Sol 5.6

  1. Hearken to me, O valiant King.

    Upon you be your Lord’s blessing and peace.

  2. To you the mounts of hope have made their way;

    know for certain: the one they seek is an Imam.

  3. I have come to you complaining of the treachery of Time:

    in it, a helper has grown too rare to be hoped for;

  4. in it, fidelity has run dry—there is no fidelity;

    in it, the sacred bond is lost—no bond remains.

  5. In it, neither fathers nor sons,

    nor brothers, have any concord among them.

  6. I have come as a petitioner to a noble, open-handed man,

    generous, whom weariness has never known.

  7. He lavishes poised steeds, proudly resplendent

    in their gold, when ignoble men grow stingy.

  8. He lavishes marked white camels that journey far,

    laden with burdens that strain against the rein.

  9. Through you, beyond doubt, lofty glories are strung together,

    like pearls upon a strand, gathered by their thread.

  10. And you, Abu al-Husayn, are greater in stature

    than your peers, though they deny it and reproach.

  11. You have risen above them in generosity and merit:

    the camel’s hooves were never equal to its hump.

  12. Magnanimity is sweet to you, though it brings pain;

    whoever falls in love finds love’s torment sweet.

  13. Through you the days have grown so fair

    that you seem a smile upon the mouth of Time.

Sol 5.6