Sol 5.6

  1. Passion destroyed within me what patience had preserved,

    and separation made light of all that estrangement had wrought.

  2. At dawn, the litter-bearing camels of the ʿĀmirid lady departed,

    and in every one of her litters rode a full moon.

  3. A lithe, swaying woman, love tattooed upon her heart—

    among the fair women, alarmed by our visiting them.

  4. With her eyes she poured me, amid youth’s fiercest ardor,

    pure cups of love, until drunkenness overcame me;

  5. and from a mouth of fresh, gleaming teeth, holding some of Babylon’s choicest wine,

    into which Hārūt had breathed wine and sorcery.

  6. We offered her our love, but she turned away from us,

    calmly withdrawing, with neither favor nor welcoming smile.

  7. So, my reproacher, gently! Passion has indeed reached

    a boundary in the heart beyond the reach of rebuke.

  8. No sound counsel reaches, through his hearing, one whose conscience is enslaved;

    against reproach, the ears of one possessed by passion are deaf.

  9. And a night like the nights of longing—as though

    its stars were captives, barred by bondage from journeying on.

  10. Through it I lay awake, revisited by passion’s phantom,

    while yearning and anxious thought stole into me.

  11. Ah, what a night—how grievously it tormented me,

    as though the Resurrection itself were joined to its farthest end!

  12. The night is not truly growing longer; rather,

    an eye with little sleep drinks its darkness to the full.

  13. Nor, for all its length, has the night folded away from me

    any solace whose unveiling might be hoped for in daylight.

  14. If morning’s brightness brings me no relief

    from care, then may the dawn never rise.

  15. I said, when I beheld Yaʿrub upon the throne,

    radiant, while his overwhelming downpour encompassed all mankind:

  16. Is this Yaʿrub, or a full moon by which we dispel the darkness?

    Is this abundant largesse and rain—or a sea?

  17. You behold a figure fashioned from virtues,

    in whom what the eye sees and what report relates agree:

  18. a youth whose character came forth stamped with generosity,

    as wine mingles with water in its cup.

  19. Prolific in devising noble deeds through munificence,

    each day he has a fresh noble deed.

  20. Through him high glory was revealed and minds were adorned;

    the days strutted proudly in him, and Time itself boasted.

  21. He is the proverb cited among men for generosity;

    wherever he sits in council, he is the foremost.

  22. Whenever we mention Yaʿrub among his people,

    no tribe but theirs can boast of glory among creation.

  23. The sons of Nabhān upon glory’s horizon seem

    full moons ablaze, with brilliant stars around them.

  24. They are water in purity and a breeze in gentleness,

    though in every calamity they are solid rock.

  25. Their equipment for every grim day,

    on the morning of encounter, is bright swords, dark steeds, and tawny lances.

  26. They defended the honor of highest glory and ruled the sons of this world;

    no injustice touched them, and no blood-claim escaped them—

  27. with every stout-shafted lance in every engulfing fray,

    and on every thoroughbred steed, above its saddle, a dauntless champion.

  28. I shall gratefully acknowledge the House of Nabhān’s favors;

    for the greatest thing that effaces a blessing is ingratitude.

  29. They found me a fitting recipient for their benefaction,

    and found it treasure laid where treasure is truly valued.

  30. The finest investment of kindness, in my judgment, is theirs, because

    with me the blessing shines forth and gratitude is made beautiful.

  31. Within me are faithful remembrance and endurance of hardship,

    and the keeping of secrets—no backbiting and no treachery.

  32. I pass every secluded maiden with my gaze lowered;

    my cloak, rather than her finery, serves as her veil.

  33. If a people have no desire for praise,

    then poetry is the least marketable thing in their lands.

  34. Though my two hands have gained some surplus of their wealth,

    their honor, my friend, has gained nothing from my praise.

  35. Nor am I content that you should see me placing

    the handiwork of my praise where it is held of no worth.

  36. It is nothing but poverty, O people, that compels me

    to undertake what does not befit me—accursed be poverty!

  37. Among the sons of Nabhān I see a worthy path for praise,

    by which noble goodness is made accessible and reward is earned.

  38. Father of the Arabs, your dwelling has claimed the courtyard and its pride,

    ever flourishing—and long may your life endure.

  39. May happiness and fulfilled wishes be granted you at the Feast,

    and may fasting and its breaking return habitually to you.

  40. Put every envier to shame through your customary generosity:

    these endeavors of yours are burning embers within his entrails.

Sol 5.6