A Three-Way Conflict
A detailed thematic analysis of this poem can be found in Liebhaber, 2013.
| Poem | Translation |
|---|---|
| 1) ʾōdī we-krēm krēm // śōbī ṭ̱eyr eǧižwəlūt | I begin with the Noble and Generous: climbing to the top of a hill |
| 2) ke-mǧawnī ḏe-ḥyōm // ġsīreyyen ettəhūt | When the sun sets in the evening and its light fades, |
| 3) we-hlats ṭamḥeyt // sebḥawt ekkerdəfūt | Darkness spreads, swimming over the wādī’s edge, |
| 4) we-mdīt men emṭəlā // emhawǧes enkəśūt | Then the sea breeze from the South stirred up strong feelings |
| 5) heǧs lād yġōwī šīs // wel ʾaynī haġfūt | That do not subside when the wind dies, my eye cannot sleep. |
| 6) efṭōn eǧeyyədīn // men ḥrō ḏ-āl hmūt | I remember the fighting men, the very best of Āl Hmūd: |
| 7) ṣebyīn šeḥḳabk sād // hēs swīyet beh ǧrūt | O Young Men, I am grieving for Saʿd whose hour befell him! |
| 8) emṯōr ḏ-ḫarbeyn // we-śśərāt mhelwūt | The deed of his killers violated the truce between us. |
| 9) bālī men thārūź sʿīd // we-ṭlat heydənūt | O Lord who stands in the way of Sʿīd, he’s from this new generation; |
| 10) ʾāymel haṭf w-maḥzēm // we-b-reḳm yeśtūt | He got himself a rifle and a bandolier and in an embroidered thawb, he strutted around. |
| 11) reyte heh w-lū leḳā // mōret šeh ḏ-šeḏrūt | If only there had been a legitimate cause with him that would excuse it, |
| 12) bnēdem men eśśawf // yeǧsūd w-yeḥḥənūt | Then [his] people in their need could explain themselves and swear by it. |
| 13) ḏ-er sʿid ḫrub eśśawr // w-ṭerḥeys mhemšūt | But Sʿīd trampled advice and left everything confused. |
| 14) weḏ lād efōker lā // hel effāmeh haġdūt | Sometimes a person doesn’t think and forgets where [he puts] his foot |
| 15) wet ṭwōren yaġdōl // ṯēkel ṭ̱eyreh yertəbūt | And endures it, time and again, until the burdens are piled on top of him. |
| 16) we-ġbawter has ġziw // ḥams bīhem w-ḥentūt | When those heedless youth attacked, there was energy in them, and battle-lust |
| 17) bīhem mfōser lā // wel hād yšebhūt | There wasn’t a thoughtful one amongst them, not a single one who lets himself be persuaded. |
| 18) yetwīwen l-maġtēk // le-mǧebbet ʾālūt | They set out for Wadi Maġtēḳ, at the very end of the mountains before the sandy desert |
| 19) tē wrūd hṭ̱eyr ḥmō // emehṣat mheġġerbūt | Until they reached the water hole, a shallow pit that is well known. |
| 20) bīt āmr ġafleyn // ke-ʾazzūbet we-šwūt | The people of Bīt Āmr were unaware, alone with their flocks and their sheep |
| 21) wudʾam be-bdīyet lā // we-swīyet eḏ-ǧərūt | They didn’t know about the raid, that their time had come |
| 22) tē hebṣeyr ewaġdeyn // w-šelwīġ ebhīrūt | Until they saw them sneaking up on them and heard a voice crying for help. |
| 23) we-ḥmēd bheź w-fir // we-ḥmīleh šeṣwəbūt | Ḥmēd woke suddenly and jumped up, his right arm was struck by a bullet |
| 24) we-dlūf hṭ̱er ʿaweź // lād ʿaynet efetlūt | He leapt over ʿAwaź and didn’t even consider flight for a moment. |
