Sol 5.6

  1. O Abū ʿAlī, no need has ever arisen

    but that your bounty met it—save my reproach of your generosity.

  2. You diminished the worth of an affection I once esteemed so highly—

    far be it from your solicitude to wrong your lofty aspirations.

  3. With the oath you kept, you frightened away one who trusted,

    who draws near to you even when you rattle your bridles.

  4. Men of lofty purpose would ransom you, O son of Abū al-Hayjāʾ—

    in glory, their feet falter behind your stride.

  5. You wrung your contemporaries’ hearts with envious grief

    through knowledge and forbearance, though you have not yet reached the full extent of your authority.

  6. You swore by God, fearing that I would requite you;

    yet, by God’s truth, I care nothing for your oath.

  7. How then shall I lay my needs, whenever they arise,

    before the Kaaba of bounty, when al-Baṭḥāʾ lies within your sanctuary?

  8. Nor does a night traveler lose his way, spending the night guided by

    a light of knowledge, blazing atop your beacon.

Sol 5.6