Sol 6.1

  1. Da‘d showed herself to us and deliberately turned away.

    And bring her near, when she comes forward and when she turns away.

  2. I complained to her of love’s anguish the day she appeared,

    and returned burdened with anguish upon anguish.

  3. Ask her, you two: "By what right did you deem it lawful to kill a lover

    whose hidden and open feelings for you are pure?"

  4. Take heed: Da‘d is but a temptation to your heart;

    unless you leave her, you will meet your death in Da‘d.

  5. Long ago I warned my soul away from her, but it disobeyed,

    turning toward her, whether her dwelling was near or far.

  6. Her turning away increased in me nothing but longing,

    and loyalty and patient steadfastness to the pledge.

  7. The white gazelle, the bough, and the oryxes remind me of her,

    and so does the full moon at its auspicious rising.

  8. For the gazelle has her eyes, and the full moon her face,

    and the bough has its likeness in her figure.

  9. Whenever she smiled, lightning flashed, gleaming,

    snatching the gazers’ sight by design.

  10. Peace be upon her; I have grieved at her distance.

    She will not bring me near, nor have I the strength to endure.

  11. My forbearance deceived some people for a while,

    and forbearance can exalt, and forbearance can bring one to ruin.

  12. If I show forbearance, I am not abasing myself;

    and if I take vengeance, I charge the tawny lion.

  13. How could my foes frighten me with satire,

    when I have a tongue keener than a peerless sword?

  14. Adversities have tested me and found me

    patient in hardship, with my edge honed sharp.

  15. They greet me with smiles and welcome, as a ruse,

    while each conceals within his flanks a grudge against me.

  16. How can the wolf be deceived, when the wolf is a deceiver,

    wily toward the valiant champion in every circumstance?

  17. They prepare malicious rumors for me whenever I am away from them,

    to gratify a rancor that never abates and avails nothing.

  18. Never have I sought a flank among them and found it

    impregnable, nor exerted my utmost effort against their resistance.

  19. But I turn a blind eye until a moment of heedlessness,

    then seize the unwary one, hunting alone.

  20. Whoever rushes at his foes before securing his advantage,

    has not built his undertaking on a firm foundation.

  21. My reach has eluded them because their own reach falls short;

    they could neither outstrip me nor turn me back.

  22. May my dear friends, whom I love, be gladdened

    by the treasures of sincere affection within my breast.

  23. For I am neither one who hates nor the fickle man who,

    when he loves, is distracted from the old by the new.

Sol 6.1