Sol 5.6

  1. O Ibn al-Dawami, may you ever remain a mountain

    to whose deep shade we repair.

  2. You have attained all that you hope for; now hear

    from a lovesick, ailing poet.

  3. And favor him with scratching hens

    that, for sheer weight, bow the courier’s shoulder.

  4. For the sound of chickens is sweeter

    to the ear than the “Second Heavy” rhythm.

  5. Drinking away one’s capital is a grave affair:

    I have seen in it the uprooting of one’s roots.

  6. And Karkh, my lord, is a haunt of song;

    for love of it I have tuned my drums,

  7. amid a heavy rump that sways

    and a wasted, slender waist.

  8. Had Ibn al-Attar fallen in love there,

    he would soon have begged from other people.

  9. Yet even if a generous man leaves me empty-handed, it is better

    than that I should beg from a miser.

Sol 5.6