Sol 6.1

  1. And I was told of people gripped by madness:

    They say, “Who is this?” though I was the renowned standard.

  2. Listen, you who question me so earnestly

    to know me: I am the forefront of nobility.

  3. Among the noble Banu Amir have grown

    my branches; and my root is the Quraysh of the Persians.

  4. For I can surely fill a young man's place,

    and captivate the maiden, so she does not resist.

  5. And a maiden, created without equal,

    as though the women beside her were servants.

  6. The maidens' Duwar—when they visit her,

    they circle a dark-eyed beauty like an idol.

  7. They keep stroking her sides,

    as the stone saluted by touch is stroked.

  8. And a fair woman: the water of youth laughs

    on her face for you when she smiles.

  9. I thirsted for her, but she gave me no drink

    to quench my thirst, and did not heal me of sickness.

  10. And she said, “You fell in love—then die rightly guided,

    as Urwah died, grief upon grief.”

  11. Then, when I saw that passion would kill me,

    and I was neither her neighbor nor her cousin,

  12. I secretly sent Abu Mijlaz to her,

    and what a man: if he hit his mark, he acted resolutely.

  13. He did not relent until she yielded to him,

    then he went away, and what was forbidden became lawful for us.

  14. O yellow one, a young man is no rock,

    but a target for worry and grief.

  15. I say to her, when wealth dwindles,

    and prospects narrow and the herds perish:

  16. “Whenever I fall into poverty, revive the night journey

    to Ibn al-Ala, the physician of destitution.”

  17. His generosity called me to Umar,

    and the clan's words: “He is a vast sea.”

  18. And but for what they said, I would never

    praise a sprig of sweet basil before smelling it.

  19. Listen, you seeker who pursues

    the stars of the sky with a slight effort:

  20. You heard of Ibn al-Ala's noble deed,

    so you began seeking it—but you are nowhere near.

  21. When amusement stirs within his breast,

    he amuses himself with giving and striking down mighty warriors.

  22. He relishes giving and the shedding of blood,

    and goes forth in the morning intent on favors or reprisals.

  23. So tell the caliph, if you come to him,

    as a sincere adviser—there is no good in one under suspicion:

  24. “If the enemies' wars wake you,

    rouse Umar for them, then sleep.”

  25. A young man who does not sleep with his vengeance unfulfilled,

    nor drinks water except with blood.

  26. Whenever he goes to war, his birds bring glad tidings

    of victory, and he brings us glad tidings of bounties.

  27. When he speaks, he follows through on his word,

    and trouble dies with a “No” or “Yes.”

  28. And some men, in what they promise,

    are near, yet in deed lie beneath the grave's stones,

  29. like a flowing mirage: you see its gleam,

    yet you do not find it in your midst.

Sol 6.1