Sol 5.6

  1. If it could leap across the days,

    the feast’s return to you would bring ever more visits and nearness.

  2. It would fold the month into five stages,

    so that every two months would hold the year’s feast.

  3. It comes to you yearning, then returns with its thirst still unquenched

    by meeting you on its day—its thirst for you a searing blaze.

  4. You honored it by celebrating its distinction,

    and it grew proud, exulting in that honor.

  5. On it you displayed such royal splendor

    that discerning minds were astonished at the sight.

  6. You mustered the army for it, and the multitude assembled,

    like the gathering at Resurrection, foot pressed upon foot.

  7. The horses pounded the ground, and the led mounts were paraded,

    like brides raised for display, standing tall.

  8. The roads were choked with those making their way toward it,

    some fallen to their knees, others standing.

  9. Whenever the procession drew near, I thought them

    robbed of reason by the violence of their infatuation.

  10. They surged like waves, while dust rose into the sky,

    climbing as the vast, swelling sea climbs.

  11. They craned upward to see you, like those straining

    to sight the feast-day crescent after a long fast.

  12. Until you rose with the light of your face, dispelling

    that blindness, and every darkness rolled away.

  13. They beheld a countenance that delighted all who saw it

    with its generosity, sound judgment, and beauty.

  14. They welcomed you with prayers and cried, “God is greatest,”

    at the beauty of that face and out of reverence.

  15. They were bewildered by what they saw—and who would not be?

    Even a fraction of what they saw left them beyond reproach.

  16. Those held back envied whoever had gone before them,

    and they jostled eagerly to advance.

  17. Whenever one of them found an opening,

    you saw him like a man given glad tidings of a son.

  18. Then, when he saw you, it was a cherished wish

    his own hands had won above all other people.

  19. They boasted to one another of how long their gaze endured,

    as they looked upon you, and of drawing near—

  20. for the ardent love for you within their hearts,

    a love grown mighty, a passion overflowing.

  21. When God loves a servant, He makes him beloved

    among all who are counted as Muslims.

  22. Their palms were outstretched toward heaven,

    while their hearts were awash in passion and rapture.

  23. One prayed, while another proclaimed aloud—

    extolling you; another could not restrain his speech.

  24. Until you approached the prayer ground, remembering

    God and beseeching Him after the fast.

  25. Abounding in praise of your Lord and giving thanks—

    a gratitude that ensures an increase in blessings.

  26. Until you completed the prayer with the final salutation,

    released from that consecrated state.

  27. You listened attentively to the preacher and his counsel,

    from the moment he began until the end.

  28. You returned—and many a record had been purified,

    its deeds cleansed and emptied of sins!

  29. Whomever the Creator loves, thus does He treat;

    so may Yahya rejoice in the love of the Lord of Honor:

  30. al-Tahir, son of al-Ashraf, son of al-Afdal,

    the valiant king, humbler of every mighty man.

  31. Never has there been, nor shall there ever be, his like—

    a king among polytheists or among Muslims.

  32. What is Hatim in generosity—or anyone besides him—

    among all the Arabs and non-Arabs?

  33. Who else slits open his purses for his guests,

    gold blazing forth as cattle are slaughtered?

  34. Tell the kings to follow someone other than Yahya—

    what have wolves to do with the lion’s mettle?

  35. Your powers cannot bear the burden that he bears—

    what is a drizzle beside an engulfing downpour?

  36. May this feast delight you, when the kings of mankind were

    like meteors within it, while you were the full moon.

  37. For that, the feast did not grieve to be far from them;

    for you, though, it yearned with blazing fire.

  38. It wishes, though the celestial spheres drag it away from you,

    that this day might stretch long among the days,

  39. so it might delight its eye by gazing its fill awhile

    upon the dearest sovereign and the best imam.

  40. May you continue to don, with every coming year,

    a feast that returns and passes away in peace.

Sol 5.6