Sol 5.6

  1. Will love poetry convey what I seek?

    Or not—then let the slender spears come to my aid.

  2. The sword is more fitting for me to seek refuge in

    than what the wide, dark eyes bring on.

  3. I am the one whom Time has driven afield,

    while the roads have grown familiar with his caravan.

  4. I travel by night through hazards, accompanied—

    to the exclusion of men—by docile she-camels.

  5. Neither wealth draws me toward it, nor

    do ḥawdhān plants and clover detain them.

  6. Urgent, relentless riding hastens me toward the—

    goals, while measured pacing carries me safely through.

  7. among young men who left their resting mounts behind;

    they pressed on past the night and gathered in force.

  8. And when the waterskins guarded their sloshing water,

    they were content with what our eyes dispensed.

  9. And an erect-eared mount—you would think him

    a towering crag, with a mountain rising from his chest.

  10. Lofty, his averted head extends

    a neck behind which the rump seems small.

  11. I drove him to exhaustion as the charge wrung him,

    and water streamed from both his flanks.

  12. And a noble she-camel with whom Time rose again,

    after resolve itself had been brought to a halt by her;

  13. she split the brows of the hills and escaped

    headlong, while the sand aided her swift pace.

  14. She sought the Commander of the Faithful, and no

    weariness circled her, nor any delay.

  15. There, high rank admits no doubt,

    and generosity is not bent by avarice.

  16. And al-Ṭāʾiʿ, the hoped-for, when praised are

    the hands of men—and few are those one asks.

  17. A king: when the banquet cloth encloses him,

    stumbling multiplies and error spreads everywhere.

  18. And when the throne rises with his stature,

    kisses fasten on the back of his hand.

  19. The Imams disclosed his noble qualities,

    and the Messengers entrusted their light to him.

  20. When faults walk toward him, there appears

    a face before which eyes squint.

  21. Thus the gaze is held back and released,

    and speech breaks off and then continues.

  22. Exulting in beneficence, he covenanted with it

    that no reproach should pass within his hearing.

  23. He meets calamities with an open face,

    and wades into them with a joyful heart.

  24. His cheerfulness conceals his fierce zeal,

    like poison whose taste honey has disguised.

  25. He comes from a people whose swords were

    adornment to those they struck and those they stripped bare.

  26. With glory they clothe the one they despoiled,

    and through renown revive the one they killed.

  27. You are the bountiful one when hope grows costly,

    and the refuge sought when fear overflows.

  28. How many a lancer your two hands sent

    a thrust whose impact humbles the champion.

  29. You knew that the torrent would drive him back

    when the rain-laden cloud loomed.

  30. How splendid, by God, is your spear when you bring it to drink—

    its water is neither cold nor a second draught.

  31. Tossing at the shoulders, no wave makes it lean,

    though swaying is among the spear's attributes.

  32. And two lancers, when they met,

    thrust at one another while the spears rang aloud.

  33. The crushing lion descended upon his prey,

    while the dung beetle went on rolling its filth.

  34. Two old men: this one is forever a valiant knight,

    while that one is helpless and abject.

  35. Yet when Time wished to lead them both,

    the noble steed balked, while the ibex submitted.

  36. O seeker of mankind's peerless one, stay;

    far from you are hard riding and haste.

  37. Do you seek the furthest reaches of glory when

    you have neither she-camel nor camel in it?

  38. So bleat with your sheep, away from its butting rams,

    and leave the lush herbage for the camels to lick.

  39. O you who seize the days without fear,

    whose right hand leaves them palsied from its touch:

  40. the one whose terror you calm finds refuge,

    though mountain goats find none among the peaks.

  41. For your friend, the world is richly adorned;

    for the mother of one you oppose, there is bereavement.

  42. If your enemies allege a fault in you,

    it is as though they said the sky's hide is corrupt.

  43. Beware your enemy, lest he be brought near

    to your heart by deceits and stratagems.

  44. Never be deceived by his spells, even if

    his speech and action please you.

  45. For his heart is resentful toward you, even if

    he bows his head and fear has subdued him for you.

  46. Truly, the one wholly devoted to your love is a youth

    whom neither blame nor reproach restrains,

  47. like al-Ḥusayn: between his ribs is

    a heart with no concern but you.

  48. He praises you for every favor,

    always, while the veil of the unseen hangs down.

  49. That is the keen sword whose estrangement you prolonged,

    though breaches have very rarely mastered it.

  50. You promised him a promise to which he clings,

    and hope is bound and twisted around the promise.

  51. Rise with him in calamities: you will find

    a sharp blade before which mountain peaks fall.

  52. Remain safe, Commander of the Faithful, when

    death levels its weapon and fate resolves.

  53. Girded with the sword-belt of a kingdom

    in whose sheath lie destinies and dynasties.

  54. Rejoice in the Day of Mihrajān, while

    the enemies neither rejoice in it nor comprehend.

  55. For you rise whenever they sit,

    forever, and ascend whenever they descend.

  56. A day the years renew, although

    the earliest ages have passed over it.

  57. On it the people are diverted and delighted:

    one hopes for the blaze, and another drinks, intoxicated.

  58. Never do the bands of worries gather in it

    but gladness scatters their assembly.

  59. It is a realm where winter has alighted

    while summer is setting out and departing.

  60. I am the one who loves devotion to you, even if

    white swords and spears rain blows upon me.

  61. The tribes of Ghālib have trodden in my wake,

    and encampments were ennobled by my stay.

  62. I have put out the eye of avarice, since

    through your bounty my mature she-camels grew many.

  63. Many a rival goes early to seize my quarry,

    and takes it, while my two hands still hold the snare.

  64. I plunged into the depths; the crest of their flood

    passed over me, and wetness covered my garment.

  65. And one reminds me of a kinship long neglected,

    like the sun whose light the late hour has worn away:

  66. a kinship that clings to the distant one, just as

    the long, far-stretched rope clings to the tent.

  67. Two claimants cut away portions of my opportunities,

    while I am the one who gives rein and seizes the chance.

  68. My purpose in praising you is that

    the crookedness in my days obey me and straighten.

  69. I stand before you, improvising;

    neither speechlessness cuts me off nor wild error.

  70. And though all panegyric traces its growth back to

    the spontaneous turns of my speech, and love poetry claims descent,

  71. the earth is mother of all soil,

    and the father of all humankind is one man.

gpt-5.6-sol