1. Have Dhu al-Sidr and al-Thalam gone, or do they remain?

    That love is neither near you nor within reach.

  2. Indeed, your pursuit of something you will not attain

    is folly; prolonged longings of love are an illness.

  3. O my two reproachers, lessen your blame; before you,

    the slanderers spoke: some were unheeded, others mistrusted.

  4. Indeed, at Burqat Sulmanayn, I was delighted

    by her coquettish grace and smile when she appeared one morning.

  5. You reminded us of a Darin perfumer's musk, richly fragrant,

    and lavender at al-Hani, whose dew is gentle rain.

  6. I loaded my saddle, through terrors, onto a swift she-camel,

    like a tormented breeding stallion worn thin by anguish.

  7. One of those whose eyes gaze far ahead; whenever

    a mountain's summits sank from her sight, they said, 'Another mountain appears.'

  8. Until we reached one whom we shall not pass beyond:

    blessings flow, with neither stinginess nor want.

  9. To the illustrious man whose gifts are hoped for

    when delegations crowd his gates.

  10. They came thirsty; their buckets have been filled

    by a shared flood surging from the torrent.

  11. Raise my two feathered wings, for already

    favors from your fathers have restored both wings' feathers.

  12. You are the son of good Abd al-Aziz: neither rash

    with youth's inexperience, nor diminished by old age.

  13. Quraysh and the Prophet's Helpers pray for him,

    that they may long enjoy Abu Hafs; they have done no wrong.

  14. They went to salute one whose qualities are praised,

    smooth-browed, with a lofty bridge to his nose.

  15. They look to you, with no fear of injustice,

    for bounty; steady rains pour down from your generosity.

  16. Through you, God gave life to peoples, and you became for them

    the land's light, by which darkness is dispelled.

  17. You have found no grandfather like the forebears he counts:

    Marwan, Dhu al-Nur, al-Faruq, and al-Hakam.

  18. You resemble Umar al-Faruq in his conduct:

    he established the prescribed duties, and the nations fulfilled them through him.

  19. You found your house upon the heights, made firm

    by its foundation, with no breach in its wall.

  20. And your thicket entwined among thickets above hills,

    for which the great channels of al-Abtah flow.

  21. And in Quda'a is a house of unmixed lineage:

    excellent ancient stock, when ancestry is examined.

  22. And in Tamim he has might—a mighty lion,

    fierce in assault, massive, with fangs intact.

  23. You are the leaders of all who pray, and with you

    hopeful seekers and neighbors find refuge.

  24. And submission to them is either willing,

    freely given, or compelled when they resolve.

  25. O greatest of men in clemency when pardoning,

    and most fearsome of men in assaults when they take vengeance!

  26. Egypt and al-Dahhak have learned by experience that they

    are a people who, when they fight, are coals in battle.

  27. Why not ask Egypt, which broke its pledge, about them,

    or Rahit, on the day fearless warriors defended the banner?

  28. Abd al-Aziz, beneath whose banner marched

    those advancing armies toward the hosts, and then they clashed.

  29. There was no land where hypocrisy rose

    without morsels of rebel flesh for your swords.

  30. Abd al-Aziz built glory and nobility;

    indeed, noble deeds are traits of your character.

Sol 6.1