Sol 5.6

  1. She sent her phantom to us as a messenger,

    and fulfilled for us a wish for yet more.

  2. Then it turned away—if only we had been able

    to take a road alongside the messenger.

  3. What a visitor reached me—though amid my tears it could

    scarcely manage to arrive.

  4. Leave my eye, O tears, in the darkness, for

    by day it has a long course to swim.

  5. Relate again, O breeze, the news of Egypt;

    perhaps one who consoles the lovesick is lovesick too.

  6. You are, without doubt, the east wind of Egypt;

    hence I find you so welcome.

  7. A fickle one I loved—yet

    I do not see him tiring of fickleness.

  8. A beauty who vaunts himself above Buthayna;

    O anguish of love, be nobly patient.

  9. The nectar of his mouth is guarded by the lance of his swaying grace,

    so we fell for both the spearman and the honeyed one.

  10. Exalted is my Lord: He made his appearance beautiful

    and granted the finest one preeminence.

  11. A king through whom the realm of kingship has flourished—

    salute him, his branch, and his roots.

  12. A son of Shādī: no “if” intrudes when he is praised,

    nor, when petitioned, is “no” found in his speech.

  13. They faulted his generosity, though his radiant nature

    pleases all creation and gives even to the faultfinder.

  14. In him is smiling cheer, and for battle a keen edge,

    like a polished sword when drawn.

  15. His favors leave the lowly honored,

    while his assaults leave the honored low.

  16. And a scion constant at the prayer niches,

    for whom the light of his face suffices as a lamp.

  17. Whenever his enemies aim at him with a plot,

    Fate seizes them with a grievous seizure.

  18. God forbid that we should see a rival to you,

    O son of Ayyub, in glory, or an equal.

  19. Yours in kingship is a house—a verse—that gathers every poetic meter,

    all together, each conforming to its metrical foot:

  20. abundant generosity and enduring glory,

    perfect praise and lasting remembrance.

  21. Upon your noble person shines a light of lordliness

    that suffices discerning minds as proof.

  22. How often we heard of his bounty and witnessed it;

    so we praised both what report told and what reason apprehended.

  23. May you endure for glory, O House of Ayyub,

    and may you be blessed in forebear and offspring.

  24. How could I forget your gifts when they surround me?

    I receive them morning and evening.

  25. I have never tasted your bounty’s refusal, and so I sing:

    “Through the night of rebuff I stood, except a little.”

Sol 5.6