Sol 6.1

  1. He is of a household that rejoiced among humankind,

    and God has removed defilement from them.

  2. And he surpassed Ya‘rub in verse,

    just as he indeed surpassed Quss through it.

  3. How proud Jaffa is of one whose excellence

    is never denied through time, nor forgotten.

  4. So the one takes its hue from my beloved's cheek,

    and the other has come to wear my color.

  5. She passes it around in a silver cup;

    there is no flaw in it—no, nor any regurgitation.

  6. And when bubbles rose upon it, it was nothing

    but the Pleiades settling upon the sun.

  7. When her cups resembled her color,

    I encountered confusion concerning the two.

  8. From her cups I kiss a smiling mouth,

    with lips I imagined dusky.

  9. Its essence writes a new birth within us,

    as it makes the mind its writing sheet.

  10. I have spent the night sipping it, and indeed

    grown addicted to plunging into its taverns.

  11. I know neither night nor the forenoon sun;

    I knew only the drinking bowl and the cup.

  12. The graceful maiden carries it in her palm,

    and so steals away spirits and the soul.

  13. When she gave it to me to drink, I cast off reason,

    and gained boldness by rejecting reason.

  14. The palm does not veil the wine's radiance:

    does crystal veil the sun?

  15. Rather, it descends to earth, and no barrier

    from her palm impedes it, even should it make contact.

  16. How fortunate the night in which it was passed around,

    in which Su‘ad erased ill fortune!

  17. In it she granted me union after separation,

    and through union with her drove distress away.

  18. In it we came together, and piety was between us,

    where we regard all but piety as defilement.

  19. In it we made happiness our bedding and our covering,

    and clothed ourselves in serenity and companionship.

  20. And we began to speak of pure affection,

    fearing no whisper from a reproacher.

  21. Night is a black garment; I imagined

    the universe had begun to be clothed in it.

  22. And when dawn appeared, the stars of darkness

    rose, and our eyes seemed drowsy.

  23. Dawn is a sword unsheathed by its east,

    which sent forth the sun to serve as its shield.

  24. And when the sun of perfect eminence appeared,

    the west began to receive the sun at dusk.

  25. Out of shame before him, she wished

    to make the west her grave.

  26. He is nothing but the full moon, the full moon of guidance,

    untouched by eclipse or diminution.

  27. Perfect in goodness, one who never ceases

    to gain abundance from the Lord of humankind.

  28. The consummate scholar, from whose knowledge

    the man of reason draws a spark.

  29. The sage who, through his knowledge, revives

    the schools of rigorous inquiry and study.

  30. His intuition is nothing but certainty, so do not

    take his intuition for mere conjecture.

  31. A great tree of glory, whose root stands firm,

    and whose planting thrives in the wilderness meadow.

  32. One whose glory was built above all lofty ranks,

    and who made honor his foundation.

  33. He rose upon a throne of glory that no

    destruction can approach, nor any overthrow.

  34. And he surpassed Ya‘rub in verse,

    just as he indeed surpassed Quss through it.

  35. One so detached that the world, for all its splendor,

    is not worth a copper coin to him.

  36. If he possessed the earth and all it contained,

    he would give generously of it with a willing heart.

  37. Beautiful in form and good in character—

    how could you find him a quarrelsome man?

  38. He is of a household purified among humankind,

    and God has removed defilement from them.

  39. How proud Jaffa is of one whose excellence

    is never denied through time, nor forgotten.

  40. Had I not recognized al-Aqsa's sanctity,

    I would have said Jaffa surpasses Jerusalem.

  41. O master and crown of eminence,

    I offer you a maiden resembling al-Khansa,

  42. a daughter of the Bedouins in her beauty,

    yet her nature contains dryness.

  43. Eloquent, expressing her intent,

    yet she is a speaker who is mute.

  44. Welcome her, for she has sought from you

    to be clothed in the robes of favor.

  45. Be safe, and live on in a life of happiness,

    as long as every tomorrow becomes yesterday,

  46. and as long as Ibn Fath Allah calls into the darkness:

    Rise, O my boon companion, pass me the cup!

Sol 6.1