Sol 5.6

  1. The clan’s tale-bearers said—no, rather, its misleaders—

    but those are tales born of lying suspicions:

  2. “The sword-keen bond of love turned aside before reaching you,

    and because of it you came to be numbered among strangers.”

  3. What fooled them was a rain-star and cloud-bank that failed their promise—

    from the rain-clouds, by evening withholding, not pouring.

  4. I said, “Hush! Affection stands sublime—its old

    and new alike—beyond one who demands more or reproaches.

  5. How could affection twist awry, when its hold is anchored

    in a lavish man of al-Jawān, rich in coveted gifts—

  6. a horseman for the twin days of reins and battle,

    who routs the twin armies of combat and famine;

  7. who leads his steeds in full view, as though they were

    rapacious eagles swooping down from watch-heights;

  8. they shun the meadow’s pasture when they raid,

    and graze nowhere but among beards and forelocks.

  9. When, in pursuit, they seek renown through Ibn Muhalhil—

    Abu al-Faris, possessor of manifold virtues—

  10. he wheels them home, and by morning manifest victory

    goes proudly prancing over their manes and hooves.

Sol 5.6