Sol 6

  1. It traveled by night, while the veil of darkness could almost be touched by hand.

    And where, O phantom, is the ghada grove from the pass of Thahmad?

  2. Suppose you climbed to the stars, making your way as a visitor:

    How did you find my resting place in the heart of darkness?

  3. It came to us at a frail hour, while the star was dim,

    Dim as the eye of a narcissus heavy with dew.

  4. A trace of the night's darkness mingled with it,

    As though a dusting of antimony lay on its eyelids.

  5. Did this phantom visit you, or did you visit it?

    Your thoughts have pledged themselves to remember the beloved.

  6. Awake: ornaments of dreams have captivated your mind;

    They cannot quench the thirst that longing brings.

  7. Before the heights of al-Shahba lie bare, empty wastes,

    Whose broad reaches even the sandgrouse crosses without finding its way.

  8. O our neighbors toward Jawshan, this is

    A parting forced upon us, not one we chose.

  9. Had life's means not run dry, we would not have sailed

    On worn-out mounts through a foaming sea of mirage.

  10. Yet when trouble clouds the water sought by a soul,

    It makes its own resolve the best place to drink.

  11. And who among men wears a finely strung necklace of glory

    Except one whose company has been scattered?

  12. The long stretch of separation has signaled that it will fold away;

    Our meeting is about to draw near—as though it already had.

  13. So go: call upon the vizier and make it known to him;

    Rouse Ahmad's eyes to it, and then rest.

  14. Call to the vizier, son of a vizier, and he will listen to it,

    A brilliant man whose resolve flashes and thunders.

  15. At his door, your hopes need not travel far

    Before you rise to make your appeal.

  16. Through him the udder of generous deeds flows with milk, and the spears

    Of excellence stand straight; through him, fresh bounty pours out for the thirsty.

  17. He scatters lucid meanings as though they were

    Pearls set upon the breasts of young women.

  18. And each line upon the page seems like

    A first beard descending along a young man's cheeks.

  19. Toward the source of high honor and the rising of its sun,

    Its pure watering place and its dewy pasture;

  20. Toward Asad al-Din, before whose thicket

    Stand the budding tips of long, supple spears.

  21. He leads lean, hardy horses, and upon them

    Ride wolves of war encased in linked armor.

  22. He commands an army whose high banner victory bears;

    When it marches, an army of sound judgment follows.

  23. He descends from men who made the heights their home;

    The fame of their eminence reaches the Eagle and the Pole Star.

  24. They passed on but did not vanish; they slept, yet awakened

    Deeds of honor that time renews without end.

  25. No wonder: you are the family of an ancient glory;

    Every claim to pride and eminence yields to you.

  26. The waters of high honor shimmer in their faces;

    Indeed, glory comes and goes among them day by day.

  27. O father of shining acts of generosity, a supplicant's plea

    Has come to you, hoping for a heartening answer.

  28. Will you revive one whose livelihood the days have trampled

    With the crushing tread of a fettered man?

  29. For after God, there is no refuge for him but you,

    And after this day, his hopes have no tomorrow.

  30. May you prosper in all your undertakings as long as the sun rises,

    And long for a loved one and a familiar home as a stranger does.

Sol 6