1. You betrayed, O Parting, out of hatred and malice,

    The spreading tree of glory, endowed with might and retainers.

  2. You took the sun of high achievements from its stations,

    And in its course you veered away from Libra and Aries.

  3. You demolished the pillar of eminence, might, and honor,

    And indeed he was a mountain—what a mountain!

  4. You left dwellings desolate without him, their adornment residing in him,

    Then frightened them with drought after fertile plenty.

  5. After him, through what you did to him, you rendered useless

    The gleaming, keen swords and all the brown spears and lances.

  6. You stripped the neck of high achievements and proud distinctions of

    Pearls of glory that put all ornaments to shame.

  7. You made tears flow from eyes that poured like clouds,

    Eyes that had never wept, shed tears, or flowed before.

  8. You struck, O Parting, displaying treachery and daring

    Against a lion you had never reached in all of time.

  9. You stretched a hand toward him, an aggressive hand,

    Full of injustice—may God strike it with paralysis!

  10. How did your right hand, short as it is, reach

    The star of renown at glory's summit, so exalted?

  11. The daring lion, before whom was undone

    The courage of lions, of every lion and champion.

  12. Master of courage, in justice and in war,

    Whom no fear could assail, so fierce was his valor.

  13. Master of governance, strengthened by his discernment,

    Which accorded with the saying of the best of creatures and messengers.

  14. One whose least judgment, even his slightest,

    Never departed or shifted from firm resolve.

  15. If he shot his arrow from the bow of his thought,

    He struck the truth, even were it to tower above Saturn.

  16. He never spoke without his words proving right

    On any matter, even in an improvised utterance.

  17. How fine a young man, whose inward nature was pure,

    As his conduct was good among all faiths.

  18. How noble an emir, whose conduct was good

    In a state shown to be among the finest of states.

  19. He was ever a keen and attentive listener to good,

    And no disputant's words would turn him from it.

  20. He forbade wrong and enjoined good, seeking God's reward,

    And no shame could restrain him in that.

  21. He surpassed Iyas in intelligence, and Ibn Sa'idah

    In speech, in both novel and familiar meanings.

  22. He excelled al-Ahnaf in forbearance, and then Antarah

    In valor, and generous Ma'n, a man of bounty, not miserliness.

  23. He was worthier than they of being

    The proverbial example of every praiseworthy quality.

  24. It is no wonder that God, our Creator, gathered

    All perfection and all beauty in one man.

  25. If he could have been ransomed from his calamity with anything,

    We would have ransomed him with our souls and eyes.

  26. But what God had decreed concerning him

    Could not be averted—ah, how few our means!

  27. His Lord called him to dwell in Paradise,

    And he rose eagerly, journeying by night in haste.

  28. He answered the call, obedient to God's command.

    How blessed is one obedient to God's command!

  29. Who will govern through judgments, clothing them

    In a robe of justice more precious than all robes?

  30. Thus a wolf and a ewe almost grazed together,

    In such security, without oppression or fear.

  31. Who is there for battle and the fields of war, and who

    For horses, spear, and sword, like Ali?

  32. After him, 'adl—justice—lost its letter 'ayn, and became

    In its remaining letters dhull—abasement—through changed dots or substitution.

  33. How orphaned we are after him! How we have lost our champion

    In crises and at the onset of great calamity!

  34. How miserly our eyes, even if they wept blood for him,

    And did not spill for him the jewels of their eyes!

  35. While we were weeping for him in sorrow,

    Suddenly the herald of joy and delight came forward,

  36. Saying: Why do you weep in grief,

    When his gallant father has not departed from you—

  37. The lion of the den, Suleiman of the age, and he

    For whom high honors, however great, are but retainers?

  38. The sun of the vizierate—may God preserve his rule,

    For it is among the most righteous of reigns.

  39. Your weeping at his mention is not fitting,

    While his fame fills lands and settlements.

  40. And among you is the lion cub's successor, blessed for you;

    How fine is he, blessed in fortune and perfect—

  41. The noble, gallant Abdullah, for whom was pitched

    Lordship, like a pavilion and canopies.

  42. Sun of eminence, his birth was in the Pleiades of might,

    From a full moon of renown that appeared in the circle of Aries.

  43. The lion, the horseman, the dauntless warrior, who alone

    Slays mighty lions, both lions and champions.

  44. With gracious forbearance, with humility, and with

    Gentle speech and truth in words and deeds;

  45. With noble character, a nature adorned by refinement,

    With dignity attended by the most radiant perfection;

  46. And modesty that overcomes him outside matters of right,

    Though no shame overtakes him in matters of right.

  47. How noble a young man, marked by beauty,

    Known for generosity, clothed in cheerfulness.

  48. A companion of excellence, whose understanding, through his mastery,

    Is joined to rigorous inquiry into subtle matters.

  49. Were he to establish his proof of God's oneness,

    It would refute a Jabrite's and a Mu'tazilite's assertions.

  50. Master of eloquence in meaning and words,

    Keeping it free of flaws, with concision.

  51. He writes maxims with brown shafts upon its pages,

    And in his enemies' breasts, cutting off hope.

  52. Through such qualities he won renown like his father's,

    While his father's inherent renown has no equal.

  53. O his perfect lion cub, filled with knowledge,

    Hold fast to patience; do not despair or grow weary.

  54. Patience is more fitting, and submission more beautiful, than

    The frenzy of the impatient, even at the unbearable.

  55. May God grant him, from His bounty, a lodging

    From the Garden of Eternity, plainly the finest of lodgings;

  56. And pour His favor, from the rain of His mercy,

    Upon his earth like a heavy, streaming downpour.

  57. And may God keep you safe and in good health,

    In life's serenity, with long years and a lasting span,

  58. As long as a meadow grows green, its laughing mouth smiling,

    From the tears of rain, from drops and streaming showers;

  59. As long as the weaving of verse is sweet, wherever it has

    A graceful ending as its companion, never parted.

Sol 6.1