1. His infatuation grows in youth's waywardness,

    as though the one who restrains him only incites him.

  2. And when you say, "Patience will restrain him,"

    a lovesick man's anguish sweeps his patience away.

  3. He has indeed been warned—if only he would desist—

    by a temple whose balding vies with its grayness.

  4. How long can youth's prime last, when

    the portents of graying arrive, onset upon onset?

  5. And disappointment in it, despite its contrary nature,

    is a sorrowing man's solace and restraint.

  6. Lightning at Dhu Salam keeps me sleepless

    with its flickering, and its gleams stir my longing.

  7. And many a pleasure has been celebrated

    by Dhu Salam's summer retreat and spring haunt.

  8. Poverty may well be the means to gain

    wealth; satiety has checked a ravening beast.

  9. And the base man is robbed of his resolve

    by merely finding enough to meet his needs.

  10. Once you seek what is withheld, it is not long

    before its elusive part returns to you.

  11. And a gift is a debt by which one is enslaved;

    so seek the one with whom you would lodge your bondage.

  12. And I see the mounts, not unequal

    to Samarra's night, which they don as armor.

  13. They seek from Rabi'a's young nobleman what

    spring holds, its patches arrayed in splendor.

  14. And al-Khidr fills your hands with generosity

    that he displays as bounty and devises anew.

  15. His character has turned toward al-Khattab;

    so he urges it onward and follows him.

  16. He sets aside the miser's preferences, and out of

    love of glory gives up whatever he gives up.

  17. His true worth has borne out his promise,

    like autumn's offering, shown you by its scattered clouds.

  18. Peerless, though his clan abounds

    in resources and his partisans support one another.

  19. The reins are feared where he gathers them,

    and the torrent is feared where it gathers.

  20. So you see the enemies occupied with nothing

    but guessing the place where he will strike.

  21. And a radiant nobleman whom his father exalts—yet many

    a noble tribesman has a father who brings him low.

  22. If it pleases you to measure his nobility in full,

    probing it with reason and drawing it forth,

  23. then search with your eye, wherever it reaches:

    where does the light of the sun end?

  24. His Arāqim have built him an eminence

    that rises, its summit never sinking.

  25. And the sword, if its iron is pure

    in forging, proves sound, with no fear of rust.

  26. And one who follows men points toward

    a moon whose followers among them are many.

  27. He shines before the glances of their eyes,

    a sight surpassed by what is heard of him.

  28. His successes follow his promises,

    like the month's dark-opening nights following its white ones.

  29. Should I fear hesitation over a thousand from one

    who has borne thousands, without fear of limping?

  30. And one unlike you, O son of those noblest in rank,

    gave bounty, then turned back to reclaim it.

  31. Your bounty is not to be expected from him, nor

    does he bestow your well-known kindness:

  32. a miser who equates the money taken from him

    as a gift with a molar he wrenches out.

  33. A rich man, yet his wealth avails little

    to one seeking his bounty, who comes to him for aid.

  34. And the sea's bitterness prevents

    its draughts from going down easily for a drinker.

Sol 6.1