Sol 6.1

  1. He would have folded away longing, but for a lightning-flash that gleams,

    and a phantom that clings to the cords of slumber.

  2. And imminent parting impoverished him, so his tear,

    an exile of love, clings to the surface of his cheek.

  3. We stood; the copious shedding of tears is a disposition

    we were born with, while fortitude is an assumed demeanor.

  4. And when we embraced, I thought our hearts

    whispered together of separation's deeds, as they beat.

  5. This is the dwelling; neither clouds nor love have left

    its landmarks without a shimmering tear.

  6. Grey hair turned my neck away from it, though once I was seen

    there, the led steed of youth, trotting and cantering.

  7. I say, its splendor having delighted the eyes:

    May the bright white clouds water you with what they filter clear.

  8. So there is no life but what youth bestowed there,

    and no yearning but what parting bestowed.

  9. And wine whose goblets are emblazoned with horsemen

    from Persia, floating in the wine and sinking.

  10. I kiss among them each man armed with his weapons,

    with an arrow in his hand, nocked and aimed at me.

  11. As though the round bubbles were a necklace

    upon him, and the wine's rosy hue a coat.

  12. I yearn for it while darkness is perfumed with musk,

    and turn away from it while dawn is scented with saffron.

  13. And had I not been the emir's protected neighbor, I would have

    a skin torn by the claw of calamities.

  14. Through Abu al-Hayja's generosity, I was clothed in a blessing,

    renewed, draping me amply and shining.

  15. For it I cut, across the earth, the hobbles of praise-poems

    that travel west through its regions and east.

  16. So he is not outstripped toward the ultimate goal of generosity,

    nor am I outstripped in the race of praise.

  17. A raincloud: whenever a banner flutters for its night-traveler

    above the earth, it never stops raining while anyone on earth is empty-handed.

  18. Gentle when the offender seeks refuge in his pardon,

    yet he shows no gentleness to an adversary.

  19. Taghlib gained a sword in him, and he gained one in her,

    like a tawny spear driven forward by a sharpened point.

  20. And a day on which the sun seemed sick,

    her glances clouded whenever she gazed.

  21. When the dust blackened there, or sword-edges swept past,

    it was left piebald by their flashing.

  22. As though the thoroughbred horses grew fewer whenever they met

    at its two edges, or more numerous when they scattered.

  23. You plunged into it, while forbearance beneath its canopy

    was captive to bitter zeal for honor, and recklessness was set free.

  24. Then you dispelled its darkness, though it was pitch-black,

    and widened its confines, though it was narrow,

  25. with blows like the rending of athami cloth, at which you see

    maidens' necklines being torn open upon cheeks.

  26. And you hung benefactions about a people's necks,

    as though those favors made them ring-necked doves.

  27. Through them you planted a plant whose blossom greets you,

    and it draws you near its fruits, lovely as it is.

  28. It came to you, your virtues having imbued its wording

    with virtues; in it is a luster from your own virtues.

  29. Ideas like breaths of wind in the hour before dawn,

    passing over the gardens' blossoms and growing fragrant.

  30. An orator falls short of them, though eloquent,

    and a poet cannot match them, though masterfully inventive.

Sol 6.1