Sol 5.6

  1. Greet the dwellings around Naho al-Dall,

    laid waste by the hands of the pouring rain-clouds.

  2. The passing storms erased the landmarks of their traces and ruins—

    storms sweeping from east and north.

  3. They grew desolate after me and became a barren waste,

    inhabited only by gazelle fawns and herds of wild cattle.

  4. They stand deserted, their remaining signs like a tattoo upon

    the wrist of a graceful, plump, languid woman.

  5. In place of their wide-eyed women appeared their animal counterparts:

    many a stately, long-necked doe and gazelle.

  6. Turn aside with me toward them, and amid their ruins release

    the tears you have withheld because of the abandoned camps.

  7. Ask the dwellings about those who once inhabited them:

    where have the full-grown camels borne them away?

  8. Defy the reproacher and tell him, if he blames me: indeed, I—

    I am lovestruck and pay no heed to reproachers.

  9. Do not reproach me for questioning dwellings

    where once I lived carefree at heart.

  10. How many a loving woman has seen, before me, a weeping man,

    bewildered, questioning every weathered trace!

  11. Why do the dwellings not answer my question?

    Has my affection, once pure and limpid, become otherwise?

  12. No lover is ever blamed for questioning the—

    ruins about those who once dwelt among them;

  13. nor, indeed, for pressing onward in the tracks of one

    whose northbound caravan has already swiftly departed.

  14. A swift, wild-ass-like she-camel—if her driver is near death from the long road,

    revives him with her ambling gait and racing trot.

  15. What afflicted me with yearning and turmoil was not

    that the fair women had severed my bonds of love.

  16. No, no—nor did a sweet-mouthed beauty, tugging at my robe,

    revive the buried embers of grief and fear.

  17. Rather, it was the setting of the sun—the sun of our age—

    that afflicted me with anguish and turmoil:

  18. Maymuna, of whom all humanity testified that she was

    without equal in noble deeds.

  19. She was the resting place for the saddles of all who sought hospitality;

    for the hunger of guests, she was a place where travelers might alight—

  20. a refuge for widows and orphans; she adorned

    all humanity with bounty before they even asked.

  21. After the sun of virtue, can any generous benefactor be found

    to feed the guest and honor him?

  22. When she bade us farewell, she entrusted her love

    to every heart; there was none who hated her.

  23. No disputant ever came to you but relented,

    ready to ransom you with paternal and maternal kin.

  24. She encompassed every glory and noble virtue, and acquired

    a character that put even well-aged wine to shame.

  25. She welcomed seekers of goodness with a radiant face,

    adorned with cheerfulness and beauty.

  26. Indeed, whichever noble person after her aspires to her station

    is merely like one coming in search of a mirage.

  27. For God's sake she spent the greater part of her wealth—

    how noble a spender of riches she was!

  28. She attained a station not reached through largesse alone;

    how noble is one who reaches glory through giving!

  29. At this calamity the lofty mountain peaks tottered,

    crumbling, and the hair upon every nape turned white.

  30. The earth's horizon grew dust-dark beneath a grievous calamity

    from which even children's hair-partings whitened.

  31. O grave of the sun of virtue, may mercies never cease upon you,

    morning and evening.

  32. May the All-Watchful One's pardon shower you in steady rain,

    and every thunderous, pouring cloud give you drink.

  33. May torrents from clouds of mercy water you,

    with sweet fragrance, streaming drops, and copious showers.

  34. O Lord, widen her grave and fill it with whatever

    she desires in every state.

  35. Forgive her whatever sins she committed, and let

    her deeds be accepted on the Day of Recompense.

  36. Let her find no loneliness there, O Fashioner;

    You are the Pardoning, the Glorious, the Most High.

  37. And give her drink from the basin of the Beacon of Guidance—

    the full moon of darkness, the exalted Pole of existence.

  38. What wonder—a mere span containing a sea

    whose waves surge with emeralds and pearls!

  39. O garden, Zummi has adorned you, and you flourish;

    you have contained a mighty mountain surpassing all mountains—

  40. rather, a perfect full moon whose lights shone

    across the horizon; indeed, you hold a sun at its zenith.

  41. And upon the Prophet be blessings from God,

    and His peace, as long as a crescent's light gleams.

Sol 5.6