1. Tents have been pitched for Zaynab at al-Ghuwayr;

    so peace upon al-Ghuwayr and its inhabitants.

  2. Those springtime abodes—lions are felled with

    glances in their courts by Time.

  3. How many a bond was broken there for ʿUrwa,

    until Hizam wept over him in grief!

  4. Are these eyelid-blades, or the eyelids of their gazelles

    gazing? Each of their glances is a keen sword.

  5. Are those eyebrows, or bows from which are loosed

    arrows fashioned from their glances?

  6. From every woman with gleaming front teeth, whose gaze

    displays a languor, though no illness is in it.

  7. Dark-lipped, she has in her mouth, for one who sips her lips,

    hailstones in a row, and wine.

  8. I yearn for Najd's tamarisks whenever

    lightning is glimpsed flashing over al-Ghuwayr.

  9. And I long for al-ʿUdhayb's wild lote tree and its

    spreading shade, and laurel and balsam in al-Hima.

  10. What way is there, when love's judge has ruled

    that I must die, and passion is the claimant?

  11. Little nights are gone, and days have passed—

    what splendid nights and days they were!

  12. With every woman radiant beneath her veil, my mouth

    was her veil of kisses in the clasp of an embrace.

  13. The beloved visited, though it was no time for a visit,

    for no reproach deterred him from coming.

  14. One night, on foot from Hajir,

    venturing tracklessly, while the cruel one rode the darkness.

  15. He steps over sandgrouse nests and treads upon

    ostrich nesting hollows lying before him.

  16. Ah, how did he find his way when he journeyed by night

    from Hajir toward me, while my home is al-Sham?

  17. He came to me speaking in sleep, one

    from whom I had heard no word while awake.

  18. Whatever I forget, I shall not forget the beloved and his words:

    “Departure is imminent tomorrow, and staying is hard.”

  19. They bridled their mounts; every noble she-camel

    has on her head a rein in separation's hand.

  20. They said, “Tomorrow is the day of parting,” and I replied,

    “No: at separation, death is decreed.”

  21. They unveiled for me their faces and their tresses,

    and dawn and darkness embraced.

  22. They are the beloved women who shoot at our hearts;

    their arrows are drawn from the glances of enemies.

  23. Were it not for fear of God, we would be led to

    the religion of the pagan age by these idols.

  24. Gone are the Bedouins among whom

    honor was defended, and pledges of protection never betrayed.

  25. I remain among fools, like livestock in

    keeping a pledge, and ostriches when battle comes.

  26. I shall surely strike my tents and leave them, bound for

    the abode of bliss, with bounty in its shade.

  27. It is Baalbek, exalted by Majd al-Din

    Bahram Shah, to whose eminence Bahram submits.

  28. His soldiers are predatory lions, who have

    no thickets on battle day but spears.

  29. His armies are a spear, and he its point,

    from the heart of an army that knows no retreat.

  30. His bow has messengers of death bound for the foes;

    they slay souls outright, and bodies fall.

  31. The sword in his right hand is flashing lightning,

    pouring blood, while battle-dust is a cloud.

  32. The eyes of polytheism weep because of him, for his slaughter

    of the polytheists, while Islam laughs.

  33. Upon him is an ample coat of mail, woven by

    the prophet David, its links wrought to perfection.

  34. His stallion is a sea; upon its saddle surges

    a sea, and above it roars a lion.

  35. Never has he sought a goal, ascending to high honors,

    but he has become beyond reach within it.

  36. His enemies, through fear of him, find no sweetness,

    near or far, in waking or in sleep.

  37. Like a lion, bristling for his leap on

    thick, rough paws; his habit is bold advance.

  38. O you of white hands and favors through which

    the poor and the orphans live!

  39. Pray to God, your Lord, and offer sacrifice sincerely;

    humiliation and abasement are your haters' lot.

  40. In your palm is the pen to which

    all pens bow in eminence, east and west.

  41. Marvel at its split tongue: in its inscriptions are

    novel artistry, vowel marks, and distinguishing dots.

  42. It is as though livelihoods and lifespans were

    apportioned by the Allotter with it in his right hand.

  43. If fine in script, it is mighty in import; it is, in

    your right hand, a spotted serpent that writes.

  44. Your lofty ambitions raised for you, in battle,

    a banner before which other banners droop.

  45. Victory and support are bound into

    its streamers, with the power to annul and affirm.

  46. Yours is a rank none has surpassed in our age,

    except he who is the imam of the age.

  47. May you endure for all time; and to the one

    for whom you serve as deputy, greetings and peace.

  48. The trees of your grove among the sons of Ayyub are

    fruitful; calyxes adorn their fruit.

  49. Rejoice: among kings you have no rival

    when fathers and paternal uncles are named.

  50. You are he at whose every hair-root

    there is a protecting lion and a safeguard.

  51. This is a station where every eloquent speaker

    other than me is before you tongue-tied and stammering.

  52. Yours is a realm to which the realms of all kings

    are servants in every noble deed.

  53. Its members are harmoniously matched in eminence,

    like choice pearls made beautiful by their string.

  54. Muʿizz al-Din has left an unyielding might

    for the faith in you, by which the foe is humbled.

  55. Yours are the towering palaces; every one

    stands in a sea; mountains win no admiration.

  56. Houses whose pools hold their blessings;

    there, with you, Salsabil is marble.

  57. Yours are sons of the noblest roots;

    no wonder that the noble bear the noble.

  58. May they never shed the robes of good fortune they wear,

    so long as doves are clothed in their neck-rings.

  59. They are growing crescents—or you may see

    in them full moons of kingship, perfectly complete.

  60. Stay safe and endure as long as an alif is joined

    by a lam in the familiar name already mentioned.

  61. And rejoice in the festivals as long as there is no need for

    alifs in the Arabic inflection of proper names.

Sol 6.1