She blazes—yet not to scorch the helpless—
Instead she singles out your proudest chiefs with well-aimed death.
Have you not heard what happened in the War of Dāhis?
Take heed—or in the War of Ḥāṭib?
How many a noble, ennobled lord she struck down:
A man of lofty pillars whose guest never left disappointed;
Whose hearth-ash rose in generous heaps, whose conduct was praised—
A man of pure mettle, of honored tents.
How much blood was poured out in vain,
As though the morning breeze and straying camels broadcast it far and wide!
The one who tells you of her is a man who truly knows her days;
Knowledge is the fruit of experience.
So sell your spears, O people of Muḥārib, and remember your Reckoning—
For Allah is the best of reckoners.
Let every soul choose the faith it wills;
Let no guardian watch over you but the Lord of the piercing star.
Establish for us an upright, Ḥanīf religion, for you are our final hope—
By the forelocks of leaders others find their way.
For all mankind you are a light and a protection;
They turn to you while sound judgment has not wandered.
And when people are sifted for their finest ore,
The navel of al-Baṭḥāʾ—the proud heights—belongs to you.
You preserve noble, ancient bodies,
Lineages refined and wholly unmixed.
The seeker of favor sees, heading toward your houses,
Companies of the exhausted guided by companies.
Indeed, every tribe has learned that your chiefs,
In every circumstance, are the best of those who dwell on high.
Foremost in counsel, highest in adherence to the Sunnah,
And most forthright in speaking truth amid the throngs.
War, when it first appears, is like a young woman—
she flaunts her finery before every fool;
But once she blazes forth and her blade is drawn tight,
she becomes an old hag bereft of any companion.
She has shorn her hair, grown coarse and unrecognizable—
unpleasant to smell and to embrace.
As for the expression “umm sahib,” it means “an old woman who would be your companion,” since a man only keeps company with someone his own age.
(1) “tushwi”: she never misses in striking (i.e., in killing). “tantaḥī”: she aims (at her target). Al-Qāmūs (entries shawā, naḥā).
(2) “karīm al-muḍārib” (the noble striker): In a marginal note the Sheikh suggests it may be a misreading of “darā’ib” (tributes), meaning all forms of taxation (ṭabīʿah). It is also possible he wrote “al-muḍārib,” indicating that sword-strikes are neither blameworthy nor without reward, but rather elicit praise, thanks, and descriptions of noble qualities. Al-Rawḍ, vol. 2, p. 31.
(3) “al-ṣalāl”: plural of ṣalla, lands that do not retain water. It alludes to someone who pours out water in vain while chasing a mirage, for only the misguided—unable to distinguish true water sources—would do so. “wa-adhā‘at bihi”: he scattered it so it was of no benefit. This proverb cautions reflection on the consequences of one’s actions. It is also reported as “wa-mā ahriqa fī amr,” meaning “what is wasted in a matter,” with the connecting alif being obligatory. Al-Rawḍ, vol. 2, p. 31.
(4) “He is the guardian of whoever chooses a religion,” the initial fa- is merely supplementary. Al-Rawḍ, vol. 2, p. 31.
(5) “al-jabbājib”: the stations at Mina. Others say these are pits in which the blood of sacrificial camels and other offerings collect—places the Arabs held in high esteem. Al-Rawḍ, vol. 2, p. 31.