Sol 6.1

  1. Souls expire from their afflictions,

    yet conceal what ails them from their visitors.

  2. And no heart acts fairly that complains

    of its love to anyone but those it loves.

  3. Come, show me a burning anguish in the breast

    without love being one of its causes.

  4. Among love's honors is that men

    purchase its torment with their reason.

  5. Within the flock is one rich in beauty,

    which she portions out among her peers.

  6. To the full moon belongs what is above her buttons,

    and to the bough what is beneath her robe.

  7. In her, within the tent, I seemed to startle

    a wild doe beside her prayer niche.

  8. I follow her with a hurried gaze

    that trips my eye over her lashes.

  9. Whenever it would pluck the roses of cheeks,

    the hands shield them with their jujube berries.

  10. A mention suffices me for union with her,

    passing over the coolness of her teeth.

  11. And that the sanctuary's lightning flashes should gleam,

    even if they set me ablaze with their fire.

  12. And many a wasted man among those tents

    you would take for one of their guy ropes.

  13. Who will tell my envier that I

    have given wishes away to those who seek them?

  14. Should it offer itself, it would not find

    my heart among its suitors.

  15. The most noble lords are delighted

    by my praise knocking at their doors.

  16. And here it is, before the veil is raised:

    its doorkeepers' cheerfulness smiles back at me.

  17. I keep my wooden bowl free of its vinegar,

    and disdain churning its milk-skins.

  18. And I know that the garments of chastity

    are the finest garb for whoever dons them.

  19. I have equated the mirage with its silver,

    and lightning's gleam with its gold.

  20. Were I to wish, I would send it on a raid,

    to return to me with its spoils.

  21. But I disdain its honey,

    so how should I compete for its bitter sap?

  22. Men abase themselves before their cravings,

    as slaves abase themselves before their masters.

  23. So never pluck the fruits of wishes,

    for wretched is the juice of their grapes.

  24. Turn aside to the most august Abu Qasim,

    to approach noble virtues through their own gate.

  25. How excellent are the gardens for their seeker,

    and how excellent the dwellings for their visitor!

  26. And valleys—whoever comes to their water

    will see the clouds among their drinkers.

  27. To the Kaaba of generosity formed by his two palms,

    the traveling saddles are fastened with their pack-frames.

  28. Virtues as numerous as the grains of sand

    weary the fingers of those who count them,

  29. and exhaust the tongues of those who study them,

    and consume the pages of those who record them.

  30. You have surpassed the bounds of the eloquent speaker's descriptions;

    so whoever praises them is like one who maligns them.

  31. He disparages the wares unless he provides

    the richest of their returns in gratitude.

  32. You would imagine, in the mouths of his eulogists,

    wine being passed around in its goblets.

  33. The hands of hope are clasped by him,

    whose fingers are moist and lavish in giving.

  34. As though those petitioning for his bounty

    were gaming arrows winning their allotted shares.

  35. When the earth complains of the sickness of drought,

    he cures its hills by making them fertile.

  36. He is of the company who attain eminence

    through their ancestral merits and their lineages.

  37. They sheltered others from Time's reversals,

    and tyrannized over lions in their thickets.

  38. They governed the allegiance of men's hearts

    by enticing them, then frightening them.

  39. The treasures of their virtues, and the praise

    bestowed on them, are stores for their descendants.

  40. They never don fine wraps without your seeing

    their beauties as the pattern of their robes.

  41. You marvel at the beauty of their splendor

    until you see the beauty of their manners.

  42. And indeed the noble qualities of their character

    stand in place of their titles.

  43. Enjoy the days of this age,

    trailing the hems of their robe,

  44. holding the place of the pupil in their eyes,

    and of the marrow in their spines.

  45. When you have spent their days,

    they will come to you in successive ages.

Sol 6.1