Sol 6

  1. If lofty rank could ward off fate,

    He who rose to exalt right guidance would not have been cut down.

  2. No one rises above the earth’s surface

    Until he becomes a feast for death’s guests.

  3. Events, in their course, make no distinction

    Between one who neglects prudence and one who takes every precaution.

  4. Had the changes of time approached him openly,

    They would have found his destruction a hard thing to seek.

  5. His keen sword would have driven them back, blunted,

    But they crept toward him secretly.

  6. Until he had taken his fill of pleasure,

    And the hopes of mankind had so often been fulfilled through him.

  7. He left the throne, though he had no desire for it;

    God gave him thrones in His gardens instead.

  8. How great an event, leading to a grave,

    That stripped hearts of fear when it came!

  9. Tears welled in the eyelids, then held back;

    Had the glad tidings been delayed, they would have flowed.

  10. Had there been no restraint upon the eye’s tears,

    Grief would have released tears long held captive.

  11. Let time be humbled: its calamity

    Meant to give us sleeplessness but turned into sleep.

  12. A loss brought blessing; the firebrand of guidance

    Faltered only for the blink of an eye, then blazed.

  13. And a sharp sword whose blows guarded the world

    Was scarcely said to be sheathed before it was said to be drawn.

  14. Time regretted the wrong it had done

    And at once rose to apologize for its deed.

  15. How could the sanctuary of the true faith be violated when

    It found Maʿadd prepared as a refuge for guidance?

  16. He stood before God’s religion to guard it,

    Seeking God’s help and winning victory for the truth.

  17. The highest pen had already decreed his victory;

    Before he was called the Seeker of Victory, he was granted victory.

  18. The breeze of generosity came readily to his caliphate,

    And the world’s air remained fragrant with its scent.

  19. With favor and fragrance, his hopeful petitioner never ceases

    To call down rain or breathe in perfume.

  20. He was singled out for pure honor, toward which

    Eyes rose, and for the light that shone:

  21. The Prophet’s light, which has continued to pass

    Among those of them who called, openly and in secret.

  22. A people of purity, whose roots are noble and undefiled;

    Every purity apart from theirs turns murky.

  23. So long as a successor of theirs remains, death’s hands

    Cannot undo the bonds of guidance and generosity.

  24. They are the ones for whom God took pledges

    When people were scattered motes, whether righteous or wicked.

  25. For their sake He created and peopled the world;

    Without them, Adam’s sin would not have been forgiven.

  26. They are imams: no moon of theirs has vanished from us

    Without another moon of the same stock succeeding it.

  27. The best of them—and I am answerable for this—is their eighth,

    Just as his father’s chosen one was the best of ministers.

  28. He continually shows us, through his resolve,

    Bright stars in every deepening darkness.

  29. A seasoned man: when a state entrusts its keys

    To his judgment, he leaves no weakness in its renewal.

  30. Through earnest effort he kept every misfortune away

    Until, through him, the fortune that had stumbled stood firm.

  31. The most exalted minister restored honor, radiant once more,

    And security spread out, and justice spread abroad.

  32. He is harsh with enemies, and his pride will not allow

    A grievance to go unavenged when he has suffered one.

  33. Your sword edges were surely forged from his judgments;

    Whenever they shed blood, it was shed without recompense.

  34. O brightest of blades in appearance, clearest in signs,

    And greatest, most renowned in deeds on the day of battle!

  35. Overcome your sorrow with the joy it has brought,

    For how many mighty men have you overcome who had never been subdued?

  36. Sorrow is such that whenever you calm it, its fires subside;

    When you stoke it, it blazes.

  37. It is as though your share from the one who departed at death

    Grows each day among those who remain.

  38. You hastened, sword drawn, to secure his pledge of allegiance

    Until you united nomads and townspeople upon it.

  39. They hastened to it, seeking its protection

    From calamities; good fortune belongs to whoever came first.

  40. When you summoned them all to it, the general call brought honor;

    Had another summoned only a few, it would have brought disgrace.

  41. Since you ordered it, no distinction appeared in the pledge

    Between one who dwells on bare ground and one in built houses.

  42. They came to you from every direction, crossing distances;

    No swift march or night journey was beyond their sturdy camels.

  43. They clasp a hand whose force drives away

    The plots of disasters, and through which we seek rain.

  44. It protects and pours forth; may it always inspire hope,

    Looked to for the defense of wealth or the watering of soil.

  45. Had hands not been extended to you, you would have extended lances

    Accustomed to reaching throats and frontier passes.

  46. Your sound judgment diligently drew out the best from differing views

    Until disagreement grew rare and contention diminished.

  47. Which of your efforts for Islam has failed to earn praise

    From the caliphs, from its beginning to its end?

  48. Blessed be the soul of him who named you his mainstay;

    How fine the support he left behind and stored up!

  49. He drew you like a sword when rebellion surged in one

    Who rose against him; you were the keen blade.

  50. A sharp sword that, when battle blazed, cut deeply,

    And, when he wished to set affairs right, decided them.

  51. How could this right be wrongfully seized

    When this lion stands before it, ready to strike?

  52. Victorious, he has never ceased, in guarding his domain,

    To employ honor, divine support, and triumph.

  53. Since the lofty king chose you for himself as a high refuge

    And you drove enemies from him, he became a secure refuge.

  54. If he entrusts the whole affair to you,

    It is after you pleased him in appearance and in trial.

  55. Let people not seek what you have secured;

    The greatest among them is one who has faced danger.

  56. Through his might, fear turned back to safety and open ground became protected;

    And time, once treacherous, kept faith.

  57. The turns of nights no longer do harm

    Since God looked kindly on the world through you.

  58. You, O mainstay of faith, are the first

    Whom this age counts among its boasts when it boasts.

  59. If we deny the good you have bestowed on us,

    We have shown you ingratitude; the loser is the ungrateful one.

  60. We praise the blessings of the one who appointed you to our aid;

    Your boldness rebuilt the honor that had fallen into decay.

  61. His blessings are beyond the reach

    Of any description, though they could make stones speak.

  62. Praising the imams is something beyond

    Even the eloquent speaker’s effort, however much he exhausts his thought.

  63. Their virtues are as numerous as breaths; they have left

    No cause for boasting to anyone else among mankind.

  64. How can poems encompass the description of heights

    When even our most extravagant praise seems too little?

  65. Do not ask rhymes about their virtues;

    If you wish to know them, ask the suras.

Sol 6