Sol 6.1

  1. Lo, by every snorting camel,

    distressed by a crushed nars (unclear term),

  2. that spat froth like the webbing of

    spiders, all spattered;

  3. they walk like the elephants of

    chess, behind the rooks,

  4. shooting across the wastes like arrows,

    but not the arrows of crossbows,

  5. bound for Mecca, with its

    lofty, spacious House:

  6. indeed, Ẓahīr soars

    in merit, with a nose held proudly high.

  7. A scholar, he has a foothold in the

    sciences, firmly rooted.

  8. His intelligence scoffs at

    Abū al-ʿAlāʾ al-Tanūkhī.

  9. He has always been foremost in religion,

    like the shaykh, the shaykh of shaykhs.

  10. He puts the people of hypocrisy to shame,

    those who bowed low like traps.

  11. O my master and my helper,

    and my champion and my rescuer,

  12. O master of eloquent verse—the

    copied, not the erased!

  13. So whoever vies with you is slapped

    in the face with rebuke,

  14. until his cheeks are seen

    as yellow as orpiment.

  15. Far, far from it! The soles of the feet

    are not like the crown of the head.

  16. In this age, among its sons,

    none listens to a man of merit.

  17. For the worthy man is Jupiter amid

    Saturn and Mars.

  18. In this age of yours there is

    nothing but flayed, feeble wretches.

  19. They are all alike in

    their forms, like monstrosities.

  20. Not one among them possesses an honor

    free from defilement.

  21. These folk are nothing but sons of a

    whore who lies prone and swoons,

  22. who, all her life, has not been free for a single

    hour from being split open.

  23. My lord, may you forever enjoy roast meat,

    lightly roasted, and cooked dishes,

  24. and the flesh of fresh fish,

    not salty preserved fish,

  25. as long as a freeborn man flees with his honor

    from the stain of befoulment,

  26. and as long as a palate relishes

    the taste of watermelon.

Sol 6.1