Al-Mutanabi - Arabic Poem (English)

إذا رَأيْتَ نُيُوبَ اللّيْثِ بارِزَةً فَلا تَظُنّنّ أنّ اللّيْثَ يَبْتَسِمُ

وَمُهْجَةٍ مُهْجَتي من هَمّ صَاحِبها أدرَكْتُهَا بجَوَادٍ ظَهْرُه حَرَمُ

رِجلاهُ في الرّكضِ رِجلٌ وَاليدانِ يَدٌ وَفِعْلُهُ مَا تُريدُ الكَفُّ وَالقَدَمُ

وَمُرْهَفٍ سرْتُ بينَ الجَحْفَلَينِ بهِ حتى ضرَبْتُ وَمَوْجُ المَوْتِ يَلْتَطِمُ

الخَيْلُ وَاللّيْلُ وَالبَيْداءُ تَعرِفُني وَالسّيفُ وَالرّمحُ والقرْطاسُ وَالقَلَمُ

When the lion bares his teeth, do not / fancy that the lion shows to you a smile. / I have slain the man that sought my heart's blood many a time. / Riding a noble mare whose back none else may climb, / Whose hind and fore-legs seem in galloping as one / Nor hand nor foot requireth she to urge her on. / And O the days when I have swung my fine-edged glaive / Amidst a sea of death where wave was dashed on wave! / The desert knows me well, the night, the mounted men, / The battle and the sword, the paper and the pen

[feverforever]

كان قراراً صائبا أن أتعلم العربية يوما حتى أفهم وإستمتع بالشعر العربي

[Theo-fcet]

For none Arabic speakers there are at least three poems in this one poem. Every word has a connotation, hyperbole, metaphor and literal meaning that connects to the next without breaking its poetic stance. It’s a masterpiece of a language. It’s called a mathematical language for a reason.

[zaidz]

Translation will only transform less than 5% of the meaning
Or maybe fewer!
I wish you all could understand Arabic like the way native arabs do it's the most beautiful language ever

[wolfalshehri]

Arabic is such a deep and beautiful language

[fatima_]

I think Arabic is most beatiful language in the world . Love from Turkey ♥

[منتظرعلي-وظ]

The Arabic language and Arabic poetry are a masterpiece, and translating it into English or any other language does not give you the full meaning because it is a complex and integrated language in all aspects. It has special rules, and for me, as an Arabic speaker, I will be happy to explain or teach this language to anyone.❤❤

[leviathandiabolo]

Arabic is a magnificent language, indeed. Love from United Punjab of India and Pakistan.

[thearabianwolf]

Actually this poem is well know as "The poem that killed its owner"
when he surrounded by group of enemies the leader of that group said to him
"Didn't you the one who said the Desert knows me
he answered "Yes I did" so he fought along his son and his slave that day till all fall dead


the Arabs later called this "The poem that killed its owner"

[nocturnoculto]

Al mutannabi is the best and the great poet ever ...
Especially in wisdom poem
Really proud of him

[funfunny]

the arabs are masters of poetry it was they're sword that they fought with. they've introduced romantic extravagant poems to the world and have taught the surrounding nations the powers of the word. the persian's and the turks have taken a lot of they're literature and way of expressing through poetry but they do not admit that lol.

[klaf]

More than 12 million words in Arabic cannot be translated into other languages until they are fluent in the language of Dhad😊

[McLovin]

يعجز لساني عن تعبير ما أشعره من اعجاب بجمال وروعة هذه القصيدة. شكرا.

[MuorFy]

حتى ولو استعان بجميع اللغات في العالم لن يستطيع ايصال المعاني

[Weltaghi]

Al-Mutanabbi is an Iraqi poet from the city of Kufa 🇮🇶

[salemal-zahrani]

الخيل والليل والبيداء تعرفني ... والسيف والرمح والقرطاس والقلم

[zubairanwar]

Powerful ! I don’t know how many times I have watched it and every time, I admire it.

[coolro]

This is the language of my grandfather...

[DonJuanMarco]

I love the poetry.
This inspire me to create my own version.

[zubairanwar]

Such beauty, such description, such strength in the words.

[pumpstreetsongs]

Thank you for this. I would like to listen to more Arabic poetry.