Sol 6.1

  1. It gleams; she summons the moths and smiles.

    Then dawn's mouth breaks into a smile, though night is dark.

  2. She reveals her front teeth to us—a treasure of jewels—

    Then guards it amid her tresses, a speckled serpent.

  3. She decrees, and magic walks within a sheath of temptation;

    She gazes, and it stands unsheathed, though ritually consecrated.

  4. She walks, and you fear a thrust from her figure's supple bend;

    And many a stature is a straightened spear.

  5. Indeed, by bubbles—a mouth of finely spaced teeth—

    And congealed wine—a crimson-dyed cheek—

  6. Poisoned arrows and her glance are indeed twins;

    Her smiling mouth and the matchless jewel are twins.

  7. And her stature and the straight spear: indeed, she

    Is more upright than it, while it is more unjust in killing.

  8. She is the full moon in radiance, but for her curtained chambers,

    And the morning sun, but for the enveloping curtain;

  9. And white statues, but for her face-veils and modesty,

    And a gazelle of the sanctuary, but for her settled life and speech.

  10. An oryx: before her, within love's sanctuary, the brown spears

    Permit the quarry's blood, while the bright swords are forbidden.

  11. Wide-eyed gazelles gather in her presence when she sings,

    And the lions of al-Shara roar when she gives a doe's soft call.

  12. How many a lion in a speckled serpent's robe

    Circles her, and how many a fawn has a fierce lion in its eyes!

  13. Avoid her sanctuary, and beware death before reaching her;

    For ḥimā, 'sanctuary,' is only ḥimām, 'death,' with its ending clipped.

  14. A beloved is only one whose place of visitation

    Is inaccessible: not even imagination can reach him.

  15. Where forbidden blood is made lawful

    To the sword, while permitted water is forbidden.

  16. We are a people in whose hearts has grown

    The urge to ascend through love of blood and noble deeds.

  17. Pearls are cheap to us when they are jewels,

    But rise in value to us when they are a smiling mouth.

  18. We flee when a veiled gazelle casts a glance,

    Yet charge when a turbaned lion casts a glance.

  19. We smile back at lightning's gleam when it is a blade of Indian steel,

    Yet weep fresh blood when it is a veiled mouth.

  20. We fear death's arrows when they are eyes,

    Yet meet them in our throats when they are arrows.

  21. And many a secluded woman whose face, if the full moon saw it,

    It would fall slain and turn away lovestruck.

  22. If she speaks in a place or breathes,

    That place is marked as Babylon or given the name of Darin.

  23. May the gleam of blade-edges water her house with blood from throats;

    For its soil may not be used for dry ritual cleansing.

  24. She is so well guarded that no dream-phantom can

    Climb to her, even were the Milky Way a ladder.

  25. I made my way to her while the Eagle rested on the horizon,

    And the white doves of the shining stars were being pelted.

  26. We both spent the night in chastity and piety:

    I was Yusuf, and she the noble Maryam.

  27. I am not one who shuns death when he seeks

    A goal, nor one whom reproachers turn aside in love.

  28. And many a band of riders undertook a night-march in darkness,

    Swaying, drunk with sleep, though they had not dozed;

  29. Like arrows on bow-shaped mounts that hurtled onward with them,

    They head for Najd, with love wherever they turn.

  30. My heart appeared ahead of them, deceiving them,

    Making them imagine a fire of ghada wood—and they believed it.

  31. I go at evening, finding repose in the direction of Ramah,

    And its gazelles yearn with longing and show tender love.

  32. And I have a heart turned toward the Hijaz and its people,

    Which true affection carries into the lowlands and Tihamah.

  33. When al-Khayf is mentioned, were there not within it

    Devotion to Ali, it would almost be set aflame.

  34. A generous man, who loved kindness before he was suckled,

    And inclined toward love of eminence before he was weaned;

  35. A hero: when battle stands, he is its leg,

    And if it bares its forearm, he is its wrist.

  36. A young man whose love of glory has robbed him of wealth,

    As a passion-bound lover loses consolation.

  37. The listeners' prayers delight his hearing,

    As singing delights the ear of one enraptured by song.

  38. He clothed his honor in the finest robe of lovely praise,

    For which pride lays the warp and noble deeds weave the weft.

  39. The broad wounds of his thrusts weep, as though they were

    Eyes that saw the day of parting and pour down tears.

  40. No wonder: he flows as rain though he is a flame,

    And kindles fire in battle though he is a boundless sea.

  41. He charges with a false dawn that is a keen sword,

    And strikes with a piercing star that is a sharp spear.

  42. His dinars have yellow faces, knowing

    That separation holds sway over their gathering.

  43. If seekers of bounty visit him one day, his coins scatter,

    Like a lover's tears called forth by traces of old dwellings.

  44. If moons sat around him in darkness,

    They would know he was their lord, though one of them;

  45. And if his right hand spent them in gifts,

    Even their full moon, a dirham, would seem little to it.

  46. If the armor of his protection sheltered the people of love,

    It would turn the arrows of wide eyes away from them.

  47. His tall spears shattered the spears of every strife,

    Yet nearly shattered against the statures of fair-white beauties.

  48. The swords of tyranny were turned back, blunted,

    Till even the blades of coquetry nearly lost their edge.

  49. He has a towering house of glory; upon its ground

    The noses of kings are dust-stained and humbled.

  50. The morning sun secures it with its guy ropes,

    And the hands of al-Simak raise it high and support it.

  51. Time covets its pebbles, wishing they could become

    A necklace strung and hung upon its neck.

  52. Darkness would have enough glory in the gravel of his land,

    Were it strewn above it as stars.

  53. Mouths kiss those pebbles, until they seem

    The mouths of lovely women, desired and kissed.

  54. A noble man, born of the illustrious men of Haydar's house,

    Kings who took precedence over all kings:

  55. Gardens of bliss—yet their swords

    Are Hell for tormenting the spirits of tyrants.

  56. Adorned with lofty honor: from the day they cast off

    Their amulets, they wore rings of noble deeds.

  57. Fearless warriors on the day of attack: whichever of them you choose,

    By him a vast army is struck and routed.

  58. They passed away, and he came after them, bringing them back,

    Until all mankind saw that they were those very men.

  59. He descended through the loins until they brought him forth,

    And he was the hidden, closely concealed secret.

  60. His father is Dhuka, the sun, which begot the finest stars,

    But he is a star that is their full moon.

  61. A generous man: with him I gained in worth and standing,

    And honor; the noble honor the noble.

  62. At every moment I receive fresh kindness from him,

    And every day new favors from his benefactions.

  63. O my lord, my lord—hear the plea of a sincere man,

    A sworn ally in loyalty, unhesitating in his love.

  64. Your bounty has laid upon me a pilgrimage and an umrah,

    As my obligation; pilgrimage is a binding duty.

  65. So is there permission for me to discharge the obligations of rites

    In whose reward you share with me, and we both gain?

  66. May the month's fast gladden you; may its reward be paid you in full,

    And may God seal its end for you with honor;

  67. And the return of a feast whose neck has been adorned

    With a crescent's collar, its letter nun left undotted.

  68. A crescent whose incompleteness vanishes when you face it,

    So it shines by night as a perfected full moon.

  69. It fashions a silver claw for the lion of night;

    But for you, it would become a clipped nail.

  70. May you never cease to clothe its face in the radiance of eminence,

    And may it ever serve you, approaching with good fortune.

  71. To your eyes it appears as the heart of its lover,

    And meets enemies as a sword that cuts straight through.

Sol 6.1