Sol 6

  1. Through you, fortune that once betrayed me has kept faith with me.

    And time, which is ever changing, has proved true to me.

  2. The turns of fate made peace with me, though between us lay

    The notched edges of sharp swords and shattered spears.

  3. I came to think well of time and its people,

    And began to hope for the company of one I once feared.

  4. He showed me how one who sees the summit of glory

    And strives to reach it girds himself for the task;

  5. And how a free man resents a flaw in his honor,

    Then strengthens and restores it with noble deeds.

  6. He showed tenderness, though hardness dwells in the heart of time,

    And guarded my right, while my own brother would violate it;

  7. He gave welcome aid, deeming even its abundance little,

    And affection—and what you bestow of affection is greater still.

  8. Your gift suffices, and your apology is a gift besides;

    Others neither give nor offer an apology.

  9. You have been faithful to forefathers, taking upon yourself

    Virtues through which they established and spread their renown.

  10. They were noble; death folded them away as it did those before them,

    And you unfold them from that very fold.

  11. They passed away as ancestors and left you to make their memory

    Endure; the later heir has not disgraced the past.

  12. They left a good account of themselves in you after them,

    Knowing that accounts are handed down.

  13. We weighed them against others, in lineage and in character;

    The scales tipped, while their worth grew and multiplied.

  14. Yet you brought something further, so that it seems they,

    Though they fell short in nothing, fell short of glory's summit.

  15. A father who leaves you as glory for his descendants,

    Though death took him early, has lived a long life.

  16. I say to riders like falcons, borne far afield

    By lean, bounding mounts curved like crescents:

  17. Across the desert heights, riders and mounts alike,

    While the shimmering mirage flutters like spread cloth,

  18. Need has hurled them through every fearful place

    Where even a star would risk its way in crossing.

  19. When one blind night of it comes to an end,

    A one-eyed day of wandering takes charge of them.

  20. They see their livelihood on a hard-to-reach horizon;

    Their necks stretch toward it, yet fall short.

  21. Take from the chief of the kingdom a pledge of wealth;

    Turn back your mounts, tether them, and halt their journey.

  22. Leave the harsh tract of land and circle

    The sea with your hopes, for the sea is more abundant.

  23. Do not think the deeds of people you have become used to

    Are as they are recited and remembered by name.

  24. For not every green patch of earth is a desired meadow,

    Nor does every cloud bring rain.

  25. In Baghdad, the City of Peace, is one kept from sight,

    Who, like the moon, hides and appears.

  26. If watchfulness or intrigue conceals him,

    His renowned generosity betrays his lofty merits.

  27. He is generous, believing that wealth lies in relinquishing wealth,

    And that warding off poverty through stinginess makes one poor.

  28. In the count of his years he is a young man,

    But when judgment calls for resolve, a venerable elder.

  29. As a suckling child he practiced leadership;

    Its nourishing breast flowed richly for him.

  30. He holds the foremost seats among kings,

    Granting or withholding access there.

  31. He leads by his own judgment, needing no one

    To help him in a matter or issue him commands.

  32. In his judgment and speech he has a victorious army

    When he confronts his peers.

  33. He is a slender blade whose edge cuts through great affairs,

    Though to the eye it looks slight and small.

  34. You see livelihoods and lifetimes obeying a decree

    That is written and inscribed over both their fates.

  35. Bitter toward enmity, sweet toward goodwill,

    He is sweet to me even against injustice and never turns bitter.

  36. Smiling and open-faced when you make him judge,

    Fierce and bristling when you challenge him.

  37. His eyes have served the kingdom as well as eyelids could,

    And his talon has spared it the need for a hand.

  38. He rose to counsel it, planting his foot firmly

    On slippery ground where a young man stumbles.

  39. If a hand has thanked a fine sword for its service,

    It has fulfilled its vow; the kingdom surely gives thanks too.

  40. May God preserve for you the giver and bestower of blessing,

    And its planter where it grows and bears fruit;

  41. A man whose fidelity makes free hearts his servants,

    And whose ready wealth commands the finest speech.

  42. People differed, except over your eminence; the

    Imitator saw it plainly, and the one who fell short sought pardon.

  43. Everyone with a new word about you said as I have said,

    Seeing that I spoke only from knowledge.

  44. Some ignorantly rebuked your envious critics

    And blamed them, though they deserve praise more.

  45. For if they made known the excellence they envied,

    That is counted to their credit as glory and pride.

  46. May God shield you from the eye of the perfection He decreed

    As your portion, for He ordains and has power.

  47. No darkness has fallen without its dawn

    Breaking, despite your foes, upon what you desire.

  48. The world cannot prosper if it has, apart from you,

    A ruler to obey or a minister to direct it.

  49. May praise, rewarded in full through you, never be lacking,

    Though among others it is put to forced labor.

  50. Its seasons encamp in the courtyards of your houses,

    And from there set out bearing praise.

  51. From it, abundant clouds take turns visiting you,

    Coming and going over all you seek.

  52. Fragrant winds drive their mounts,

    Perfumed by the praise of you they carry.

  53. When pages display it, their reciters wonder:

    Is this embroidered silk or richly adorned speech?

  54. It gives listeners' hearts both reverence

    And a thrill: it sobers and intoxicates them.

  55. To you, chief of the kingdom, its proud necks have softened

    And bowed, though they held pride and stubbornness.

  56. It found you worthy; its recalcitrance yielded

    Before you, saying, ‘In your court I shall be gathered.’

  57. If Nowruz visits you without adornment,

    It is given a necklace and bracelets of its verses.

  58. You paid a high price for them and bought them

    At a profit, though the ignorant thought you lost.

  59. When a man gives me the choicest of his wealth

    To obtain my poetry, he is more a poet than I am.

Sol 6