Sol 5.6

  1. He passed through our thoughts and brought us back to life.

    What bliss if he visited us and greeted us!

  2. A young gazelle, with flight his nature—

    for no reason at all, he sometimes turns us away.

  3. He has forgotten his pledge, while we remain

    true to ours, unable to forget.

  4. We are the folk of love: wronged, yet we do not

    ask justice of those who return our love.

  5. The squadrons of eyes command us,

    and the prohibitions of waists forbid us.

  6. Stabbing tastes sweet within our breasts

    when graceful figures are our lances.

  7. We lay our innermost hearts open to swords

    when eyelids become their sheaths.

  8. No dread have we but that one

    in the age of al-Aziz, our lord—

  9. an age in which the land has become

    a luxuriant, well-watered garden of peace.

  10. Her governance in al-Rashid’s hand is guidance,

    and in Ibn Abd al-Aziz’s, beneficence.

  11. A king who outstrips all kings whenever

    praiseworthy deeds become the field of contest,

  12. filling, through the beauty of his example,

    every heart with contentment and faith.

  13. Through his insight he sees the unseen

    and deems the recalcitrant already subdued.

  14. The marvel of his forbearance in governing

    is that he turns the wrongdoer into a helper.

  15. Every affair that fate brings upon him

    increases his eminence and stature.

  16. Calamity strikes harshly, but once

    he undertakes to grapple with it, it softens.

  17. Who can compare with Abbas in his uniqueness,

    mighty as a champion, majestic in sovereignty?

  18. Egypt celebrated his feast and displayed

    happiness in forms of every hue.

  19. The Port followed in her wake, then surpassed

    her reach in splendor and artistry.

  20. Its radiant lights shone through the darkness,

    shimmering resplendently upon the sea.

  21. Then, behold, its sea and its shore became

    a body of light that made Saturn jealous.

  22. People of Alexandria—what honor!

    Such is devotion; otherwise, let it not be.

  23. I have long known true loyalty as your nature,

    and, just as I knew it, I have witnessed it now.

  24. Its sincerity amazed me, and I imagined

    that al-Aziz’s eye was watching over us.

  25. With every year that passes over you,

    you give us still further proof of it.

  26. A people whose ardor is such as this

    will never lose its rights or be humiliated.

  27. May Abbas remain a lion for the homeland

    and the pupil of the eye of Time.

  28. And may that loyalty endure—how many

    a realm it has safeguarded, and homelands gladdened!

Sol 5.6