Sol 6

  1. At the hour of parting, she gestured through a gap in the curtain,

    With the eyes of a gazelle and the slender neck of a fawn.

  2. She saw that the farewell was real and could not

    That morning conceal some of what she hid within.

  3. She swept the veil away from her cheek and revealed

    A crescent on a branch, and a branch above a sand dune.

  4. She said to her companions, who had risen before her,

    While one said, “Let your tears flow,” and another, “Hold them back.”

  5. My friends, is any taste more bitter than separation,

    Or any ordeal more dreadful than leaving a loved one?

  6. Only an hour passed before they mounted

    The backs of the riding beasts, each woman with a languid gaze.

  7. Around the caravan moved sharp swords and lances,

    And sleek, spirited horses, before it and behind.

  8. They turned their night journey toward Iraq, resolved

    To cross a vast waste where the wind blows what it will.

  9. Those left behind pointed the way to them

    By the fragrance they had entrusted to the gentle breeze.

  10. Now there is no keeping faith except through dreams and wishes,

    And no contact except through letters and written pages.

  11. I wept blood until my companion imagined

    That, on the morning of parting, my eyes were bleeding.

  12. How often I hoped that weeping would help, but it

    Did me no good; I repeated my lament, but it brought no cure.

  13. Ah, may God confound these beauties, for

    To seek ruin is the preserve of the lady who holds us captive.

  14. Her eyelids leave a man of stout heart

    Too weak to defend himself, though their own weakness is plain.

  15. Whenever they plant a promise in the garden of love,

    I gather from its branches the fruit of broken promises.

  16. Who, I wonder, made betrayal lawful though it is forbidden,

    And forbade the sipping of the daisy's stem?

  17. I shall turn my heart away from aiding love;

    Two years of that have been quite enough.

  18. I shall go wherever my patience can take me,

    For no noble soul endures humiliation.

  19. From the blows of fate I shall seek refuge in Yusuf's shade:

    What a mighty support and shelter he is!

  20. I drove my wandering verses and mounts

    Toward one man who, in battle, is worth a thousand.

  21. He is composed when heroes lose their heads,

    And foremost in battle, rank against rank.

  22. Whenever kings are named, Yusuf is there

    For all the generosity and kindness one could wish.

  23. He is like time itself, yet his justice and generosity

    Turn back the turns of time in humiliation.

  24. He is the full moon, except that he remains full forever,

    While the moon's light is faulted for waning and eclipse.

  25. He comes from proud, high-born Arabs; when they gather,

    You find shelter with a protecting neighbor and an ally.

  26. They are generous: when the rain does not suffice

    To water the earth, their hands suffice.

  27. If they attack, they destroy; if called for help, they defend;

    And if they give, they make heavy rain unnecessary.

  28. When praised, they sway as the east wind blows

    Across every rain-wet, thickly leafed moringa tree.

  29. When they hear an ugly word, they withdraw with souls

    Noble in character, though they never flee a battle line.

  30. By my life, if the enemy has stirred your resolve,

    They are like a hoofed creature digging toward its own death.

  31. The changing fortunes of war have deceived them, though seldom

    Does such confidence point to anything but death.

  32. The time has come for the faith to exact its vengeance from them,

    And in such a case the eye of time has never overlooked a thing.

  33. Before your resolve can rush forth stand Indian-forged swords,

    Dark spears from Khatt, and ample coats of mail.

  34. And angry lions who, when they recall their day,

    Bite their fingertips in longing.

  35. My lord, these verses have come to visit you as though

    They were a bridal gift borne by singing women to the procession.

  36. They wear necklaces strung from your praises,

    Harmoniously composed and firmly set together.

  37. Nowruz has brought them to you, acknowledging

    The gifts and kindness your reign bestows on that day.

  38. So may it bring you joy, while time obeys you and your wishes

    Arrive with all you desire, doubled again and again.

  39. The world has grown peaceful under your rule after

    Long trembling without rest.

  40. You trained the unruly forces of time while they still resisted,

    And tamed them without strain or force.

  41. How many a hopeful person has directed his hopes toward you,

    Whom you made, through justice, beyond the reach of change.

  42. How many generous favors you have granted me:

    My verse is too slight for them, and my words fail to describe them.

  43. I have bound my hand to your firm bonds of support,

    And filled my palm with your great bounty.

  44. If I do not offer you, from myself, sincere

    Affection, pure and unmixed in its depths,

  45. And if I do not sail the sea of praise for you to a far shore

    Beyond which eyes can see only with exhausted sight,

  46. Then may my heart shape no thought that sheds light,

    And may my fingers write no letter.

Sol 6