Sol 5.6

  1. A moon amid the spheres of curtained chambers,

    rising above the radiant moon;

  2. supple of figure, beyond compar—

    —ison, he sways like a verdant bough.

  3. He captured the heart, and still

    delights in tormenting his captive.

  4. His eyelids are intoxicated

    with the wine of his fragrant smile.

  5. He took to chiding—how artful he is,

    this chiding from a guileless gazelle!

  6. How could you turn away from love?

    Have you forgotten the days of joy?

  7. I answered him, while my heart, from

    the pain of parting, lay in the blaze’s grip:

  8. I have heard, through an unbroken chain,

    from every renowned man of letters,

  9. that eloquence and consummate artistry

    reside with Dawud the vizier.

  10. So I went forth, my heart enthralled,

    to present myself before him.

  11. At last we met, and equal were

    my sight and hearing in delight.

  12. My lips were honored by a kis—

    —sing of that pure hem.

  13. There I beheld the best of men, invested

    with glory and abundant generosity.

  14. And from his utterances I heard

    David chanting the Psalms.

  15. His literary graces were as though

    a garden variegated with flowers.

  16. If he uttered verse, I fancied it,

    in its strands, pearls adorning throats.

  17. Foremost of learning, and its full moon—

    a full moon to every man of eminence;

  18. an arrow when batt—

    —le comes, striking like a lion that crushes prey.

  19. My lord, forgive me: this poem

    was born in a scant span of time.

  20. Live safe and long; may God grant you

    your wishes through all the ages,

  21. and bring your full moon back, radiant

    with fortune in the firmament of full moons.

Sol 5.6