1. Will you maintain ties with Umm al-Amr, or leave her?

    Or sever the cord with them, just as they severed it?

  2. She is perfect in beauty and faith; she is not approached

    by a Christian priest, nor are churches her concern.

  3. What visitor came and had his greeting go unanswered?

    What harm would it have done them had they returned it?

  4. You drove a parched, thirst-crazed man from the watering places;

    had you wished, the watering place would have quenched the wanderer's burning thirst.

  5. Why do you turn away a man of longings with his need unmet?

    That day, pieces of his soul had already slipped away.

  6. Rather, your need lies among the tribesfolk who set out at dawn.

    They passed by al-Sirr, with its thickets, then crossed over.

  7. They settled on the sandy flats of Najd; they did not camp

    in a land where naytun and sala‘ grow.

  8. You have kept union distant, save that toward us is drawn

    the restive one's cord; there is neither despair nor hope.

  9. There is no blame, since her kin persisted in refusal;

    indeed, the heart remains with the thing they withheld.

  10. What use is recalling a union that was never within reach?

    Or what use is visiting riders who have scarcely slept?

  11. I brought up a stout-cheeked she-camel whose milk-veins had not been bound

    by a folded udder-cloth, nor had a spring-born calf been reared at her side.

  12. She is like a full-grown wild ass that has shed its birth-coat,

    grazing in al-Samawah, or a lean beast with dark markings.

  13. Those who lampooned me were, in their folly,

    like moths falling into the fire's heat.

  14. I have become, before the rulers of men, the surest of them

    in victory, and the farthest-reaching when they draw their bows.

  15. Were it not for the caliph and the Qur'an he recites,

    neither legal rulings nor Friday prayers would be established for the people.

  16. You are the trustee, God's trustee—not reckless

    in what you govern, nor a timorous coward.

  17. Like an Indian-forged sword whose cutting power has not been outmatched,

    neither chipping nor rust has marred its two edges.

  18. His fire-sticks kindle readily; he is of al-A‘yas and acts with deliberation.

    So all peoples follow whatever he decrees.

  19. No people have reckoned up their deeds of kindness

    without your deeds standing above what they have done.

  20. You are the blessed one whose followers God guides

    when passions and factions become divided.

  21. So every command you give, attended by good fortune,

    is obeyed among us, and whatever you say is a delight.

  22. I lowered my bucket among those first at the water, and it drew water.

    There is water to spare, and ample room at the camel-stations.

  23. Indeed, though my home is far away, there will come to you

    my thanks and the delegation's fine praise, if they return.

  24. O house of Marwan, indeed God has favored you

    with immense favor over those whose creed consists of innovations.

  25. Those who gather—when their efforts are reckoned—

    as noble men gather, and do not hoard what they gather.

  26. You find men, when his onslaught is feared,

    walking meekly, their necks bowed in submission.

  27. So if you pardon, you surpass men in clemency;

    and if you strike, no blow is like the blow you deal.

  28. Our need had no ultimate destination short of you,

    nor beyond you any prospect for our needs.

  29. Indeed, creation is content with what you approve for it.

    If you set out, they set out; and if you say, 'Halt,' they halt.

Sol 6.1