Sol 5.6

  1. O sons of Muṣʿab, you are endowed with knowledge and right guidance;

    your forefathers among generations past were noble.

  2. They were people of virtue and honor among humankind,

    prostrate and standing in prayer amid the pitch-dark nights.

  3. Those are truly the party of God—the very ones,

    all prayer, unceasing remembrance, and standing vigil.

  4. They upheld the faith of God and held fast to it;

    blessed are they: the Abode of Peace shall be their dwelling.

  5. Whoever among them pursued the Prophet’s way,

    and whoever among us loved them, was beset by reproach.

  6. And into the face of whoever hates you, O House of Jariyya—

    though he be close kin—go pebbles and dust.

  7. If my lifetime is prolonged, I must surely pay you a visit;

    but if the other fate comes, I shall not be blamed.

  8. The maker of these verses is Muḥammad al-Maʿwalī,

    who, when the brethren are named, is never denied his due.

  9. By the reckoning of age, he counts seventy years,

    less one year in the count—and another.

  10. Single you out for praise, gratitude, and acclaim

    my humble folk, my nobles, and every valiant man among us.

  11. We pray for your victory and justice from daybreak

    until drowsiness envelops us in sleep.

  12. For the believers’ weapon is their supplication

    when my night closes in and darkness grows pitch-black.

  13. May remembrance of you never cease visiting our hearts

    until earth and marble hide us away.

  14. And in the year seven after one hundred,

    a thousand having passed—the poet offers his greeting at that date.

Sol 5.6