’s son, in compensation for the mere shoelace of his brother, Kulayb. See Introduction.
لم أدَعْ غيْرَ أَكْلُبٍ ونِساءٍ وإماءٍ حواطِبٍ وعيالِ I went without dogs, women, Bondswomen, maidservants, dependents.
c
Critical note:
That is, al-Muhalhil vowed to renounce these and other pleasures until he took vengeance for his brother’s murder.
فاشربوا ما وردتُّمُ الآنَ منَّا واصْدِروا خاسرين عن شرِّ حالِ Now drink what you’ve come to
c
And flee badly defeated. Critical note:
Literally, “Drink what [body of water] you’ve arrived at now from us.”
زعمَ القوْمُ أنَّنا جارُ سُوءٍ كذبَ القومُ عندنا في المقالِ The nation
c
claimed we are a harmful neighbor; They maligned us in the claim. Critical note:
Presumably the Bakr tribe.
15
لَمْ يَرَ النَّاسُ مِثْلَنَا يَوْمَ سِرْنَا نَسْلُبُ المُلْكَ بِالرِّمَاحِ الطِّوَالِ The people hadn’t seen our likes the day we moved, Seizing the reign with long spears; يَوْمَ سِرْنَا إِلَى قَبَائِلِ عَوْفٍ بِجُمُوعٍ زُهَاؤُوهَا كَالجِبَالِ The day we moved into ʿAuf’s tribes With hordes high as mountains.
بَيْنَهُمْ مَالِكٌ وَعَمْرٌو وَعَوْفٌ وعُقَيْلٌ وصَالحُ بنُ هِلالِ Among them Mālik, and ʿAmr, and ʿAuf; ʿUqayl, and Ṣāliḥ ibn Hilāl.
لمْ يَقُمْ سِيْفُ حارِثٍ بِقِتالٍ أسْلَمَ الوالِداتِ في الأثقالِ Ḥārith’s sword rose not to fight, It surrendered mothers among the dead.
c
Critical note:
Ḥārith’s sword may here serve as a synecdoche for the Bakr tribe’s army, which failed to protect its women.
صَدَقَ الجَارُ إنَّنا قدْ قَتَلْنا بِقِبَالِ النِّعالِ رَهْطَ الرِّجالِ The neighbor averred: we surely slew For the sandal’s strap sundry kinsmen.
c
Critical note:
That is, many men were slain for Kulayb’s shoelace.
20
لا تَمَلَّ القِتالَ يا ابْنَ عُبادٍ صَبِّرِ النَّفْسَ إنَّني غَيْرُ سالِ Ibn ʿUbād!c
the killing will not weary. Take patience: I’ve neither forgotten nor calmed. Critical note:
That is, al-Ḥārith.
يا خَليلَيَّ قَرِّبا اليومَ مِنِّي كُلَّ وَرْدٍ وأدْهَمٍ صَهَّالِ Friends!
c
Draw near me this day Every neigher, red and black.Critical note:
In keeping with dramatic convention, Muhalhil calls out to two imagined companions, as did his rival, al-Ḥārith.
c
Critical note:
That is, horses, according to the color of their coats.
قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي لِكُلَيْبَ الَّذي أشابَ قذالي Draw Mushahhar’s harness near—
c
For Kulayb, who grayed my head. Critical note:
Muhalhil’s ride, Naʿāmah’s match.
قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي واسألاني ولا تطِيلا سُؤالي Draw Mushahhar’s harness near— Ask me, but don’t prolong my inquiry.
قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي سَوف تبدو لنا ذواتُ الحِجالِ Draw Mushahhar’s harness near— Brides will be revealed to us.
c
Critical note:
Bakr’s women, literally, “the ones of the curtained canopies,” “dhawāt al-ḥijāl,” prospective prisoners of war.
25
قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي إنَّ قولي مُطابِقٌ لِفِعالي Draw Mushahhar’s harness near— My speech matches my deeds indeed. قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي لِكُلَيْبٍ فداهُ عَمِّي وخالي Draw Mushahhar’s harness near— For Kulayb—may my uncles be ransomed!
c
Critical note:
To wish that a person (or persons) be ransomed for another conveys the seriousness of a subject or situation while communicating the latter’s dearness to the oathmaker.
قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي لاعتناق الكُماةِ والأبطالِ Draw Mushahhar’s harness near— For the embrace of soldiers and heroes.
قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي سَوف أصْلي نِيرانَ آلِ بِلالِ Draw Mushahhar’s harness near— I’ll feed the flames of Bilāl’s family.
قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي إن تلاقت رِجالُهُم ورِجالي Draw Mushahhar’s harness near— Should their men meet mine.
30
قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي طالَ لَيلي وأقْصَرَتْ عُذَّالي Draw Mushahhar’s harness near— My night stretched.c
My critics shrank. Critical note:
Probably from riding or raiding.
قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي يا لبكرٍ وأين منكم وِصالي Draw Mushahhar’s harness near— Bakr! where’s our rendezvous?
قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي لِنضالٍ إذا أرادوا نِضالي Draw Mushahhar’s harness near— For fighting, should they want my fight.
قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي لقتيلٍ سَفَتْهُ ريحُ الشَّمالِ Draw Mushahhar’s harness near— For a slain man scattered by the north wind.
c
Critical note:
Presumably, Kulayb’s corpse was left exposed to the elements.
قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي مع رُمْحٍ مُثَقَّفٍ عَسَّالِ Draw Mushahhar’s harness near— With a straight, supple spear.
35
قَرِّبا مَرْبَطَ المُشَهَّرِ مِنِّي قَرِّباهُ وقَرِّبا سِرْبالي Draw Mushahhar’s harness near— Bring it, and bring my armor, ثُمَّ قولا لِكُلِّ كَهْلٍ وناشٍ من بني بَكْرَ جَرِّدُوا للقِتال Then tell every ready adult male From Bakr’s offspring: unsheathe for bloodshed.
قد مَلَكْناكمُ فكُونوا عَبيدًا ما لكم عن مِلاكِنا مِن مَجالِ We owned you, so become slaves! You have no leeway from our reign.
وخُذُوا حِذْرَكُم وشُدُّوا وجِدُّوا واصْبِرُوا للنِّزالِ بعد النِّزالِ Take heed, resolve, and vie; Brace for battle after battle.
فلقد أصبحت جمائعُ بكرٍ مِثلَ عادٍ إذ مُزِّقَتْ في الرِّمالِ Thus Bakr’s forces became As ʿĀd, torn up in the sands.
c
Critical note:
ʿĀd: the notorious tribe obliterated by windstorm.
40
يا كُليبًا أَجِبْ لِدَعْوَةِ داعٍ مُوجَعِ القَلبِ دائمِ البَلْبَالِ Kulayb: answer a suppliant’s plea, Heartsore, ever-anxious. فلقد كنتَ غيرَ نِكْسٍ لَدَى البَأْ سِ ولا واهنٍ ولا مِكْسالِ You were not one to shun the mighty, Neither weak nor lazy.
قد ذبحنا الأطفالَ من آلِ بكرٍ وقهرنا كُماتَهُم بالنِّضالِ We butchered Bakr’s family’s children, Thrashed their militia viciously,
وكَرَرْنا عليهم وانثنيْنا بِسُيوفٍ تقُدُّ في الأوْصالِ Charged them repeatedly, leaned in With swords slitting joints.
أسْلَموا كلَّ ذاتِ بَعْلٍ وأُخْرى ذاتَ خِدرٍ غرَّاءَ مِثْلَ الهلالِ They submitted, every wife and others Enclosed, white as the crescent.
c
Critical note:
Collectively, Bakr’s women, screened by a green veil. See note 15 above.
45
يا لَبَكْرٍ فأوْعِدُوا ما أرَدتُّم واستطعتم فما لِذا مِن زوالِ So threaten, Bakr, all you wish Or can, for there’s no end to our plunder. Critical Notes
Translation
Line number 3
Critical note: We may read these enigmatic opening lines as a threat to al-Ḥārith’s Bakr tribe. Presumably, al-Muhalhil will reduce the rival clan to the wasteland he has just described. Any sensible person who beholds these ruins must conclude that the land’s inhabitants were violently uprooted.
Translation
Line number 5
Critical note: Literally, “And for an eye from which the tear rushed.”
Translation
Line number 8
Critical note: Shaybān: a sub-clan of the Bakr tribe.
Translation
Line number 8
Critical note: Literally: “The family of Shaybān between paternal and maternal uncles,” a possible allusion to the shared blood of the Bakr and Taghlib tribes, derived from the siblings Bakr and Taghlib.
Translation
Line number 11
Critical note: al-Muhalhil reportedly killed Bujayr, al-Ḥārith’s son, in compensation for the mere shoelace of his brother, Kulayb. See Introduction.
Translation
Line number 12
Critical note: That is, al-Muhalhil vowed to renounce these and other pleasures until he took vengeance for his brother’s murder.
Translation
Line number 13
Critical note: Literally, “Drink what [body of water] you’ve arrived at now from us.”
Translation
Line number 14
Critical note: Presumably the Bakr tribe.
Translation
Line number 18
Critical note: Ḥārith’s sword may here serve as a synecdoche for the Bakr tribe’s army, which failed to protect its women.
Translation
Line number 19
Critical note: That is, many men were slain for Kulayb’s shoelace.
Translation
Line number 20
Critical note: That is, al-Ḥārith.
Translation
Line number 21
Critical note: In keeping with dramatic convention, Muhalhil calls out to two imagined companions, as did his rival, al-Ḥārith.
Translation
Line number 21
Critical note: That is, horses, according to the color of their coats.
Translation
Line number 22
Critical note: Muhalhil’s ride, Naʿāmah’s match.
Translation
Line number 24
Critical note: Bakr’s women, literally, “the ones of the curtained canopies,” “dhawāt al-ḥijāl,” prospective prisoners of war.
Translation
Line number 26
Critical note: To wish that a person (or persons) be ransomed for another conveys the seriousness of a subject or situation while communicating the latter’s dearness to the oathmaker.
Translation
Line number 30
Critical note: Probably from riding or raiding.
Translation
Line number 33
Critical note: Presumably, Kulayb’s corpse was left exposed to the elements.
Translation
Line number 39
Critical note: ʿĀd: the notorious tribe obliterated by windstorm.
Translation
Line number 44
Critical note: Collectively, Bakr’s women, screened by a green veil. See note 15 above.
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