Sol 5.6

  1. They appeared while the horizon’s face was inscribed with stars—

    secluded Arab maidens, with no foreigner among them.

  2. They were strung like a necklace of pearls on a thread of deepest darkness;

    through it, from among them, bright teeth and smiling mouths shone.

  3. Lovely in their charms, enchanting—as though

    beauty’s engraved design had set its seal upon them.

  4. They gaze with flawless eyes adorned by

    glances, eyelids, and kohl-black lashes.

  5. From that agate they scatter pearls,

    where exquisite beauty gathers and strings them.

  6. I swear that honey has melted within them,

    delicious—though a speckled serpent lies coiled around it.

  7. Lightning whose flashing delights all beholders

    when they gleam at night while the sky is dark.

  8. Do you know what among them confounded you at the encounter?

    Yes: a henna-dyed hand and a wrist.

  9. Suns upon branches, unveiled and radiant in the darkness;

    the necklaces above their collarbones are stars.

  10. They alighted at Saqṭ al-ʿUdhayb and drank their fill,

    while over each one’s shoulders streamed jet-black hair.

  11. They left me shedding tears of blood

    for a tender, radiant face whose cheeks bore crimson ʿandam dye.

  12. He says, “May God preserve you! What ails you, silent and sorrowful?

    Has a passing phantom touched you, or are you lovesick?”

  13. I answered, “Eyes and faces have afflicted me;

    through those eyes and faces I have lost both reason and heart—

  14. graceful maidens dwelling throughout the precincts of the Hijaz,

    whose guarded domain a long spear and keen-edged sword defend;

  15. fierce warriors astride slender-waisted, long-flanked steeds, whose drink

    is their enemies’ blood—the forbidden draught—

  16. from the lofty company of the house of Ghālib.

    What are ancient ʿĀd and Jurhum beside them?

  17. They are the proud Arabs, nobly high-nosed among all mankind;

    are there any Arabs mightier or more generous than they?

  18. They are illustrious, glorious lords; whenever they charge,

    every young warrior among them is an eagle, a mighty vulture.

  19. They are the house of Fihr—through the seas of whose bounty

    all creation swims.

  20. Generous nobles, eminent chiefs, mighty men;

    the Ḥaṭīm and Zamzam have raised them high.

  21. For them the banners of glory were raised above al-Suhā,

    for God’s Messenger is of their lineage:

  22. the prophet of the mighty prophets; indeed, he

    knows God better than all creation.

  23. He is foremost of all the messengers in glory’s procession;

    when they are arrayed, he is the noble one placed ahead—

  24. the noblest of them in lineage and the most open-handed,

    the most generous, the most forbearing, and the most learned.

  25. He is the sea: beside his palm, the water of the all-encompassing ocean

    is only a mouthful from his cloudburst, held within the mouth.

  26. Refuge of orphans and widows, their sheltering cave,

    whether they journey up into Najd for what they seek or descend into Tihāma.

  27. He rose to a rank where Mount Sinai is merely a beauty mark

    beneath its sole; he is the chosen, honored one.

  28. The All-Merciful addressed him from above His throne

    while the eyes of this universe were then asleep.

Sol 5.6