Sol 6.1

  1. A victory through which Islam exalted the man who won it,

    and whose piercing radiance restored sovereignty's brilliant light.

  2. Couriers traveled with its news, its dispatches proclaimed

    from the pulpits, its outcomes praised.

  3. So every frontier town has a mouth that exchanges smiles with it,

    and every land has a band of riders accompanying it.

  4. The prince returned with it, his noble deeds green,

    his keen swords red, his virtues white,

  5. strengthened, with Time avoiding his onslaught,

    for it never meets him without fearing him.

  6. A day of victory, its bounties remembered

    until the Day of Calling, its gifts gratefully praised.

  7. Its northern breezes wafted fragrance from their sweetness

    over hearts, and its southern breezes matched them.

  8. If his day was not Badr, its kinship lies in the triumph

    you were granted that day, and in victory.

  9. Ask the Domestikos whether sleep ever came to him,

    and can it come to him when terror is his companion?

  10. When he saw in you one whose challenger was vanquished

    on the day of battle, and whose foe was despoiled,

  11. and a far-roaming man with horses' backs for his seat,

    and white swords, rather than blood relatives, for his kin.

  12. His lofty fortresses, when he ventures into the open, are his lances,

    and his rampart falls short of what his keen blades defend.

  13. He found keen swords more effective than correspondence

    which his correspondent had not begun with submission.

  14. So he drew close to war until it no longer kept away from him,

    and held peace far off until it no longer came near him.

  15. His wealth goes to deputations of thanks when it is abundant,

    and when it is scant, his earnings come by the sword.

  16. Nor will he deem distance near while seeking it,

    or reckon rugged ground smooth while riding across it.

  17. Had he stayed even a moment when you advanced upon him

    beneath the battle-dust, his mourning women would surely have risen.

  18. When the host appeared before you, far-flung

    in its reaches, its flanks stretching into the distance,

  19. you left them, some with their upper chests stained

    with blood, and others with their locks dyed.

  20. So one veers aside, and the spear's meteor overtakes him;

    another flees, and the sword's edge pursues him.

  21. His attacker swoops upon him with a star-like spear,

    and his striker assails him with a lightning-like blade.

  22. He clothes him in a garment of his own blood, and strips him

    of his clothes: he both clothes him and despoils him.

  23. You guarded its domain, O keen sword of Islam,

    with a keen-edged blade, until its flank grew strong.

  24. At al-Hadath you raised the fortress brought low

    by calamities, until what was firm in it had vanished.

  25. You restored it to an Adawi lineage,

    after its lineage had been Roman.

  26. It has shielded its honor with deserts, and its shoulders stretch

    high above the shoulder of Sirius.

  27. Its summit listens to the sky; so if there flicker

    the bright stars, we imagine them speaking to it.

  28. As though its towers on every side

    were their constellations, while night's shadows lay dense.

  29. O champion of the faith when its champion was hard to find,

    and suitor of glory when its suitors were few,

  30. how long will your sword's striking edges remain unquenched

    by blood, and its aims remain unfulfilled?

Sol 6.1