Poem #22. He Who Attains High Rank Bears No Hatred [لا يحمل الحقد من تعلو به الرتب]

From Slave to Knight: The Legendary Rise of One of the Greatest Poets of the Arabic World. Poem by Antarah ibn Shaddad [عنترة بن شداد]

Antarah ibn Shaddad (left) and his lover abla (right)

[Standard Translation]

He who attains high rank bears no hatred,
Nor does one of fiery temperament reach true loftiness¹
He who serves a tribe never opposes them
When they shun him, and flatters when they reproach²
Once I tended their camels in days gone by,
And today I defend their flanks whenever they face…