Sol 6.1

  1. Stop, you two; let us recite memories of a house and loved ones,

    in Jilliq, with its fellowship and surpassing beauty,

  2. by Bab Kaysan, at the summit of eminence,

    by al-Shaghur's square, its gateway lofty.

  3. You see honor, then glory, settled there,

    and eminence dwelling there through excellence of manners.

  4. You see discernment there and every beauty,

    and every marvel strutting in a robe of admiration.

  5. I stood there after my time away, turning

    my gaze over it, while tears poured most copiously,

  6. in imitation of one struck by the beauty of someone seen

    unawares, not with a doubter's searching gaze.

  7. And intimate friends and cherished companions gathered around me;

    how joyful is one surrounded by friends!

  8. They say to me: Welcome, be at ease, a hearty welcome!

    And they lavished welcomes upon me, the welcome of loved ones.

  9. So I gained healing for my heart from death's stain,

    and healing for my body from all my ailments.

  10. Generous men: when they rise, their musk wafts

    from the east into the west on the back of a blowing wind,

  11. and there its breeze anoints the people of the west,

    so they grow fragrant, perfumed with the scent of finest perfumes.

  12. As though around me they were radiant suns,

    revealed without obstructing veils or doorkeepers.

  13. As though I were a full moon, when they clothed me in their light

    as garments; that light became one of my finest robes.

  14. I would give my soul for the day they passed their talk around

    to me as pure wine that scorns the wine of cups.

  15. They mixed it with joy and infused

    its aroma with their fragrance in the finest blending.

  16. With it they gave me drink in mind, soul, and body,

    so I went away with it, lovestruck, enamored, and yearning.

  17. It coursed through the soul, where its life lies,

    and crept through the joints like a spreading cure.

  18. I became drunk, never to sober, and my drunkenness has

    no end, nor any limit, whether a century or ages.

  19. And from that conversation I adorned my ears

    with pearls that grace a maiden among her peers.

  20. And I told them: Keep your talk flowing to me,

    for the heart's life lies in that sweetness.

  21. And on the day you entered the house in the land of Jilliq,

    it said: Happiness is yours in a house of noble men.

  22. For I am the house of honor, glory, and eminence;

    I glory over the world in the height of my thresholds,

  23. and my beauty and fellowship, my good fortune and exalted standing,

    and my auspiciousness and firm construction, besides my lovely courtyards.

  24. And a house of piety, excellence, knowledge, and guidance,

    and a house of largesse, benefit, and abundant generosity.

  25. And I am the house of al-Kuzbari, who stands alone

    in this age, without likeness, equal, or peers.

  26. The imam of Damascus in al-Sham, behind whom stand

    its imams, following his lead in every prayer niche.

  27. A discerning jurist, the Shafi'i of his age,

    he pursued the path of exact inquiry for the sake of seekers.

  28. His age's Bukhari, he knows anomalies and hidden defects,

    and turns toward authentication, away from a liar's fabrication.

  29. He is the master scholar, the keenest examiner,

    at the height of mastery in fine grammatical expression.

  30. He is an ocean and an ocean's son in knowledge; and of them both,

    say whatever you wish, without a doubt.

  31. He is an ocean and an ocean's son in generosity; and of them both,

    speak extravagantly, even beyond the utmost bounds of prolixity.

  32. He is the full moon, except that his fullness endures;

    he is the sun, except that he never sets.

  33. He is the perfect one, soaring in perfection founded on piety,

    shielded throughout time from a faultfinder's reproach.

  34. If a backbiter, some envious man, maligns him—

    and how fine is the backbiter's slander!—

  35. he charges him with beauty of character and form, recounting

    his lovely qualities with graceful completeness:

  36. a fine reputation, then a noble soul,

    and a disposition of stately speech amid glorious lineages.

  37. He concludes in summary, saying that he is

    perfection, with no defect for detractors to discern.

  38. Eloquent, lucid in wording, and eloquent in it,

    taking care to keep grammatical expression free of obscure affectation.

  39. Yet his meaning is novel and smooth-flowing,

    grasped by minds without any effort.

  40. It fits the situation as its requirements dictate,

    sometimes with brevity, at other times with elaboration.

  41. It is nothing but pearls cast from his mouth;

    so he scatters them, strung as verse that steals the wits.

  42. If one day he says, 'Now then,' you would think him

    one of the pure Arabs, settled Arabs or Bedouins.

  43. Have not meanings obeyed his eloquence

    as one commanded obeys, fearful of the command?

  44. He was born of eminence's loins, and is her firstborn,

    and lofty greatness was for him the noblest of loins.

  45. He grew up in noble deeds' cradle and lap,

    nursed at glory's breast, growing in its embrace.

  46. They pillow him with honor on eminence's couches,

    with the highest nobility, as a binding due.

  47. They adorn him with pride, with pearls of preeminence,

    and clothe him in high standing, the finest cloak.

  48. His aspiration is exalted, its resolve soaring;

    if it advances, it needs no recourse to means.

  49. If he draws determination's sword for what he seeks,

    you see him wield that sword as the swiftest striker.

  50. He has the white banner in every procession,

    which returns with fine praise, the most successful earner.

  51. As for his qualities, if one seeks to count them,

    you return with them still uncounted and the reckoners exhausted.

  52. As for his distinctions, they have no end;

    whoever seeks to encompass them is branded a liar.

  53. If I sought to lengthen his praise by encompassing them,

    I would return from my quest with only weariness gained.

  54. But condensing praise is eloquence,

    and often a summary has sufficed in place of excessive prolixity.

  55. For that reason I have shortened his praise, refining it

    with flowing words, avoiding obscure affectation.

  56. So, O master, whose disposition is gentle,

    so that graciousness now flows through him most beautifully,

  57. to you—may God guard you—I offer a wondrous virgin,

    a peerless pearl that no drill has pierced,

  58. a maiden of beauty, a tender girl, a shoot of a ban tree,

    swaying, shaking her flank in an excess of self-admiration.

  59. She has stood at the gate of your glory, hoping,

    upon permission, to gain the honor of serving your thresholds.

  60. She is content with kissing your palm as her dowry from you,

    to boast of it forever among her peers.

  61. So receive her graciously at her wedding,

    for I, O brother of kindness, have made a fitting offer.

  62. And remain in God's protection, joyful of heart,

    in honor and ease of living, flourishing with abundance,

  63. for all time, so long as a garden regains its life

    through a downpour, rich in benefit, copious and streaming,

  64. and so long as a lover says in praise of loved ones:

    Stop, you two; let us recite memories of a house and loved ones.

Sol 6.1