Sol 6

  1. The life of all creatures is pledged to extinction.

    And every brief closeness is soon followed by separation.

  2. The one whose day was drawing near has arrived at it;

    the one whose life was nearing its end has reached it.

  3. Can kingship command the uncertainties of death?

    Can power turn aside the decree of fate?

  4. It is death that tears every gathering apart

    and clothes dwellings in the garments of desolation.

  5. With a fierce grip it strips away life

    and meets souls with an incurable illness.

  6. Have you not seen how its hands laid claim

    to a noble one among rulers, a treasure of splendor?

  7. And it brought the lady of ladies

    to decay’s abode, the resting place of extinction.

  8. This is a loss that has broken the resolve of hearts

    and destroyed the power to bear grief well.

  9. No wailing can match this loss,

    nor can tears bring it relief.

  10. Sighing is of no use against it;

    weeping cannot prevail over it.

  11. How can one sickness repel another?

    How can one ailment cure another?

  12. Look at those tear-filled eyes,

    pouring forth from thirsty hearts.

  13. Every breast burns with fire;

    every eyelid drowns in water.

  14. The beating of hearts and the tearing of collars

    have nearly split the hardest stone

  15. and kindled sorrow’s fire in the air.

    So have the ache of sobbing and the anguish of cries.

  16. Here is an eye choking on tears;

    there is a cheek drenched in blood.

  17. One woman has cast off the veil of modesty,

    and another has thrown her patience away.

  18. Women in white have dyed with mourning’s color

    red banners and white robes.

  19. They sob in long mourning garments,

    their hair hanging loose, all dressed alike.

  20. Has a star fallen from the sky of greatness,

    that the stars of heaven should weep for you?

  21. Far be it from your loss to be met adequately

    by men’s wailing and women’s beating of their breasts.

  22. For your generous deeds of goodness,

    the face of morning clings to its light.

  23. And in your absence, it is only fitting

    that morning wrap itself in evening’s robe.

  24. How the kingdom grieves for a woman of honor,

    finding only the dignity of mourning in her place;

  25. the graves gain the comfort of abiding glory,

    while the palaces grieve for an empty dwelling.

  26. If death would accept a ransom for her,

    all humankind would be too little to redeem her.

  27. Though she is hidden beneath the piled earth of graves,

    where once she stood on the heights of eminence,

  28. her acts of piety

    and her generous gifts remain plain to see.

  29. May the best of those who reward repay you for your pure deeds

    with the finest reward.

  30. And in the narrowness of that grave, may you receive

    the breeze of bliss and the sweetness of rest.

  31. How often, in the two eastern lands, you gained closeness

    through noble gifts you sent forth.

  32. You heard of someone whose wings were bare,

    and your giving furnished him with feathers.

  33. You heard the prayer of a captive on a distant road

    for the sake of the One who hears prayer.

  34. And when a needy person sat at your doorway,

    you appeared to him with abundant gifts.

  35. By God, what a visitor of the nights

    struck you with a day of parting!

  36. On that day you bade the guide of the righteous farewell,

    a farewell of separation with no meeting to follow:

  37. your noble son, chosen for the caliphate,

    of the forebears of the Seal of the Prophets.

  38. Yet death’s arrows were not turned from you

    by a guarded court and the honor of its grounds,

  39. by an obedient age and an impregnable wall,

    or by a lofty palace, solidly built;

  40. nor by lions’ roars and fluttering banners,

    or by assembled troops filling the open space,

  41. with every warrior bold of heart

    and every commander whose standard rose high.

  42. Nor by a ruler over what God had entrusted to his care,

    whom God had endowed with excellence in action.

  43. The radiance of Yaʿrub shone from him

    as the edge of morning shines forth from the sun.

  44. His sword was drawn from its sheath,

    and his bared teeth flashed with keen resolve.

  45. A young man who gave of his free soul to God,

    who formed it to earn enduring, noble praise;

  46. he thrust it into the perils of war

    and devoted it to the just path.

  47. He strove for God with all due striving

    and gave the kingdom all the aid it needed.

  48. He built a wall of safety around the faith

    and closed the door of escape to unbelief.

  49. And his sword, when war made it glitter,

    scattered enemies like dust.

  50. Victory clothed him in majesty,

    and patience crowned him with splendor.

  51. If time could speak what it conceals,

    it would call to him: O chosen one among the faithful!

  52. He is the ʿĀmirid ruler so called;

    his two hands sustain the life of hope.

  53. Take comfort, guide of the righteous, for souls

    have no consolation but you.

  54. May you be given rich reward in her stead,

    and may God grant you long life.

Sol 6