Sol 5.6

  1. Recovery came, following the trace of what illness had wrought,

    just as want is banished by the wealth of one endowed with riches.

  2. The ordeal grew dark until it nearly wore us as its innermost garment,

    and patience’s noose tightened while dread spread wide.

  3. You passed the night, and we passed it watching over you, while tears stood guard

    over our eyes, lest sleep alight upon them.

  4. We kept sending sighs toward the One boundless in giving,

    toward the dispeller of affliction, toward Him to whom judgment belongs.

  5. Only two nights slipped from sight

    before grace shone forth and sorrow cleared away.

  6. Divine medicine treated you swiftly,

    and with your recovery your loved ones recovered, and the wound healed.

  7. This was no recovery hewn from the health of your foes;

    rather, sickness passed into your enemies’ bodies.

  8. Yours is the gain—from recovery and from crushing your foes—

    in every circumstance, just as theirs is the loss.

  9. God refused anything for you but enduring life,

    and for your detractor anything but abasement;

  10. and your learning consented to nothing but embodiment,

    for you are learning’s tongue whenever learning speaks.

  11. And all woe—utter woe—is only for one who envies

    the proud chiefs of glory, all lofty in the heights:

  12. the kin of the Companion of the Cave—those among whom you stand—

    men true when they speak, men resolute when they purpose,

  13. a band belonging to the Chosen One’s peer, stars of guidance.

    God’s peace be upon you as long as a star rises.

  14. Leave your adversary be: on the day he is raised, it will suffice him

    that the God of all worlds is his adversary.

  15. Here, take the choicest cream of pure eloquence,

    which has savor in the ears of masters of taste.

  16. A slender-flanked beauty whose sash has sworn

    that nothing shall guide her but the embrace of your forearms.

  17. A companion ode to “The Wondrous Victory”—I have sent her;

    in every illness, reciting her brings a decisive cure.

  18. May she delight you with a death-announcement, and tell you

    that whenever care grows dire, care will soon open into relief.

  19. She also reminds you of the pledge that stood between us;

    one like you carries resolve through, though resolve itself be broken.

  20. One like you never stints in effort, and one like you never flags,

    and blame never makes its way toward his deeds.

Sol 5.6