Sol 5.6

  1. O crescent of Eid, you greeted us when you appeared,

    in light—how splendid, how ablaze!

  2. Or are you the radiance of glory’s full moon, the star of guidance—

    right-guided in thought, who rose above the horizon and blazed?

  3. The fast has passed, and Eid has returned

    in your splendid presence, while your days are ever renewed.

  4. O gracious lord, through whose advent

    fortune’s star shone upon us—may it never fade:

  5. breaking the fast is an Eid for you; for us, every

    day with you is an Eid renewed.

  6. If people strive for heavenly reward or piety,

    you attain it—your very person holds the reward alone.

  7. Every deed of yours among the people bears the merit

    of one who fasted, prayed, and prostrated himself.

  8. Your beneficence has won renown that spread from land

    to land, traveling throughout the world.

  9. At glory’s summit, an enduring honor inscribes

    your memory upon eternity’s brow.

  10. Your overflowing kindness throughout the world—whenever

    it touches an afflicted eye, it heals its inflammation.

  11. Through it, whoever among us is ill or away

    on a journey finds aid prepared for him.

  12. O rightly guided man in his deeds,

    throughout creation you are the spirit of right guidance.

  13. You are the all-embracing axis of forbearance;

    you are understanding’s blazing beacon.

  14. For wisdom you are a radiant light, effacing

    ignorance after it had grown entrenched.

  15. Indeed, Syria, which you revived

    as the spirit revives the body,

  16. now walks proudly amid her celebrations,

    her charms all graceful sway and display.

  17. And there came to be, through rain pouring upon her dunes,

    fresh pearls in liquid form—not hail.

  18. You came to Syria’s land, reviving its people,

    and it became a garden where sorrow is healed—

  19. a paradise beneath which rivers now flow,

    set running by you for the people, reviving all who drink.

  20. Today you have alighted in the abode of loyalty

    as the sun enters the constellation Leo.

  21. You keep vigil now, O shepherd of the people,

    guarding the realm in safety, so that it sleeps.

  22. Inspiration from on high poured upon your thought—

    your lofty thought—its radiance, and it blazed.

  23. Command is freely yours: decree whatever you

    decree therein, and rule—there is no appeal.

  24. Yours, my lord, is the loveliest tenderness,

    captivating the heart and leaving no distress;

  25. and dignity, and far-reaching influence

    that awes the eagle yet never harms the shrike;

  26. and qualities so pure that, were they to course

    through the sea’s vast surge, it would cast up no foam.

  27. You are our governor, who has brought us

    the delight of the hours and a life of ease.

  28. Through you our glory shone above the heights,

    and pride rose higher than everyone else.

  29. From you we have received such care that through it

    we now seek refuge from the evil of envy.

  30. You, O defender of letters’ sacred precinct, O

    master of resolve and sound judgment:

  31. in prose composition your reach is such that

    every hand among humankind falls short of it.

  32. O eloquent one, every utterance of yours

    contains meanings beyond all reckoning.

  33. The realm of poetry took pride in what

    you generously bestowed upon it; it praised and gave thanks.

  34. You encircled its neck when you fashioned for it

    the pearls of words into a necklace, and thus it was strung.

  35. You stand peerless in lofty virtues; whoever

    sought through all time an equal to you found none.

Sol 5.6