Sol 6.1

  1. The suns of the secluded chamber rose, only to set,

    and their beauties appeared, only to disappear.

  2. To voice his longing, he had eloquence enough in

    tears that, when describing longing, spoke at length.

  3. How lovely a sun from whom separation withdrew,

    and who bared to her lover a cool, sweet-toothed smile.

  4. She aimed at him with a glance that, had it been

    an arrow, would have passed beyond his heart's sheath, bloodstained.

  5. She rose, inclining her shapely figure for an embrace,

    like a slender branch, wondrous and rare in its fruit.

  6. Its crown bore silvered daisies,

    pouring wine, and gilded anemones.

  7. Though the veil had hidden her beauty, they refused—

    the movements of the ban-tree bough—to be veiled.

  8. You were nothing but the full moon leaving its veils;

    once we glimpsed it, it returned behind a veil.

  9. And I no longer knew whether its sanctuary,

    when it disappeared, was a place of rising or setting.

  10. So when the rain gives its reins to the winds,

    and follows, driven by the south wind or the east,

  11. may it water a dwelling at al-Aqiq and a beloved,

    and hills on the outskirts of al-Ghamim and a herd of gazelles.

  12. Why have I seen Time set its misfortunes

    upon the resourceful, resolute man, whichever way he turns?

  13. I shall show it earnestness in a player's guise;

    the man of mettle does not grow earnest until he has played.

  14. And one who challenged me to a chase I drove away;

    when have you seen a lion chase a fox?

  15. Let him dwell in obscurity's grave, for I am

    a fire blazing on the summit of Kabkab.

  16. Far from it! I shunned folly and its people

    as a youth; how could I countenance folly gray-haired?

  17. And the emir's might has placed me in an abode

    where Time, should it assail me, would recoil in fear.

  18. We returned to him—his favors white when pleased,

    and his spear-shafts red when angered.

  19. Overflowing with gifts, unrivaled when he inspires desire

    for noble favors, and unequaled when he inspires fear.

  20. And impregnable, he slays his enemy when girded

    with the sword, or gives his ally gifts when seated with knees clasped.

  21. And illustrious: if the courtyards of his dwelling spoke,

    they would say to seekers of generosity, 'Welcome!'

  22. I shot with him, a sure-aimed bow that never missed;

    and struck with him, Dhu al-Fiqar, which never glanced aside.

  23. Through his generosity I passed my gray-haired days

    bright and white, and reproached the days of youth.

  24. A cheerful face like the lamp of rain, and virtues

    whose splendor makes the lamps upon the hills grow dim.

  25. And noble of lineage, he won distinction as a non-Arab

    among us, just as he won distinction as an Arab.

  26. If he wishes, he is reckoned of the noblest peoples;

    or, if he wishes, he counts Taghlib among his tribes.

  27. Whenever iron sings, he yearns for battle,

    and wades into its murky, clamorous surge.

  28. He charges with his spearhead honed, as though he were

    a moon pursuing a star through the dust cloud.

  29. Shall I watch the clouds' lightning, when already

    Abu al-Hasan's right hand has become the rain-pouring cloud?

  30. Time grew summer-hot; you were a temperate shade,

    and spring withdrew; you were a garden lush with grass.

  31. He has left poems unable to count what

    he bestows; who can number pebbles and dust?

  32. And the Talibids—their delegations sought you out,

    and saw your boundless bounty bring their goal within reach.

  33. You regarded them, while thought was turning away from them

    the glances of eyes, in hatred and avoidance.

  34. You gathered them into one company, though they had been scattered

    by Time's hands, dispersed like Saba's people.

  35. You loved your kinsman, and none loves him

    save a man who rejects the unrelated stranger.

  36. As for fasting, you answered its call,

    and deemed it a radiant, pure deed.

  37. A month whose fasting you joined to its night prayers;

    then you shed it, lean about the ribs and exhausted.

  38. So answer fast-breaking's call with a morning draught, for

    it has called you, 'Come to the morning drink!' and called again.

  39. And savor her as a virgin; I would not wed

    the sharif's honor to a previously married praise-poem.

  40. ُ

    A praise-poem: thought twisted the thread of its design,

    and found in your lofty worth pearls already pierced.

  41. If it settles, it makes its home in its reciters' breasts;

    or if it travels, it goes east and west across the lands.

Sol 6.1