1. Is it forbidden for the promise to be fulfilled

    By you, or for distant bounty to draw near?

  2. And behind the ribs, from the excess of my love

    For you, a passion wears away the innermost heart and grows.

  3. The lovesick one seeks only your bounty,

    And the love-stricken one complains to you of passion.

  4. Your promise, a mirage, deceived him; and held apart were

    His two eyelids by your heart of stone.

  5. Who will defend me against her? She scatters my wits

    Among the habits of hers that she repeats.

  6. She mixed estrangement with union, so in nearness

    There is distance, and in union, rejection.

  7. And she turned toward parting, so I sent

    Toward her an eye that pours out tears for her.

  8. A glance, trailed by hurrying tears,

    Lingers on, with sleeplessness before it.

  9. Do you think what has passed may be hoped for, and a day

    Like my day at Ramatayn may return?

  10. We were joined to al-Fath, Fath ibn Khaqan,

    By qualities, among them bounty and generosity.

  11. Openhanded: when he goes forth, he is guided

    By the traits of noble deeds wherever he wishes.

  12. Every day, among those who seek his bounty, flow

    Newly acquired possessions and ancestral wealth.

  13. And shielding him from men's censure, should they wish it—

    Men who sit idle, far from lofty deeds—

  14. Is a character, O Abu Muhammad, from which you have

    Renewed noble deeds that never perish.

  15. The would-be rival turned aside from your glory; you pressed on

    Ever higher, so the envious turned away from you.

  16. Live praised, for we do not blame an age

    In which your praiseworthy conduct has been our neighbor.

  17. A land has gained its safety from misery,

    With the outstretched shade of your bounty above it.

  18. Winter's freshness has passed, and there has come

    To us, resembling you, the new spring.

  19. A radiant horizon, and a sky where shone

    In the brilliance of its light the black nights.

  20. And it is as though the buttercups and the daisies—

    Fresh and tender—were two strands of pearls and precious gems.

  21. Drops from the clouds, and a meadow

    Over which cheeks have scattered their roses.

  22. And nights were clothed in summer's softness,

    So they seemed to be striped cloaks.

  23. The winds that blow are gentle breezes,

    And the stars that peer out are auspicious.

  24. And the festival has drawn near; it is for the people until

    It passes, while you are a festival for the festival itself.

Sol 6.1