Sol 5.6

  1. O rider of the tempestuous she-camel—were it not for her nose-rings,

    I would call her a raging east wind or north wind,

  2. a tempest even at her gentlest pace,

    a pace envied by the male ostrich and the mother of ostrich chicks.

  3. She sweeps past the pool in the plain despite burning thirst,

    as though the pools were mirage and shimmering heat-haze.

  4. She bore along a disheveled man of lofty resolve,

    too lofty—and she too—for drowsiness or fatigue,

  5. seeking a resting place perfect in generosity,

    with one who protects his neighbor and abounds in largesse.

  6. Take refuge with Bahāʾ al-Dīn, calling upon

    his beneficence for aid, and cast the saddles down before him.

  7. You will find Abū al-Faḍl’s sanctuary impregnable;

    he will satisfy you on the day of largesse and of battle,

  8. fiercely protective of honor, knowing nothing but the heights,

    the most perfect in them even before the age of maturity.

  9. His gravity, and his resolve whenever he undertakes a matter,

    are towering mountains and the forward points of blades.

  10. May Time bring him joy in his exalted estate,

    and the feast as well, whenever a crescent gleams on the horizon.

Sol 5.6