Sol 6.1

  1. Truly, your languid yet healthy, murderous eyelids

    are killers among us, and Babylon for sorcery.

  2. In them is kohl whose magic Harut breathes,

    and Marut—not what the kohl-pots have deposited.

  3. And a slender-waisted youth whose stature resembles a straight lance,

    and whose face mirrors the full moon of the dark nights.

  4. He has become adorned with wondrous form and character,

    yet is devoid of mercy toward the lovelorn.

  5. Generous in tormenting the lover, yet he

    is indeed miserly with union toward his lovers.

  6. He is of the Turks; his glances carve arrows.

    When he gazes, he strikes dead with them whoever contends.

  7. His glance spares him what lies in the quiver,

    so he never empties his quiver.

  8. He passes around ruddy wine in glass, as though

    it were the sun, with fingers clasped around it.

  9. Pearls are nothing but his speech, its bubbles,

    and his smile upon their string as he flirts.

  10. That wine has no equal among drinks,

    and he has no equal among people in beauty.

  11. Why, then, did my reproachers fight me over loving him?

    When they saw him, the reproachers made peace with him.

  12. How often I demand long-standing debts from him,

    and he puts me off, wealthy though he is, a procrastinator.

  13. I am abased before him as merit is abased in Syria.

    Indeed, the name of merit lies obscure in Syria.

  14. And why not, when its protectors have settled in Egypt,

    and the valiant, mighty king has departed from it?

  15. I shall send my resolve from there as an envoy bearing praise,

    to Egypt, to find there what I seek.

  16. I travel in resolve, not in body; here am I, the

    resident in the land of Syria, while my resolve departs,

  17. toward a king whose might makes kings submit,

    a lord of resolve before which the tribes are humbled.

  18. He is the king whose savor is sweet in peace,

    yet valiant in the thick of war.

  19. When he appears, down to the earth they fall in prostration—

    the armies before him, from the backs of poised steeds.

  20. Were Khosrow, king of Persia, a horseman,

    he would come to him on foot, in reverence.

  21. The kings of the earth remain submissive to him;

    every great man dwindles in his presence.

  22. His armies are lions roaring in battle;

    their thicket is nothing but lances and squadrons.

  23. He marches with an army whose might makes the earth tremble,

    and earthquakes appear across its every region.

  24. A fivefold army, with banners for shade, and above it

    a trailing canopy of birds veils the sun.

  25. Non-Arabs speak their tongues within it on every side,

    and noble, valiant Arabs chant battle verses.

  26. Their armor is clouds, through which shine

    their faces: full, perfect moons.

  27. They are lions, save that their thicket, when

    they march by night, is Mashrafi swords and slender brown spears.

  28. Their spearheads, with night a cloud of dust, are its stars:

    projectiles setting within the livers of their foes.

  29. If one day their spearheads complain of thirst,

    blood alone is their watering place.

  30. Whenever the polytheists behold him, torn apart are

    their livers and their joints by awe of him.

  31. No wonder the Franks turned back defeated;

    had they not turned back, no shore would have remained to polytheism.

  32. They knew that, had they stood firm against him,

    they would have been fodder forcibly grazed by blades.

  33. Heads and helmets flew from their ranks

    to where the dust-clouds drifted in the fray.

  34. His enemies have become certain that their portion

    with him is leveled spears and chains.

  35. When they came to Damietta like a swelling sea,

    with no shore, so numerous were their men,

  36. their multitude exceeded reckoning and counting:

    thousands upon thousands were their horses and mounts.

  37. They saw lions defending it, lances in their hands,

    and slender, bright swords perfected by polishers.

  38. Their guests there were huge old vultures,

    and dusky birds devouring the limbs of kings.

  39. They circled it in the sea on every side,

    but before it stood a barrier of death barring their way.

  40. The dog, the king of the Romans, then hoped to conquer it;

    but he failed; the mother of kingship and the Romans is bereaved.

  41. Even the eagle of the sky fell short of reaching it;

    and how could anyone reaching up attain al-Mirzam?

  42. They retreated from it on their heels, defeated,

    like ostriches scattering in humiliation.

  43. No head but had a keen sword striking it,

    and no chest but had a spear thrust into it.

  44. If God one day becomes a people's helper,

    there is none in all creation to forsake them.

  45. They had no hope of reaching their own lands,

    where fortresses might shield them from what they had seen.

  46. O sea whose generosity embraces all,

    and who has done what the men of old could not,

  47. and fought until they said, 'He has annihilated his foes,'

    and gave until they said, 'No petitioner remains,'

  48. and whose justice covered the plains and rugged land

    in Egypt, so they said, 'No just ruler came before.'

  49. A cloud raining vengeance upon enemies,

    yet bearing generosity and gifts for whoever befriends him.

  50. Every tongue that moves within a speaker's mouth

    turns in prayer for him and thanks to God.

  51. Thus Yusuf, son of Ayyub, in generosity in Egypt,

    rivals Yusuf, son of the prophet Ya'qub.

  52. Egypt's flowing Nile is nothing but his hand,

    and his kindness, should the clouds withhold, is a downpour.

  53. He is the sword whose failure to cut is never feared,

    nor is a slender lance like him ever wielded.

  54. Forbearing, versed in religions, a master orator:

    if he speaks, Quss beside him is Baqil.

  55. Love for him dwells in the core of every heart;

    no one ever reproaches another for loving him.

  56. Indeed, the one who named him King and Champion

    has an honor dwelling above the two Simak stars:

  57. an imam of ours, whose forefather's intercession we hope for,

    whose blessings and favors overwhelm us.

  58. Truth is nothing but love for Muhammad's family;

    every belief other than that is false.

  59. To you, Salah al-Din, my praises have traveled,

    and with one like you, generous favors flourish.

  60. Shelter me from relentless poverty; and if I say

    'Shelter me,' then all I ask of you is surely granted.

  61. When the dust-gray year bears down, laying upon

    mankind's necks, in east and west, its heavy breasts,

  62. and has bared the crooked fangs of its ferocity,

    as a lion bares its teeth, the calamity is terrible;

  63. then for it there is no hope in generosity but yours,

    nor benefit with anyone it hopes in, other than you.

  64. You, sons of Shadhi, have become the noblest of clans;

    our praises of them are our means of approaching them.

  65. Glory's company has never ceased to be united through you;

    your place in it is the crests and shoulders.

  66. May the pavilion of your good fortune remain outspread,

    and your enemies' shadow vanish for all time.

Sol 6.1