Sol 6.1

  1. Who will defend me from a talebearer about her—I never sided with him

    against her, nor put hatred of her into his mind—

  2. and from grief I concealed, but which was revealed by

    a succession of tears, profuse in their flow?

  3. A burning heartache spreading through ribs that, whenever they bend

    over it, recoil from the scorching of its blaze.

  4. The encampment's dear companions departed, and away sped

    their bands from ʿAlij and its sands.

  5. And among them departed a bough of a bān-tree; when he appeared,

    a describer of his form and likeness lingered.

  6. It pains you that there is no tenderness when he bends,

    and saddens you that there is no fairness when he stands upright.

  7. So what recourse has the longing lover with the one who makes him yearn,

    when this estrangement blocks his stratagems?

  8. A beloved gone far away, save for an intruding remembrance

    of him, or a passing visitation of his phantom.

  9. Am I to be denied ardent longing in separation from him,

    though I was lovesick and enthralled in union with him?

  10. And I am told to be patient by one whose passion is not

    like mine, nor is my openly shown plight like his.

  11. So if I lose the life that passed at al-Liwa,

    long ago I lost the shade when it moved away.

  12. I left off wrangling with the base man; only

    in the generous man's standing and wealth lies my share.

  13. Nor was I content with a watering-place in stagnant water's murk,

    so I sought to drink from the Nile when it ran full.

  14. I swore by what the worshippers recite at Mina,

    and by the devotion they profess to the Prophet and his family:

  15. the resolve of a stout-hearted man shall surely drive the pale camels hard,

    one harsh with them when he halts and when he journeys,

  16. toward Ibn Nahik: indeed, generosity has traced its lineage

    to his paternal uncle, uncle of the noble, and his maternal uncle.

  17. To one free of every affair that would disgrace him;

    and if he is occupied, glory is his chief occupation.

  18. Ali ibn Yahya: indeed, generosity has traced its lineage

    to his paternal uncle, uncle of the noble, and his maternal uncle.

  19. He is singular in character; our minds remain

    bewildered by a single trait among his traits.

  20. When others guard their inherited wealth, he is driven

    by a mad ambition to spend it freely.

  21. He was set at the summit of all nobility

    by noble conduct that left others unable to emulate it.

  22. So if his peers fall short of his station,

    then indeed a man's right hand is above his left.

  23. Wisdom occupied him in the prime of his youth,

    so he came forth a mature man before reaching middle age.

  24. As though the firmly rooted mountains had learned—

    the weightiest of them—from his forbearance and majesty.

  25. I trusted in his bounty, though it had not yet reached

    my hand, and saw success before asking him.

  26. And you know that the sword's edge spares you

    the need to vie in numbers with rivals, before it is drawn.

  27. O Abu Hasan, you have brought forth on generosity's horizon

    a bounty for us, beneath whose shade our hopes abide.

  28. Your first autumn shower has passed; grant the rain that follows it,

    and you have accustomed us to favor from your bounty; keep it coming.

  29. And my levy is surely light; even if it became

    heavy, you would approve of nothing but bearing it.

Sol 6.1