Sol 5.6

  1. In Fatima’s person, we salute the Nile,

    and the Nile’s sons—the noble Arabs of old.

  2. O daughter of the Nile Valley, you gleam like a pearl,

    fully adorning Egypt’s crown.

  3. You visited a land where, by its own people,

    you were showered with welcome and acclaim.

  4. You brought drama, the greatest guide,

    which shows the right path to whoever loses his way.

  5. You attained such supremacy in perfection that nothing

    of yours is ever seen but appears complete.

  6. In speech, yours is the precious and weighty;

    in imagination, the lofty yet intelligible.

  7. Through graceful delivery its effect was doubled;

    its words were recited in measured cadence.

  8. Thus they settled in our souls as phrases, having—

    —taken our ears as a channel for them.

  9. Everything gained in charm and sweetness through

    their gestures, masterfully grounded in every principle.

  10. Speech alone does not suffice unless there are

    fitting gestures, powerfully at work within it.

  11. Beauty draws one part of it toward another, and so—

    —minds, upon seeing it, are stunned with wonder.

  12. It was as though the performance had become reality,

    and through it reality had become a performance.

  13. Upon a stage still clad in splendid garments

    of scenery, trailing gracefully like a bride.

  14. Above it, history stood alive and speaking,

    recounting to us both the broad tale and every detail.

  15. It was as though it were the plain of Resurrection, upon which

    the generations of history were mustered, age after age;

  16. or a monk, devout within his cloister,

    reciting there the Torah and the Gospel;

  17. or as though it were a firmament revolving with stars

    which, after being seen, are seen to set.

  18. How wondrous! Your Eastern realm, after its departure,

    came to our West with robes trailing behind.

  19. She came to visit the West, proud and honored,

    with Fatima’s troupe, unrivalled by any.

  20. Fatima resolved to depart in haste.

    O Fatima, if only you had stayed awhile!

  21. They asked womankind for proofs

    of genius, and you arose as proof.

  22. Yet some among womankind offer proof

    of “qabqariyya”—the opposite of genius—and stand as evidence.

  23. Delegations of eager visitors throng his spacious courts

    from every land, morning and evening.

  24. Such character gives forth fragrance like the morning breeze when it—

    —blows gently over gardens of jasmine.

  25. He whose praise every language has repeated—

    each desiring thereby that glory should accrue to itself.

  26. God exalted him and raised his renown;

    and God greatly favored his rank.

  27. My Lord, forgive me if I have fallen short and lacked the power

    to enumerate qualities that pour down in torrents.

  28. You are the sun: when its disk is seen,

    the beholders’ gaze recoils, weary and dazzled.

  29. O Fatima’s troupe, whose aloofness has lasted long,

    why can your stay among us not be long?

  30. We cannot endure patience after parting from you,

    when even before the parting our patience was exhausted.

  31. But you promised that you would return—a return

    to cure the thirsty heart’s burning thirst.

  32. Yet it is a promise I fear will go unfulfilled—

    or will it not? By your honor, O jewel, tell me no.

Sol 5.6