Sol 5.6

  1. O people upon whom there came,

    on the morning al-Jarrah died, one of the gravest calamities!

  2. To whom will heads turn after him, now that there lies dead

    the people’s refuge, the mighty chief in battle?

  3. Now companion to God’s Prophet in the lofty chamber

    to which, when his life is done, every man who lives at ease must come.

  4. With al-Jarrah died the man who amassed guest-fare,

    and he who struck champions upon their skulls.

  5. When al-Jarrah died, he left no one after him

    to grant refuge against days fraught with grievous wrongs,

  6. when peer-warriors and cavalry met, and when

    their spearheads crossed among the stalwart fighting men.

  7. Whom after him will women call upon when one flees,

    lifting her trailing hems clear of her anklets?

  8. Every offender would hasten to al-Jarrah whenever

    his eye beheld the watering pools of death.

  9. For anyone hastening to him knew that he would surely extend

    to him an impregnable rope, safe from fear.

  10. Let the women who sought his aid weep whenever

    defending bands summon them on a day when sacred honor must be defended.

  11. Let the sun weep for him, and the moon by whose light

    night travelers stave off the drooping of their turbans.

  12. Indeed, he was forever cleaving the hocks of she-camels whose

    humps became guest-fare beneath the raging winds.

Sol 5.6