Sol 6

  1. I recognized her phantom visiting across the distance,

    Helping one who longs and delighting one who yearns.

  2. She came while remnants of tears remained in my eyelids;

    Her absence drew them out, and they streamed forth.

  3. Her smile flashed as our conversation turned,

    Like lightning in the rain that brought anemones to Najd.

  4. She veiled herself in night only for fear

    Of a watcher who sharpens his searching eyes.

  5. She covered your cheek with a fading flower,

    While her own cheeks wore red anemones.

  6. She departed with a heart that love’s hand had surrendered

    To longing, overcome in its composure and still in love.

  7. May rain water her where it begins to pour,

    Flowing like the generosity of the Muslims’ deliverer.

  8. May God preserve the crown of the chosen ones; in truth,

    My prayer was that He preserve the world and its people.

  9. O Defender of the Faith, whose gifts

    Have made poetry distinguish generosity from stinginess,

  10. You possess a heart enamored of high achievement

    And have been given a heart in love with noble deeds.

  11. Whenever kings raced toward the height of eminence

    Or a noble deed, we found you ahead of them.

  12. Where one of them withheld, you gave;

    Where one of them denied, you provided.

  13. God granted you all the western lands

    And the eastern lands, to carry out His command in them.

  14. You turned from the shade of ease and traveled

    Through blazing heat and hardship at the edge of glory.

  15. With a close-formed Azdi army loyal to Nasr,

    You sent calamities upon your enemies.

  16. With it you struck at the strength of Iraq and kept

    The blades of your fine swords biting into it.

  17. And you brought Khurasan together from it

    In haste, when you tore apart the defenses.

  18. You tore the cloud of fine armor over them

    In layers when you drew your flashing blades.

  19. In your hand lie the lives of your enemies;

    You have narrowed the paths by which they might survive.

  20. If a preacher does not mount the pulpit

    To deliver the sermon you desire, he is deemed a transgressor.

  21. If a dirham does not show among its inscriptions

    A line naming you, it is deemed counterfeit.

  22. If, after you, a claimant takes up generosity

    Or adorns himself with its name, he is a thief.

  23. Whoever seeks a benefactor whose gifts he might enjoy

    Other than you is like one seeking a creator alongside God.

  24. The man whose home had been Khurasan

    Was attached to it, then rose and departed.

  25. Whenever he thought of breaking camp, he looked back

    At the gardens and palaces around it.

  26. They showed him his desires and support for his hopes;

    When desires go down easily, they become supports.

  27. His own soul advised him, though it was his enemy;

    When enemies give counsel, they can speak truth.

  28. At Mosul you uprooted the very root of his rule

    With repeated charges that turn hair at the partings white.

  29. He kept his distance from you, seeking safety, and still

    Crossed plains and vast deserts beyond it.

  30. The Rudayni spears appeared along its sides,

    Tall, rising above the tall heights.

  31. You brought from the mountains the mountainlike men of Tayy,

    Massed troops crowded with armored warriors.

  32. Its palaces were left as mounds,

    Though its hills had once risen high.

  33. When a coward ventured forth, he wore out his spear,

    As a lover steals a furtive glance.

  34. And Uqayl drove away on the tips of its spears

    The choicest of their possessions and their herds.

  35. And Kilab snarled amid the spear shafts, then struck down

    Foxes in their dens and young hares.

  36. You held the men of Iraq in a palm

    That pours rain at one moment and thunderbolts at another.

  37. Through generosity you gave speech to those once mute,

    And through might you silenced those who had spoken.

  38. Their hands clasp thousands of silent coins,

    Having known before only small coins.

  39. How many fortresses you uprooted with your fine sword

    And scattered to the winds as dust!

  40. You trusted in God’s victory in every place

    And have trusted in God throughout your life.

  41. The Commander of the Faithful clothed you in virtues,

    And you, O Defender of the Faith, were worthy of them.

  42. He singled you out among all people for friendship,

    Seeing your affection for him as pure and sincere.

Sol 6