Sol 5.6

  1. When he had cast forty years behind him

    and confronted, out of fifty, a vast and formidable army,

  2. he remembered what had passed away from the days of youth

    and yearned, leaving no tear-channel in his eyes dry.

  3. He dragged a halter whose knot gray hair had tightened,

    and put forward a foot that found no way ahead.

  4. He resented the eyes’ disregard for his standing,

    though they had followed him wherever he turned.

  5. It is Time: it gives you nothing but fleeting consolation

    and takes back no favor except as plunder.

  6. Take comfort over the thing whose attainment has passed beyond reach,

    and be patient when patient endurance is the wiser course.

  7. Never have I seen the like of gray hair, dawning as though it were

    the front teeth of a beloved who visited us smiling.

  8. But when the eyes beheld it, they discerned

    in its first appearance something to frighten the discerning.

  9. No—by your noble father! It has never ceased shining:

    gray hair dispelling whatever the darkness of night had obscured,

  10. until it turned the black locks gray-white and left

    not even a forehead blaze or white muzzle among the markings of horses.

  11. Is gray hair anything but borrowed adornment,

    and its warning the herald of an army advancing upon us?

  12. Here I am, because of it, bareheaded yet turbaned;

    never have I seen another like myself, bareheaded yet turbaned.

  13. As though, in place of the crown, there lay a jeweled strand,

    bright with lavender blossoms, or pearls strung in order;

  14. and a radiance like a sword-blade, though its sheath grow worn,

    provided its two edges are polished and its cutting edge keen.

  15. If my head has not grown gray in ignorance, there is no

    shame upon a man in growing gray and old.

  16. My two friends, return to the memory of what has gone before,

    even if remembrance stirs a heart enslaved by love.

  17. For talk of pleasure is pleasure itself, and often

    one enamored finds solace in recalling the beloved thing.

  18. My two friends of Quraysh’s two branches, you have been bereaved

    of a youth who battled the days until he was chipped and blunted.

  19. Experience tempered him so thoroughly that he seemed

    to behold among its secrets what he had once only imagined.

  20. He whose limbs grow weak gains strength of judgment;

    he whom calamities discipline becomes well disciplined.

  21. You two, take admonition from a seasoned master over whom

    the turns of Fortune have passed in misery and prosperity.

  22. When authority raises a people, they rise;

    and when authority tears down a glory, it crumbles.

  23. If knowledge does not guide a man, he will not find

    the path of guidance easy, though he be judicious.

  24. Never have I seen a branch grow tall except through its root,

    nor have I seen the beginning of knowledge except in learning.

  25. Whoever battles the days—his understanding is fuller;

    whoever dwells beside a dull, tongue-tied fool grows dull.

  26. I have seen no foe more hostile to a man than kinship,

    especially when the kinsman is a neighbor or a son.

  27. Whoever seeks kindness from those unworthy of it

    prolongs his suffering—or prolongs his regret.

  28. Whoever gives thanks for a kindness deserves an increase,

    just as a benefactor deserves thanks.

  29. Whoever deals gently with the days is content with his life;

    whoever holds a kindness over others returns blameworthy.

  30. Whoever vies with his brethren has few friends;

    whoever reproaches a youth for love is more blameworthy still.

  31. Indeed—by the Commander of the Faithful—the en—

    emy has struck no coward, nor any man oppressed,

  32. nor one forgetful of the sound judgment he once possessed.

    He imposed upon me, inescapably, a course of humiliation,

  33. in violation of the Prophet’s bonds; and only

    he who is Muslim loves the sons of al-Abbas.

  34. Perhaps the sons of al-Abbas will heal their wounds,

    and Hashim will mend for me what has been shattered.

Sol 5.6