Sol 5.6

  1. The heartbeat of my heart revives within my breast,

    Like the roar of waves after my long exile.

  2. So cast your anchors and rescue me—you shall have my recompense,

    O sail that courses beyond the Tigris.

  3. In my tears, the ravages have passed you by;

    The gazelle of the Two Rivers captured my heart as prey.

  4. You plotted against me after capturing my heart,

    And love of them lodged it in the heart’s black core.

  5. Glide over the water like Christ, gently,

    And course through the sea like a guiding ray.

  6. They have tormented my soul—tormented it utterly;

    I see my fated death drawing near.

  7. Travel with blessing, spared from a grievous day,

    And come upon a fragrant plain, like Paradise’s green canopy,

  8. Or like its Eden—a valley smiling bright.

    Then, when it looms green and stretching far,

  9. Blooming, with birds rising over the palms,

    At your passing, let its soil glory for a while.

  10. Behold the riverbank in its pleasures at eventide:

    Is any graceful maiden coming or going?

  11. And when you draw near to it,

    Let me see them before I meet my end.

  12. When you see the boatmen formed like a flock,

    Stop, slow down, and secure safe-conduct for my heart

  13. Against the gazelle-eyes behind the black veils—

    Naked, swimming in the middle of the stream,

  14. Emerging from it to pluck the flowers,

    Racing together after the birds,

  15. Wearing galabiyas of silk.

    Through passion for them I have lost my way.

  16. They recalled to me moments that bring healing:

    A day when lips among us dallied with kisses;

  17. We killed time amid play and revelry,

    With singing girls, song, and strings,

  18. And wine beside food and ample fare.

    We drank the wine, smooth as Salsabil,

  19. Then chanted from the scripture of love.

    We made al-Khabār our shady grove,

  20. Away from tale-bearers who led us from the path.

    That is my wish—indeed, my whole desire—

  21. Among men from whom Arabdom hopes to regain

    Its glory; lions quake if they

  22. Are named, and all gladness leaves them,

    Yet Abu Nuwas and the boon companions feel safe among them.

  23. Their evening converse fills the darkness and the assembly hall.

    The people of Arabdom’s peerless king—I mean

  24. The hero of Mesopotamia, son of Hussein:

    Faisal, who in one tenth of a century established

  25. A nation that creates life and builds

    As the glorious forefathers built.

  26. That is history’s book—you find it singing

    Of praiseworthy endeavors beyond all count.

  27. He built an edifice of glory that cannot be razed;

    Over it Majesty strides apace,

  28. In the dust-trail of fathers and forefathers.

    A nation that attained its longing through a king

  29. And vied with meteors resplendent in their sphere;

    It laughed after it had once wept,

  30. Beneath a crown of kinship and kingship,

    Upon the head of a magnanimous, generous man,

  31. Whose throne rose above Gemini,

    Whose forefather ascended through the seven heavens,

  32. Whose lineage is pure, from among the Sharifs.

    He rules the Shatt, the Two Rivers, and al-Batḥāʾ—

  33. How great are Faisal and the land!

Sol 5.6