Sol 6.1

  1. These are Su'ad's familiar haunts, so offer greetings.

    And question them, though they stand mute and do not speak.

  2. Traces of a dwelling, now desolate, in Najd,

    And the howdahs of a tribe departed for Tihama.

  3. There is baseness in longing's fire if it does not blaze,

    And meanness in tears if they do not pour.

  4. And at the foot of the two landmark hills is a maiden tender in youth,

    Dazed with youth, she departs, even if she does not sever ties.

  5. Fair-skinned, the mountain passes hide her; behind her

    A sigh is raised by love that has not been concealed.

  6. Will Mecca's riders carry a greeting

    Sent to her from a tormented, enamored man?

  7. He has closed his eyelids over scattered sleep,

    And bent his ribs around a blazing heartache.

  8. If the pilgrims do not bring it to you, may they not cast stones

    At the two Jamras, nor be given drink from Zamzam.

  9. And may they suffer separation's terror, for it is

    An ally of sleeplessness and a foe to sleepers' sleep.

  10. It snatched Arbad away from Labid and found its way

    To Nuwayra's two sons, Malik and Mutammim.

  11. And the people of al-Badhdh grew complacent in their battlements,

    Until it struck them with al-Haytham's sword,

  12. In a battle whose brunt Ghani undertook,

    With a massed host, hoarse from the clang of iron.

  13. They dismounted when close combat was dreaded, and fought

    Around a dauntless man, turbaned with the banner.

  14. He moved his men into the mountains, leaving

    On Arshaq's crags no refuge for the white-footed ibex.

  15. And made the sword-points visit the land of the Romans,

    Until he put its kings among the spoils to be divided.

  16. And turned his horses toward upper al-Jazira,

    Galloping through the dark dust-cloud,

  17. Chafing at the evil not yet repelled,

    Hastening toward the malady not yet eradicated.

  18. Al-Nimr's spear was overrun, until they hastened

    At a swift trot along the neck of the straightest road.

  19. And a great serpent of a trackless waste drove out al-Araqim, the spotted serpents,

    Rending the spotted serpent's shirt with his two fangs.

  20. A host to wild beasts grown weary circling

    In his dust-cloud, and a host to circling birds.

  21. He offers a white hand; generosity mingles

    In it with blood when he meets the horsemen.

  22. And his side is unassailable, so he wrongs himself

    Through bounty to his petitioners, if no one wrongs him.

  23. A clan from Ghani's two ancestral lines gives him his lineage,

    Bright-faced, it traces its descent to noble deeds.

  24. Men of the knee-binding wraps, whose cloaks seem

    Through their forbearance, to enfold the hills of Yalamlam.

  25. And those who bequeath the age-old fire of hospitality,

    And builders of the lofty, most ancient house.

  26. Their noble deeds are fresh as when they began, and they are

    Higher and greater than Dubay'a of Adjam.

  27. They have kept company with time from ages past, except that

    Time has grown old, while their glory has not aged.

  28. They engaged Sha's in battle, to Ghatafan's cost,

    And the sons of Jadhima and Hidhyam are its witnesses.

  29. Were you a neighbor of their houses, you would not be wronged,

    Or if you sought their bounty, you would not go without.

  30. From every lion-like man whose wish is that his son

    Should die when honor is at stake, unless he proves noble.

  31. Let the envious not kill themselves, for

    Dawn has torn apart the gloom of the dark night-watch.

  32. Ghani dwells upon the summits of its glory,

    While tribes lie between the pebbles and the camel's footpad.

  33. So settle upon your pedigrees and their lowliness,

    And leave loftiness alone, for it belongs to the stars.

  34. Ibn 'Uthman is generous, so he is never without

    Wealth held cheap before honored guests.

  35. We have sent the hardy she-camels, heading

    For your welcoming forecourt, straight as arrows,

  36. Drooping-browed, while the stars are like

    A white blaze on a black horse amid the deep darkness.

  37. So that your hands may give knowingly; no one has truly given

    Who lacks understanding, even if his bounty pours.

  38. So remain safe through calamities' return and first onset,

    Though you begin the day with an ancestral legacy that has not been spared.

  39. You have indeed raced toward the heights of honor, in the lead,

    So you took the share of the first, the foremost.

  40. And your enemy stumbled when he sought to bring you what

    Is feared; so we said, 'Down on hands and mouth!'

Sol 6.1