1. Were you stirred with longing, or did there rise before your eyes at dawn

    Laden caravans between al-Makaymin and al-Zujayj?

  2. Resounding as the drivers take turns urging them; their halting

    In broad daylight until evening is brief.

  3. When they descended to Ar'ar and were tossed to and fro

    Across its rugged tracts and level plains,

  4. Heading rightward, not making for Ghumara,

    Toward al-Bayad, as though they were palm trees.

  5. An unspoken concern that I concealed has barred sleep,

    Between my ribs and the diaphragm, lodged deep within.

  6. It walks beside me, a bedfellow in sleep, as though

    It were drawing me along; it rests at noon wherever I rest.

  7. And it is as though my night, when its sun sets,

    Is joined to the darkness of another just like it.

  8. I watch the stars; when a star vanishes,

    I see others moving like a threaded row.

  9. Indeed, a pampered woman comforts me; she has

    Lovely hips when she lays aside her clothes.

  10. The kisser is cooled by the sweetness of her mouth,

    Slender-gummed, as though it were polished

  11. With water from a morning shower, breaking up after

    Torrents have swept across its gravelly beds.

  12. So his heart is pledged to her in affection,

    And their captive is tormented and fettered.

  13. Will a burden-bearing mount indeed reach her country—

    Spirited and strong-legged when speed is asked of it?

  14. It walks with a swaying gait, bending its neck; and when it runs,

    Its nose-ring and braided rein grip it tightly.

  15. It wears out the other mounts; in its shoulders and backbone

    Is weariness, and their slowest gait is a brisk trot.

  16. And when a rider clears his throat, it is as though

    He were urging that very mount on, or charging at it.

  17. Like a harried, hoarse-voiced wild ass steering a herd,

    Among them pregnant females like bows, and others without young.

  18. They grazed the meadows of A'amiq until, when

    Not a drop remained of the dregs of day,

  19. They stretched out their necks there and hurried forward,

    His ringing cry sounding over their hindquarters.

  20. They crowd past the side of his chest and forehead,

    And his braying resounds along their tracks.

  21. Until they reached a watering-place at al-Azariq,

    With late afternoon their portion of the bright day.

  22. They sniffed it, their spirits startled,

    Approaching to cover the water, then turning away.

  23. Skittish, they feel fright at the watering-place whenever

    They approach water or a thicket is disturbed.

  24. They approach; there they turn back, seeking to drink,

    With burning thirst from the searing heat of the simoom.

  25. Sleek-backed, they are turned away from desire

    By abundant water, whose place they seek, and shallow pools.

  26. They came to drink when an enveloping darkness hid them,

    Deeply shadowed, bewildering the eyes within it.

  27. Water whose surfaces shimmer in the evening;

    You see it sway under the sweeping force of the winds.

  28. They drank, then departed without standing still,

    Wearing anklets of the color of its black mud.

  29. So mention the Commander of the Faithful with praise:

    Indeed, al-Walid has bestowed many favors upon me.

  30. I praise him, sparing no effort, and know that he

    Is above all the praise I give and all I say.

  31. And I shall surely praise you with memorable praise,

    Unless a fatal calamity carries me off before then.

  32. I have indeed thanked you for what you bestowed upon me,

    And you approved my station—where, then, should I go?

  33. He has two hands: one whose punishment is feared,

    And one that flows with bounty and bestows gifts.

  34. You see the seekers of bounty journeying to him;

    From every quarter a road leads to him.

  35. They come to drink, then depart; among them

    Are travelers moving on and others remaining as guests.

  36. They frequent the common gathering-place of his generous favors,

    An abode inherited by delegations in unbroken succession.

  37. You see his dwellings as though their soil,

    Amid the saddles, were sieved and sifted.

  38. The mounted caravans have left a dust-wallow there;

    You see its fine dust swirling in the evening.

  39. God gave your father command of His armies,

    And the gift of the Lord of the worlds is bountiful.

  40. He tended them with goodness; and every caliph

    Is examined and questioned about what he tended.

  41. And God decreed the caliphate for you after him,

    And your Lord's decree takes effect and is fulfilled.

  42. Behold, your house, when its pillars are reckoned, has

    Breadth surpassing other houses, and height.

  43. At the meeting-place of the two cities, where they meet,

    Stands a scion, nobly rooted where its two branches join.

  44. Indeed, the caliphate could not be borne

    Except by a man able to shoulder grave difficulties.

  45. First, alongside his faith and completeness, he has

    Forbearance that weighs heavy when forbearances are weighed.

  46. When the possessors of noble qualities vie in boasting,

    And every man of lineage has a brother and close friend,

  47. Over all the greatness they recount there surged

    A vast swell and mighty flood from the overflow of your sea.

  48. And when they promise people good, it comes to them

    Freely—and you carry out what you say.

  49. A matter our Lord ordained through your tongue;

    So your bounty is neither hard to obtain nor delayed.

  50. Praise and blessing belong to God, whose

    Grace has been made to find its way to you.

Sol 6.1