Sol 5.6

  1. The hopes of those who seek to reach his summit

    among mankind are dashed whenever his books are opened.

  2. His worth is beyond all that one could possess;

    so my love for him can never be deemed excessive.

  3. Jaʿfar the Imam singled him out—and indeed,

    Jaʿfar chose well in singling him out.

  4. His books are like eyes when they unfold,

    their black upon their white—dark and wide-eyed.

  5. From his judgment, whenever there thickens

    the darkness of crisis, rise stars that blaze.

  6. By their light his pens set wise maxims firm;

    in his words, pearls are recited and scattered.

  7. They mend what calamities shatter; but whatever

    his judgments shatter will never be mended.

  8. It is as though Time, moving at his command,

    perfects its course whenever he makes a plan.

  9. His foresight has matched his good fortune—

    what wonder, then, that all he plans succeeds?

  10. It is as though the sight of every eye were his,

    answering his lowered gaze whenever he reflects.

  11. He plans events before they happen;

    before they arrive, he sees how they will unfold.

  12. When he rises to a matter, he holds ready

    a judgment, fresh with guidance and readier than thought itself.

  13. With intuition’s arrow he strikes the mark of the—

    shot, though deliberation’s bow is never strung.

  14. Do not gainsay it: these are no books of—

    writers, but mines of precious jewels.

  15. Upon them is an antlike mute that keeps secrets when

    it fasts, but tells tales whenever it breaks its fast.

  16. Slender-bodied, you see it—despite its muteness—

    expressing everything concealed within.

  17. It has robbed lovers of their slenderness

    and their pallor, on smooth road and rugged track.

  18. It sees what souls whisper to it,

    though it has no organ with which to see.

  19. It suckles milk from one who is not its mother;

    its mouth spits it out, and so it never grows.

  20. It may be scorned for its outward appearance, yet

    it passes judgment through the marks it leaves.

  21. Walking as it suckles wears its feet bare; and if

    it is worked and trimmed, you see it smaller.

  22. It is fitting that strokes of ink, on behalf of the—

    weak, should dance—or bring them victory.

  23. Its head hangs downward, like Hārūt in

    Babylon, when one such as he practiced sorcery.

  24. Say no more of his pens: the al-

    Ṣamṣām sword is named only together with ʿAntar.

Sol 5.6