1. I have a beloved who is utterly bent on estrangement,

    and keeps renewing his rejection and making it plain.

  2. A master of many arts, he shows you every day

    a newly devised variation of his coldness.

  3. He withholds in refusal, yet graciously grants assistance;

    and draws near in union, then draws away in rejection.

  4. I rise content, though I spent the night angry;

    and by evening I am a master, by morning a slave.

  5. And with my own life I ransom, in every circumstance,

    a young gazelle who, if touched, would infect one with beauty.

  6. He passed by me alone, kindling hope of union;

    and I hinted at a greeting, which he returned.

  7. And he turned his cheek toward me in fear,

    so I kissed pomegranate blossoms and roses.

  8. You are my master; I have committed no wrong

    to be punished for it, nor have I betrayed a pledge.

  9. Have pity on me for tears that will not cease,

    and pity me for a breast that will not be stilled.

  10. Do you imagine me, as long as I live, replacing you

    with another, or finding any way to do without you?

  11. God forbid! Your glances are the most languid,

    your form the fairest, your stature the finest.

  12. God created Ja'far as the world's guardian,

    to set it right, and religion's guardian, to guide it.

  13. The noblest of men in character, the most perfect of men

    in form, and the most generous of men in gifts.

  14. A king whose resolve has fortified his kingship,

    and thus become his support and defense.

  15. He made justice manifest, and through it the earth shone,

    and it spread throughout the lands, lowlands and highlands.

  16. And he matched the rain—nay, surpassed the rain—

    with a hand that showers bounty upon creation.

  17. He is the sea of generosity and bounty; grow

    nearer to him, and you will grow farther from poverty.

  18. O refuge of the world in giving and largesse,

    and beauty of the world in splendor and glory,

  19. and the Prophet's likeness in form and character,

    and the Prophet's kinsman, ancestor after ancestor,

  20. through you we seek amends from the nights, and seek aid

    against our cruel age, and are granted it.

  21. So live as long as time itself, until we render

    the thanks for your kindness that can never be rendered.

Sol 6.1