| 25) w-ḥebrē ḏ-bir kākeyn // hās elōbī hebtūt | The son of Bir Kākeyn responded and cut them to pieces, |
| 26) ṭerḥeyhem hīmrēt // we-ṣrūb tē ṣfūt | Left their bodies piled up and “harvested” them until the end of the fight, |
| 27) we-mġōren šewǧūś // wōlem berh we-ṯbūt | Afterwards, he set out in the afternoon, readied himself once more and was steadfast. |
| 28) tbeśśīren beh mābūr // we-mhawfī ḏ-mehrūt | Wadi Mābūr rejoices in it, and so do the ends of Wadi Mahrūt. |
| 29) w-bir āmer yeḥmōl // wet eśśōret lebdūt | The son of Āmr is steadfast when evil befalls him, |
| 30) ekdeyr brek eṣawl // we-ṭ̱mōnet tekkərfūt | [Even] muddy water in a ravine, the thirsty drink it. |
| 31) w-šūmīt w-heǧzā // seh w-fōrī hal ḥǧūt | Wadi Šūmīt and Wadi Haġza, whenever they and Wadi Fōrī are assembled, |
| 32) bīsen emderrəkīn // we-kkəwesseb ḏe-ṣmūt | In them are men who shoulder their responsibilities, victors in raids who stick together. |
| 33) w-bir ǧawn emettəwī // le-flēk yšemtūt | The camel bull, while recovering, prepares to set out and look for vengeance |
| 34) ḏe-kmūt brek eǧawf // t-ʾāḫrān blūḳ ḥmūt | Suppressing its anger inside until finally, it spits out the poison. |
| 35) bālī teḫfīf eśśēr // men ezōyed we-ġśūt | Lord, lessen the evil between the people, stay its increase and overwhelming darkness. |
| 36) nōwet eds ettənāyū // w-ṭerefs ber ǧṯūt | Rain clouds are yet darkening the sky, but they have begun to disperse at their edges. |
| 37) we-ẓrōme we-krēm // be-ḥmīlī hel nwūt | And now, O Generous One, [I go] with whatever my right arm can lift up and carry, |
| 38) emred le-hel eġā // lad yśōnī beh shūt | Returning to a brother, on whose part he sees no inadvertent errors. |
| 39) yeḥlūl b-hefǧūǧ // we-mġawteḳ w-ġafṯūt | They live in the wadis of Hafǧūǧ, and its feeder ravines of Mġawteḳ and Ġafṯūt |
| 40) yeḳhībek sēḥī ṭeṭ // we-ykūnem ēr śmūt | They come to you like a single stream, and are a single unified band. |
| 41) we-ḥdīdī hōh ʿawaź // hēḫer bir enāfyūt | My uncle, ʿAwaź, an elder of ʿAnfān on his mother’s side, |
| 42) ḏe-ġrebk teh ṭmaʿ // wel ybōrī heśḥəfūt | I know that he is proud and does not absolve the smallest injury [to his tribe]. |
| 43) ʾār w-kessī b-ʾadīd // men eššebṭ meṭwūt | He has gotten himself new clothes, a clasped loincloth that is folded over, |
| 44) we-ḥrōret hāydōn // be-śrēhem we-kmūt | And new silks that he has purchased and dyed dark red. |
| 45) bīt sād men ešrūb // essərethem źfūt | Bīt Sād of Sˇāreb, their ways and customs are generosity, |
| 46) dḳā we-blē ḏ-hēm // hel eǧesm we-rhūt | Quickness and a fighting spirit belong to them, when courage is called for or compromise, |
| 47) we-ḥrō bir ʿamrēn // erkīzet ezzəbūt | With the leaders of Bīt ʿAmrayn, like columns that support one another, |
| 48) yeślūl eneywōt // w-le ṯēḳel yekkənūt | They bear the burdens and never drop the load. |
| 49) we-nhā twōba kel // sēr eśśefh hal rkūt | We all follow him, right behind his tracks wherever he steps. |