Sol 6

  1. ؟

    What star in the Arabs’ sky

    became the talk of the meteors on the horizon?

  2. ،

    O history, write in light

    the story of the awakening of a people and a prophet.

  3. The Chosen One was born with a radiant brow.

    What a new dawn appeared!

  4. !

    :

    The Torah told news of him;

    ask the Gospel what it recorded

  5. ؟

    of a prophet of Arab descent

    whose radiance would one day flood the earth.

  6. A free woman bore him in the circumstances of the needy poor,

    weeping for the loss of her companion.

  7. Then the hand of the Almighty took charge of him,

    and the messengers celebrated him in a procession

  8. among wide-eyed maidens with modest gazes.

    The earth wore him like a precious pearl,

  9. and the dearest precious pearl was an orphan.

    What a child, deprived of a loving heart!

  10. !

    No father’s breast held him in childhood,

    yet in his cradle he shook the thrones of kings.

  11. ؛

    A growing boy who did not spend his youth in play,

    he devoted himself to God and knew none besides Him.

  12. ،

    He never bowed to al-Lat or Manat.

    All wisdom yielded to a boy

  13. «»

    «»

    whom Quraysh called the Trustworthy.

    Did Mecca see, on the day of the Stone,

  14. when the people’s eyes flashed sparks,

    how strife arose among the families,

  15. «»؟

    then forbearance prevailed over anger

    when Taha stretched out the cloth with his right hand?

  16. O worshipper in the cave of Hira,

    listen closely, gently, for the call.

  17. A voice came from the Lord of the Throne.

    What a voice from beyond the clouds!

  18. : «» !

    It cried, “Read in the name of the Lord of the worlds!”

    Tell mortals of the abode that endures;

  19. ،

    spread compassion and proclaim brotherhood;

    recite upon the earth the verses of heaven

  20. from a book unlike other books,

    with light and guidance for the devout.

  21. ،

    Alas for the idol worshippers, the people of polytheism!

    When called to truth, they took refuge in deafness.

  22. ؛

    ،

    They bargained with the Chosen One over God, but he

    would accept neither rank nor wealth:

  23. renunciation is the watchword of reformers.

    Many a servant, in God’s cause,

  24. ،

    ، : «»

    lost wealth and sacrificed a child.

    Whenever he was made to suffer, he said, “One.”

  25. !

    They scorched his body in the flames,

    but the coolness of certainty protected it.

  26. A group that plotted against the Messenger failed;

    the One who sent him has a watchful eye.

  27. ،

    He scattered dust upon them and went forth,

    and their sight was veiled.

  28. ؟

    «»:

    What dimmed the eyes of the polytheists?

    Ask al-Siddiq: what frightened him

  29. ؟

    !

    when the God of the Throne was with him in the cave?

    How vast is His grace—glory be to Him!

  30. «»

    The Chosen One’s party arrived in Yathrib,

    and they received him as they would receive conquerors.

  31. ،

    Appear to us from the hills of al-Wada;

    call us to truth, O noblest caller.

  32. ؛

    O you sent with the command that must be obeyed,

    leap with us over the mountains, and we shall leap;

  33. ،

    « »

    cross the sea, and all of us shall cross it.

    The Khazraj and the Aws called out together

  34. ؟

    and united in love of the Messenger.

    How did they become one rank when they had been factions?

  35. Islam dispelled what the passing years could not:

    deep-buried hatred.

  36. ،

    The two armies met at Badr, and

    God gave no aggressor a firm foothold.

  37. ؟

    ،

    Have you seen how polytheism was defeated?

    Whoever strikes with God’s sword prevails,

  38. ، «»،

    and clear victory belongs to whoever supports Him.

    Tell of Badr, of its noble warriors:

  39. ؛

    they sought death and won life.

    Even after their deaths, their story remains

  40. ،

    the tale of the ages and the whisper of the eras;

    it still rings in the world’s ear.

  41. Islam clipped the tyrants’ claws

    and built for the Arabs such prestige!

  42. It went forth bringing life to the earth,

    and a golden age spread over it.

  43. «» ، «»

    Ask al-Ma’mun and al-Amin about it.

    Who has seen a scattered people of shepherds

  44. «»

    before whom the world came to bow its head?

    In the east, they marched against Kisra and conquered him;

  45. «»

    in the west, they challenged Caesar,

    raising their banners above the ships.

  46. A desert dweller taught the world civilization;

    he took fairness and consultation as his watchwords.

  47. ، ،

    Then the world was all smiles and freshness,

    its people equal in lineage.

  48. ، ؟

    Why not, when all are made of water and clay?

    Noble forebears strove in God’s cause;

  49. they knew how to raise the edifice of greatness.

    They built glory with limbs and heads

  50. and painted it with free, proud blood.

    One who begrudges his life cannot attain glory.

  51. O children of the Arabs and cubs of the great ones,

    show everyone the meaning of brotherhood.

  52. «»

    Make Taha’s life your example,

    and you will jostle the stars of the sky with your shoulders.

  53. We are a people whose religion is belief in one God.

    We profess love and goodness;

  54. we do not spread terror among those living in peace.

    Our spacious land is a garden and a lion’s den.

  55. !

    What an admirable way of life:

    the way of Taha, leader of the messengers!

Sol 6