Sol 6.1

  1. O reproaching woman, what harm is it to you to see me

    take reddish wine at dawn?

  2. The drinkers take it into themselves until

    they leave at evening, their eyes drooping.

  3. The merchants arranged for it at its ripening;

    then the merchants brought it to the Arabs.

  4. So we paid dearly for it, and it would

    refuse unless there was wealth to pay for it.

  5. O reproaching woman, you will soon see me

    lying stricken, neither visiting nor visited,

  6. when they shimmer over me and clothe me—

    the barren deserts—in the gleams of their mirage.

  7. By my father's life, even if some people failed us,

    Jidar is indeed a fine guardian of our honor!

  8. He protected us when we were exposed and afraid,

    and fed people when the scent of roasting meat was sought.

  9. So he kindled a fire of generosity and glory;

    no fire was kindled beside al-Jushami's.

  10. He fed people through the months of the ashen drought, until

    the hasar plant burst forth from its growing places.

  11. So when it yields milk into your hand, milk it;

    and do not be a flow of milk with scant yield.

  12. And keep both ends in hand until

    you discern where the foray will take you.

  13. For the outcomes of days are feared—

    their reversals—and dwelling places change.

  14. The women know, when we meet in battle,

    with them behind us, that we jealously guard their honor.

  15. We settled for spring in al-Jazira after Qays;

    and it lay deserted, empty of Qays.

  16. They drive donkeys through the land of Najd,

    and have no choice in the matter.

  17. They saw a frontier encircled by death,

    and a massive stronghold no raids can alter.

  18. With it, Mardun rivals the Pleiades in height;

    people's hands fall short of reaching either.

  19. And marked offspring of pure stock,

    with drooping-eared lions and leopards upon them;

  20. gaunt as spear-shafts, they had suffered

    a wasting from raids and campaigning.

  21. Wasted—every long-limbed, swinging-gaited mare,

    and every sleek stallion that loose ground cannot slow.

  22. Hard running dried his flesh until

    his chest bones and vertebrae stood out.

  23. And every supple stallion's collar hung loose;

    they circle about him as a bracelet shifts.

  24. You see him as though a wolf in the dew,

    roused by showers on a day of evening rain.

  25. War and hardships left of them

    sturdy mares whose strength no foals diminish.

  26. Did you not see me give sanctuary to Banu Fuqaym

    where protection cost Mudar dearly,

  27. at Ajinat al-Rahub? They did not leave,

    while others were driven from it, and departed.

Sol 6.1