Sol 6

  1. O radiant light that shone in the East of the West,

    And lofty branch that appeared on the tree of the Arabs,

  2. Heir to the banners of eminence, to whom generosity clings,

    And kindler of the fire of gladness amid the darkness of distress.

  3. You spoke and secured the judgment, whose words are decisive,

    Turned in the patterned fabric of eloquence.

  4. Who is like Abu Bakr, a leader in whom hopes are placed,

    The finest of the branches of knowledge—what a branch!

  5. Certain to grant generosity before he is asked,

    Reaching his goals even by the difficult route.

  6. How freely the clouds of his hand pour forth

    When the bleak face of drought scowls!

  7. And what resolve lies in his gentle nature,

    As determination rests in the edge of a sharp sword.

  8. Descendants of eminent men and branches of noble deeds:

    Around them the sphere of high honor turns upon its axis.

  9. They turned toward God's light to draw from it,

    Having pierced the dark veils that stood before it.

  10. They kept the circling drift of sleep from watering their eyelids,

    And bound wakefulness fast in the snare of their lashes.

  11. They came to the tree of true understanding, its fruit hanging near,

    And gathered its yield: knowledge of the Lord.

  12. They shook the branches of knowledge, tall as they were,

    And what fresh dates they gathered from them!

  13. If the days rushed on in their fury

    And drew the supple shaft of coercion into a crisis,

  14. They met only a brave and seasoned man,

    And tested only your sturdy wood.

  15. And if they neglected a duty owed to your goodness,

    Though they had set your feet upon the heights of the stars,

  16. They foolishly cast aside the rightful claim of the legatee,

    Ali, and raised the lot of the sons of Harb.

  17. At times a base man may offer a gift

    Yet launch a raid of seizure at the far end of his pasture.

  18. You are among the noble ones whom

    The stock of Lakhm raised high among its luxuriant groves,

  19. Down to Amr ibn Hind, where claims to eminence contend

    And the sword's blade is called to witness in the thick of battle,

  20. And down to the exalted descendant of Maʾ al-Samāʾ, who clothed

    A time of raging drought in robes of fertility.

  21. Honor cannot trace its highest lineage to Hajib,

    Nor does generosity profit one who is recalled alongside Kaʿb.

  22. How many resolute, fiercely proud men they produced

    When the keen edges of swords grew blunt in battle!

  23. How many lions they brought forth, humbling the lofty

    And routing the forces of battalions and companies!

  24. When the ink of gloom covered the parchment of day

    And frost's down crowned the hilltop,

  25. He packed great logs into the blazing fire

    Until it kindled a furnace whose heat struck the clouds' faces.

  26. He put the edge of his sword to the humped she-camel,

    And she soon fell upon her brow and side.

  27. He loaded backs heavily and filled saddlebags,

    And quenched thirst from a spring of flowing, sweet water.

  28. By pouring out generosity, he seeks to win their praise;

    What noble giving, and what a gain!

  29. Your noble deeds, O family of al-Hakim—may you endure—

    Have reached the furthest bounds of lasting fortune and achievement.

  30. What could I count, and how could I do justice to it all?

    Can a meager drink drain the depths of the sea?

  31. Yet however briefly I speak offhand,

    My words would outdo tales of the phoenix, were it mentioned.

  32. Poetry is only rhymes that I have strung together;

    The flame of intellect has not refined their pure gold.

  33. I am not one who treats poetry as a source of gain;

    May I perish, nursling of glory, if it is my livelihood.

Sol 6