Sol 5.6

  1. Friend, this is love’s long-familiar abode;

    then snatch an hour, for my heart is love-struck.

  2. Do not turn aside toward anywhere else, for here

    a long shadow of love stretches out for me.

  3. Stay here: passion is endowed upon this place,

    and as long as I live, I shall never turn away from it.

  4. Do you think the bygone nights will return?

    What was, was; what has passed will not return.

  5. A gazelle, sweet-voiced and slender of

    waist, languid in coquetry, ever fleeing me.

  6. They fettered me to love him—but far

    be it that fetters should avail against one like me.

  7. His is betrayal toward me, while mine is fidelity;

    union comes from me, and rejection from him.

  8. A gazelle has banished sleep from my eyelids,

    skittish, though by day he captures his prey.

  9. Coquetry spoiled him in love, so he wronged me;

    such cruelty in love is age-old.

  10. How often I denied love, only for my tears to reveal it;

    and however much I deny, those tears bear witness.

  11. Tell him, O phantom who comes

    by night while the envious lie asleep:

  12. that love has died, and consolation lives,

    and that flame has gone out within my breast.

  13. I have exchanged you for an intimate, affectionate companion,

    and away from you the love-worn heart has found solace.

  14. So leave me, for I have fallen for a gazelle

    who is ever kind and loving.

  15. In beauty he surpassed all the beautiful, just as

    Aḥmad the Praised surpassed the learned.

  16. The most exalted imam, our master al-Ḥā—

    —fiẓ, pride of the imams, the valiant champion.

  17. The people bear witness that he is peerless in

    every art, and his excellence is renowned.

  18. In the realm of generosity and lofty honors, he is

    one who begins bounty as no other does, and renews it.

  19. He is the foremost pillar of the faith, east and west,

    and at his gate the visiting delegations are familiar company.

  20. He is like al-Shāfiʿī in forbearance and learning,

    while in poetry even David ranks beneath him.

  21. He lavishes his wealth upon all creation,

    and thereby earns both praise and acclaim.

  22. In the darkness he keeps vigil, praying and imploring,

    reverently fearful, while all humankind lies asleep.

  23. Who can equal the imams’ pride, that eminent

    scholar, whose sea of bounty is ever drawn upon?

  24. Nothing can be added to all that he possesses

    of glories and lordship; there is nothing more.

  25. He aspires to noble deeds, though he is reproached—

    —for doing them by a rebellious, insolent miser.

  26. Excellent in everything that he undertakes;

    praise can find no path away from him.

  27. Sound in judgment and gentle, yet

    in calamities he is steadfast and strong.

  28. He is fortunate, though among mankind is many a wretched soul

    by a predestined decree, and many a fortunate one.

  29. Seek him, and you will gain whatever you desire

    from him; he is the revered one whom all seek.

  30. All those of high rank have envied him;

    and thus is every excellent man envied.

  31. May the new year just past have brought him joy,

    while his beneficence toward us is ever renewed.

  32. At every hour we receive some of his favors,

    and his beneficence is an everlasting feast.

  33. May God perpetuate his lofty station in glory,

    keeping him blessed and his endeavor praised.

  34. And may humankind’s affairs throughout the ages

    unfold for him as we desire and wish.

Sol 5.6