1. Indeed, by Him who granted you excellence and preeminence

    over every living being, and chose you above all creation,

  2. you have governed us with justice and generosity, bestowing favors,

    and favored us with forbearance and gentleness.

  3. And we see the features of the Prophet Muhammad

    and his way in your smiling, open countenance.

  4. And that turban knows full well that it

    is wound around such nobility and noble birth.

  5. You rescued Homs and its people with kindness,

    though they had committed deeds of wrongdoing and folly.

  6. You rose before them at sunrise, and they beheld

    the sun’s radiance from one horizon, and your face from another.

  7. Nor before these two had they seen two suns whose

    light met in harmony, from the west and the east.

  8. You showed them then the power of one who is powerful,

    and the pardon of one who cherishes safety and spares lives.

  9. And had you wished, they would have fallen to swords and spears,

    and to broad-headed lances, keenly sharpened and blue.

  10. You bestowed life upon them, and they became

    your freedmen, winning favor and freedom from you.

  11. And loyalty to those who free others from death

    surpasses loyalty to those who free them from slavery.

  12. May you endure, Commander of the Faithful, for a nation

    you have led along the clear path to truth.

  13. Through your countenance she seeks redress against Time whenever

    he wrongs her, as once she sought rain through your forefather.

Sol 6.1