1881 .] 
C. J. Lyall —Translations from the Hama sell. 
El-Find ez-Zimmdni. 
109 
Forgiveness had we for Hindis sons : 
o 
we said : f The men our brothers are : 
The Days may bring’ that yet ag'ain 
they be the folk that once they were. 51 
But when the Ill stood clear and plain, 
and naked Wrong was bare to day, 
And nought was left but bitter Hate—- 
we paid them in the coin they gave. 
5 We strode as stalks a lion forth 
at dawn, a lion angry-eyed ; 
Blows rained we, dealing shame on shame, 
and humbling pomp and quelling pride : 
Spear-thrusts wherefrom the spouting blood 
gushed forth as wine from full wine-skin. 
Too kind a man may be with fools, 
and move them but to flout him more; 
And Mischief oft may bring thee peace, 
when Mildness works not Folly’s cure. 
Hamdseh, pp. 8 — 12. 
Notes. 
The metre of this poem is Hezej of the first form :— 
_ 
yj _ 
_ 
KJ 
KJ 
The English endeavours to reproduce it as far as the metrical structure of 
our language will permit. 
The author’s real name was Shahl son of Sheyban: his surname, el- 
Find, means “ the mountain crag” or “ a mighty piece of a mountain.” 
Accounts differ as to the reason why it was given ; some say he was so 
called because of the hugeness of his stature : others, that he said on a day 
of battle to his fellows who were pressed hard—“ Plant yourselves against 
me: I will be a rock to your backs.” 
The Benu. Zimman, to which tribe Iiq belonged, were of the offspring 
of Bekr son of Wail, and dwelt in the central mountains of Nejd among 
the Benu Hanifeh. They, like their friends of Hanifeh, long held aloof 
from the War of Basus (one of the greatest of the ante-Islamic struggles 
between the Arab tribes), which was at first confined to the divisions of 
Bekr descended from Duhl son of Sheyban on the one side, and Teghlib 
