Sol 5.6

  1. When you come before the emir, say: “Peace

    be upon you, and the mercy of God the Merciful.”

  2. And now to the matter: I have a creditor,

    a Bedouin—what a wretched creditor!

  3. He clings, so far as I know, to my house-door,

    as the dog clung to the Companions of al-Raqim.

  4. I owe him a hundred, half another hundred,

    and half that half, all recorded in an old bond:

  5. dirhams from which I gained nothing—but

    I bestowed them on the chiefs of Banu Tamim.

  6. They came to me with the whole clan, asking,

    and I was no miser among the tribe.

Sol 5.6