Sol 5.6

  1. Ali ibn Sudun says: Gone is

    my heart, enveloped in ecstasy and wine.

  2. It was not ruddy wine—certainly not—but only

    the choicest vintage of a full-figured beauty’s fresh saliva.

  3. The magnetism of her eyes tugs at the heart;

    it yielded—or else she would have ringed it with sword-blades.

  4. She unleashed upon it the bows of her eyebrows, and it bent;

    wounds from her arrows left it grievously stricken.

  5. She charges with estrangement’s sword, whether angered or pleased,

    and claims that slaying the lover is lawful.

  6. I say, when amid her hair she bared her brow:

    Can night and morning be joined in a single moment?

  7. She sways coquettishly, like the swaying of a bough bent low,

    with which winds have toyed among the gardens.

  8. Rivulets of beauty’s water nourish it with delight;

    upon it love’s blackbird sings aloud.

  9. She sashays and gazes like boughs and gazelles,

    and thus captivates this lovesick man without a weapon.

  10. My passion for her nearly let its ruin endure in me,

    so I aimed, through praise of the Prophet, at rectitude.

  11. He is the Praiser, the Praised, and he is Muhammad;

    he is the master from whom success is hoped.

  12. He is the Chosen One, calling to God with guidance,

    and from what he intends there is no turning away for us.

  13. The All-Merciful sent him as a mercy to humankind,

    and through him salvation dawned for all the worlds.

  14. Terror of him courses ahead of him among his enemies,

    a month’s journey—say: without wings.

  15. Despite his exalted rank, you find him pardoning, for he is

    noble, and gracious pardon is the hallmark of the noble.

  16. He is the succor in the Hereafter, when creation is hard-pressed

    by a terror amid which wailing is heard among humankind;

  17. when the Scale is raised and the veil is stripped away,

    and affliction engulfs them from every side;

  18. when Hell has then been kindled, and drawn near are

    gardens whose fragrance wafts with glad tidings.

  19. This is a poem by Ibn Sudun, who hopes

    by the honored station of God’s Messenger to attain success.

  20. May God’s blessings rest upon him at every hour,

    and peace be his morning and evening.

Sol 5.6