Sol 5.6

  1. God bless the band whose company I kept—

    and the master of assemblies when a rash man runs wild:

  2. whether of Dhū Ruʿayn, among the great tribal houses and lofty peaks,

    or of Dhū Nuwās the Good, or of Dhū Fāʾish;

  3. forgiving when wronged, but never from abasement,

    avenging their neighbor for even an aggressor’s scratch.

  4. They never dig up the faults of one who has befriended them

    in folly and meanness, as the fault-raker digs;

  5. rather, even through estrangement, they preserve their affection for him

    against every fault but a flagrant one.

  6. A people who restore life’s last spark after

    not a pulse remains in any of them, even in the veins;

  7. whose spears assail the formidable champion,

    leaving him amid women slapping cheeks and clawing faces.

  8. Their reach extends to enemy and ally alike,

    through sheer power—with means of destruction and means of life.

  9. How many among them are a bee pouring forth

    healing honey—and a viper that bites!

Sol 5.6