Sol 5.6

  1. Should the days assail me, or

    my paths close in around me,

  2. and kindred shun my courtyard,

    and the knot of my sinews come undone,

  3. I turn against my foes to the surging one—

    the lion, the fierce, striking lion—

  4. and to the rain-bearing cloud,

    abundant, ever-pouring, cascading.

  5. He is the scion of the sovereign Ima—

    —m, the generous Yaʿrubi:

  6. I mean Abu al-ʿArab, the val—

    —iant, son of the victorious hero,

  7. a keen-witted man whose judgment blunts

    the edge of the cleaving sword;

  8. from lords who ruled all man—

    —kind through noble lineage and high offices;

  9. men of understanding, possessed of virtues and benev—

    —olence, and of outpouring generosity;

  10. possessed, too, of pious devotion and the attain—

    —ment of virtues and glories;

  11. deadly poison to every stubborn foe,

    and refuge to every companion;

  12. protector of the rulers of our affairs

    with spears and cutting swords;

  13. exalter of every supporter,

    humiliator of every antagonist.

  14. He is the one by whom I banish my trou—

    —bles and set my condition right.

  15. May you endure, O lord of benefac—

    —tions, in the loftiest ranks,

  16. while your hateful, obstinate ene—

    —my lies in the gravest calamities.

  17. I call on you with the plea of one seeking ref—

    —uge, long absent from you.

  18. If you stand with me, I fear

    neither one who abases nor one who assails.

  19. How could Time strike me

    with calamities born of its turns,

  20. when the bounty of your hands is my companion?

    Misery be upon the bygone age!

  21. In praising you, for all that

    I have discharged the duty owed—

  22. since long before you singled me out

    with gifts and coveted blessings,

  23. and favored me with excellences;

    so through you all my draughts ran pure.

  24. You raised my station above

    the lofty, piercing star,

  25. until you left those of enmi—

    —ty in unceasing torment.

  26. I returned from you, girded for action,

    my leg bared—an arrow striking true.

  27. So set matters right for a sincere servant

    who cleaves to your shelter, never swerving,

  28. until they say: “Thus

    does the noble companion act.”

  29. O keeper of promises to all mankind,

    whether present or absent,

  30. you are the one ever true to his promise

    throughout my quarters and encampments.

  31. How could any petitioner return

    from you with disappointed fortune?

  32. To you comes this ode, manifest in its high—

    —born qualities, like a blooming bride.

  33. It came forth like the su—

    —n, ringed with piercing light.

  34. It came trailing its skirts,

    with its nominatives and accusatives;

  35. a virgin, with no flaw in her,

    nor blemish for a detractor to seize.

Sol 5.6