Sol 5.6

  1. His tears refused all but pouring down

    on the evening when the tribe resolved to depart.

  2. Is it truly so—whenever they resolve to go far away,

    the water in your eye wells up, and then it flows?

  3. We pressed Umm ʿAmr to honor her promises;

    she thought she could bestow her favor—and be won.

  4. Her night-roaming phantom journeyed to us;

    had she known, she would have punished the phantom.

  5. When our riding beasts have carried us to Quraysh,

    they have carried us to a sea of purest water.

  6. A noble youth: were he to stretch his reach toward the sky

    and aspire to the bright stars, he would attain them.

  7. When Ibn Badran recounts his ancestry, we find

    his lofty lines of descent beyond all rivalry.

  8. Through him they tower whenever Maʿadd is named,

    and lend beauty to every branch of Qays.

  9. O beacon of guidance, receive a lover’s whispered plea—

    one who loves you from conviction, not false profession.

  10. You bestowed your favor and made me bear no hardship;

    you gave freely and did not force me to ask.

  11. If ever the age should lack a Musayyabī,

    then may God drive calamity upon the world.

Sol 5.6