Sol 5.6

  1. O driver of the pale camels, halt at al-Jaz‘ and al-‘Alam;

    and there pour out the eye’s tears like blood.

  2. Prolong your halt at Ḥayy and their Rāma,

    then turn toward La‘la‘ and press on to Aḍam.

  3. And if you pass in the direction of Kāẓima,

    greet al-Ẓāl, al-Ḥawḍān, and al-Salam.

  4. They are haunts where once we knew fair women,

    guarded by spears, white blades, and dark steeds.

  5. The sun and full moon take their radiance from their faces,

    and the nights their darkness from their hair.

  6. You see their smiling mouths vie with their necklaces—

    lightning beneath the tresses, in the deepest gloom.

  7. They would visit me while the turns of fate were heedless,

    and my gloating foe’s tear duct streamed with blood.

  8. The meadow was green and the ruins leaf-clad,

    and birds chanted in melodies and song;

  9. our company was gathered, the people listening,

    and our estate was exalted in the days of union.

  10. The clouds were weeping and the blossoms smiling,

    and the verdant dwelling surpassed even Iram.

  11. Alas for an intimacy with lovely women, now gone!

    Ah, to loose my reins within their encampment!

  12. Oh, my grief for a union that passed so swiftly,

    as though it were but a fragment of a troubled dream.

  13. Youth has passed, and the dawn of gray age has broken;

    the heart is sunk in care, the body in sickness.

  14. Nothing has healed me but meeting the discerning lord,

    son of a discerning lord, grandson of a discerning lord:

  15. I mean pure Muhammad, son of Salim, possessor

    of munificence embracing all God’s creatures.

  16. Scion of a sovereign endowed with keen intellect

    and lofty kingship, master of Arab and non-Arab;

  17. pure in nature, spotless in soul—his aspiration

    is like a fire a distant traveler sights upon a height.

  18. Fire and water have met together in his two hands:

    the fire is for death, but the water for generosity.

  19. He covers petitioners’ needs as soon as he hears them,

    while his foes are destroyed by a sharp, cleaving sword.

  20. His onslaught leaves the wolf a trembling leveret,

    and leaves the lion like sheep within a flock.

  21. A man of might: even shooting stars fear him whenever

    they see him charge into battle, deaf to danger.

  22. What a man, renowned for generosity,

    girded with hardship, smiling amid terror!

  23. Were drought to descend upon the world while he was in it,

    his palm’s bounty would suffice in place of al-‘Arim’s deluge.

  24. Delegations drink their fill at the doors of his dwelling,

    crowding foot against foot like the waves of the sea.

  25. Their hearts rejoice at the greatness of what they are given,

    and every one of them cries, ‘O soul, seize your chance!’

  26. What a king, who spends his treasuries empty

    upon God’s servants, holding fast to the All-Merciful;

  27. clad in glory, pride, and high honor,

    and in generosity—a master of sword and pen.

  28. May our lord never cease to triumph through the ages,

    and may his enemies’ army abide in abasement and affliction.

Sol 5.6