Sol 5.6

  1. His bounty pours through the dust-gray years,

    when heaven is stingy with its rain.

  2. His countenance shines like the light of dawn;

    before his largesse, his smile itself gives.

  3. A refuge in goodness, a laggard in evil,

    his custom is swift hospitality and slaughter for the feast.

  4. Lion-necked, he strides with a teeming army,

    armed with keen blades—cleavers and short swords.

  5. Safest of all is he when terror strikes.

    Crown of kings, lord of loftiness and pride,

  6. an Indian-forged, keen-edged sword in a champion’s hand:

    it cleaves lengthwise whatever it meets, and cuts it crosswise.

  7. He strikes his foes only to hew off great pieces,

    wins his desires only by force,

  8. and bestows good only in floods.

    I swim through a sea of his virtues,

  9. fashioning his praise from pearls—

    necklaces like the radiant stars.

  10. He abides, while praise travels abroad;

    may he live through all time, his command obeyed,

  11. blessed in his Eid and the sacred Ten Days.

Sol 5.6