Sol 5.6

  1. This Eid has come, but Nudar is away—

    and her brother too; my heart can find no rest.

  2. My tears fling themselves down my cheek in torrents,

    while in my heart a fire fiercely burns.

  3. The two dwell, through my love for her, deep within my heart;

    at every moment it remembers her.

  4. And a brother—good, chaste, and modest—

    whose branch has flourished and whose lineage is noble.

  5. The homes have grown desolate without them; they departed,

    and through them the hills and deserts find companionship.

  6. The camels bore beauty away in bearing them—

    a radiant beauty whose lights shine upon all mankind.

  7. By day, suns from among them shone forth,

    and in their night, moons revealed themselves.

  8. The earth grew fragrant with their perfume when

    they trod upon it, and its soil became sweet-scented.

  9. They set out for the Hijaz, intent upon the pilgrimage,

    with remembrance of God and the Qur’an as their emblem.

  10. They reached the Kaaba of God and performed the Hajj,

    and there their burdens of sin were cast away.

  11. Then they visited the Chosen One at the best of graves,

    where lies the Chosen, the finest of all creation.

  12. My heart yearned for Salih—and, by my life,

    there is surely a lesson in his journey.

  13. He made the pilgrimage as a child, with his mother and father,

    attaining what no other little child had ever attained.

  14. They are people who made the Hajj, visited, and won salvation;

    destiny aided them in this.

  15. But I, an old man, was held back by my sins—

    perhaps the All-Forgiving will pardon me.

  16. They left me behind alone, a solitary stranger;

    at every moment remembrance fills me with longing.

  17. Will I live, I wonder, to behold Hayyan,

    and see Nudar appear before my eyes?

  18. The two blossoms of my soul, the two lights of my heart,

    my two companions whenever brooding overtakes me.

  19. They have been parted from me a month, then a month, then a month;

    my heart has no power to endure the separation.

  20. O breeze of the east wind, carry my greetings, I pray,

    to my loved ones, however distant the place of visiting.

  21. I said to my soul as it trembled in distress,

    “Be still, for the journey is now at an end.

  22. A herald has come to us with news that they draw near,

    and tomorrow our home will reunite us with the beloved.”

Sol 5.6