Sol 6

  1. Kingship is guarded by a king of the Banu al-Azafi.

    And learning thrives through noble Yahya the Good.

  2. Firm in judgment, he lets no one undermine his thinking:

    Neither the cunning of men nor a turn toward injustice sways him.

  3. Western Ceuta has placed its keys

    In his hands and found refuge in its proud protector.

  4. He comes from Lakhm, a royal house that long defended

    Its honor with sword blades and slender spears.

  5. They are the kings; no ruler can be compared with them

    Among mankind. Can a pearl be compared with its shell?

  6. Though I have missed the chance to kiss your palm,

    I have sent a kiss to it by the winged messenger of letters.

  7. I imagine your soft fingers touching it;

    How many an ailing person has been healed by imagining reunion!

  8. I yearn to be near, but how many barriers stand before me:

    A vast, dark sea or a far-reaching wilderness.

  9. My longing does not mean that I gained no honor

    In Egypt; there I attained the height of honor.

  10. For Egypt let me drink deeply from the udders of hope

    And breathe in the blossoms of a fresh garden.

  11. She raised me like a full moon among her stars

    Until, through me, her veil of darkness was lifted.

  12. She let my gaze wander over open faces,

    Soft-lidded eyes, and upturned noses.

  13. Among the children of Japheth, how many breathe spells,

    Singing enchantments over the lovesick sufferer!

  14. Yet this yearning stirred what had lain quiet within me:

    The memory of the place where I grew up and found my companions.

Sol 6