Sol 6

  1. Religion, learning, beneficence, and honor

    refuse to let destruction befall your neighbor.

  2. Four pillars lend their support;

    the deprived and the weak seek refuge in them.

  3. Abu Ali, you are the man for whom we have

    no other neighbor or shelter when we are afraid.

  4. I complain to you of injustices repeatedly inflicted

    by one from whom oppression and unfairness ill become.

  5. The man I hoped in, with whom I faced grievous trials,

    has turned against me; even his least injustice is excess.

  6. His continuing ill opinion has overshadowed me,

    though I have no past of wrongdoing,

  7. only praises that never cease to travel,

    their caravan setting out swiftly each day,

  8. and service that began before his days of power:

    few favors could bring one closer, were favors counted.

  9. I sought him when everyone's faces

    were turned toward the prosperous side.

  10. I kept walking toward him on my own feet;

    neither exertion nor hardship lured me away.

  11. I brought him companionship in his lonely days,

    armed with patience, hope, and restraint.

  12. I did not beg from him or draw on his gifts,

    nor did I leave while I had any place to turn on earth.

  13. Then, when God granted him victories,

    I would almost have been snatched away had I not kept hidden.

  14. He singled me out unjustly, without cause,

    and I could find no redress from him if I pleaded my case.

  15. Black clouds of distress gathered, with no one

    but you, after God, to clear them by your presence.

  16. Son of Badr, you have always been like a bright full moon:

    it appears, and the darkness lifts for the night traveler.

  17. So heal my condition with what can restore it;

    my condition is one afflicted by wasting sickness.

  18. Speak to my chief in words that will soften him;

    the generous relent when asked to show compassion.

  19. All I ask of fate is that he leave me

    where there is neither coldness nor favor from him.

  20. I do not disdain one who draws near to those who seek him;

    but my spirit recoils when it is handled roughly.

  21. I see clearly, with a penetrating eye,

    that no equal to him can be found among people.

  22. Yet he has been generous and fair to all

    while giving me a bad measure and poor fruit.

  23. I hold tightly to him with both hands,

    and guard my dignity when I am wronged.

  24. To give up my share of his companionship

    would be a need bound up with inward regret.

  25. To whoever blamed me behind my back, I said:

    Let these burdens not distract you from your own work.

  26. My master has no substitute or successor;

    my dignity has no substitute or successor either.

  27. Here is a plea its speaker has delivered:

    new, yet measured and fair in its resolve.

  28. I have come to you like a thirsty man shown

    rainwater in a wilderness, protected by a bank.

  29. Son of Badr, I have nowhere to turn from you,

    nor will my affection and thanks turn away.

  30. How could I take a position against you

    when no one disputes your renowned excellence?

  31. Gather your strength for a fallen rank: if you support it,

    it will grow and rise; otherwise it will be swept away.

  32. O you with whom the wronged person takes refuge,

    for whom honor and pride then fight,

  33. O you who, when dignity is injured, win it redress:

    its owner does not pass the night robbed or ruined.

  34. Neither the lion of Shaba in its highest stronghold

    nor the eagle of Sharawra sheltered by a rocky recess

  35. is ever safer than I am when you protect me;

    nor is a lion with drooping ears.

  36. Armor stands before me when you are my refuge,

    and helmets, swords, spears, and shields.

  37. For I am strong on the day you aid me,

    and in you I find redress against time's assaults.

  38. O deepest of people when one sounds your depths,

    and nearest when someone draws from you,

  39. you have become a sea of bounty that cannot be drained,

    met by a sea of praise that cannot be drained.

  40. Cast forth scattered pearls with no shells;

    I shall cast forth strung pearls with no shells.

  41. Be to me as you have been to all who hope in you;

    may your palace always be surrounded by petitioners.

  42. Speak to the noble Banu Wahb, our strongholds,

    words they will freely accept and acknowledge:

  43. they are just as balances when they judge,

    and weighty when the scales tip upward.

  44. O family of Wahb, may God preserve your rule;

    you have cared for others, so there is neither fear nor hardship.

  45. You have become the direction toward which people's hopes turn;

    they remain devoted to them through all time.

  46. Why, then, is your poor servant among you

    as though he were a target for the blows of fate?

  47. You are the tall palm that rose high

    long ago, blessed from root to crown.

  48. I have long held hopes stored for the future,

    and now among you there is fruit for the harvester.

  49. If the palm's heart is withheld from my reach,

    let its thorny fronds at least not strike my side.

  50. My affair with you is plain for all to see,

    watched by people's eyes and exposed to view.

  51. For God's sake, preserve the good story told of you;

    do not destroy it through injustice: it is honor.

Sol 6