Sol 5.6

  1. Wāsiṭ lies desolate and stripped bare, and so does Barām,

    bereft of its people—then Ṣawāʾiq, then Khuzām,

  2. then the two valleys, then every dwelling place of theirs,

    and beside the watering places, their encampments and tents.

  3. I remember it when all the people were gathered there, and among them,

    before they scattered, were players of maysir and boon companions.

  4. No familiar red she-camels were sought among them,

    for no young livestock was driven home there at evening—

  5. only the horses’ foals, some of them let loose,

    and others tethered in the courtyard, fasting without fodder;

  6. fair young women too, and every mettlesome mare

    ridden hard by her young master in morning’s and evening’s cool.

  7. And a rebuffed night traveler came toward the barking dogs, but found

    no refuge, while his would-be host possessed no grazing herd.

  8. I sheltered him until he departed, praising me,

    once a sacred month had come upon him after the two Jumādā months.

  9. When, on the morning of his lodging, he yearned to leave, I restrained him

    with great platters of shīzī wood, camel humps heaped upon them,

  10. and with a company of stout, thick-necked men, as though they were

    jinn standing at the king’s side.

  11. I championed its grave cause and stood as its guardian

    when the judges were at a loss for a decisive answer.

  12. I grappled fiercely with them until their harsh obstinacy softened

    and yielded before me; I have a bridle for the headstrong.

  13. Through all this I have striven after high honor,

    and a man is praised for his striving—or blamed.

  14. At the doorway every evening, short staffs in hand,

    stand thick-necked men whose impetuous excess is tempered by good sense.

  15. That daughter of al-Saʿdī has taken to complaining

    that I betray my pledge—though treachery is blameworthy.

  16. Yet surely you have known—if only your knowledge availed—

    and heard what the tribes say:

  17. that in generosity I vie in abundance with its brethren,

    and keep my honor undefiled whenever some passing visitation comes upon me.

Sol 5.6