444 C. J. Lyall— Translations from the Hamaseh and the Aghani. [No. 4, 
III. 
Ja‘far son of ‘Olbeh, of the fight at Qurra Sahbal. 
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■“-' -»-' slx.** ) &sC ^ 
Alas for Qurra Sahbal! the day that upon us drave 
the crowd of frightened women, and the foemen pressed us sore. 
They said to us— 4 Two things lie before you : now must ye choose— 
4 the points of the spears couched at you, or, if ye will not, chains.’ 
We answered them— 4 Yea, this thing may fall to you after fight, 
4 when men shall be left on ground and none shall arise again ; 
4 But we know not, if we quail before Death’s oncoming, 
4 how much may be left of life ; the goal is too far to see.’ 
When we strode to the strait of battle, there cleared us a space around 
the white swords in our right hands which the smiths had fur¬ 
bished fair ; 
To them fell the edge of my blade on that day of Sahbal dale, 
and mine was the share thereof whereover my fingers closed. 
Notes. 
Tbe measure is tbe second form of the Tamil. 
This poem, if we may trust the account of the adventure to which it relates given 
in the Aghani, has been manipulated by Abu Temmam ; as given in the Hamaseh, it 
suggests an attack by the enemy on the tribe of the poet, a sudden surprise, with terri¬ 
fied women and few men to withstand a threatening foe ; but as the tale is told by el- 
Xsfahani (Agh. XI, 147), Ja‘far with two companions went forth to plunder the herds 
of ‘Oqeyl, and was beset on his way back by detached parties of that tribe in the valley 
of Sahbal, whom he overcame and reached home safe. Another version of the poem 
is given in the Aghani which contains many more lines than that in the Hamaseh, and 
some notable differences in those which are common to both ; it is not necessary to 
give here the lines by which the Aghani exceeds the Hamaseh : but the differences 
may be briefly stated, v. 1 is in the Aghani— 
