Sol 6.1

  1. يا سَيِّداً هُوَ عُدَّتي

    إِن نابَ أَمرٌ أَو عَرَض

    O master who is my mainstay

    if trouble or a mishap befalls me,

  2. نُقِضَت مَوَدّاتُ الرِجا

    لِ وَحَبلُ وَدِّكَ ما اِنتَقَض

    men's bonds of friendship have been broken,

    but the cord of your affection has not.

  3. يا مَن إِذا اِستَنهَضتُهُ

    لِمُهِمِّ حاجاتي نَهَض

    O one who, when I summon him

    for my pressing needs, rises to help,

  4. إِسأَل جَمالَ الدينِ عَن

    حالِ الكِتابِ المُقتَرَض

    ask Jamal al-Din about

    the state of the borrowed book.

  5. إِن كانَ يَقبَلُهُ شَكَر

    تُ قَبولَهُ وَهُوَ الغَرَض

    If he accepts it, I shall be grateful

    for his acceptance—that is the aim.

  6. وَعَلِمتُ قَطعاً أَنَّ سَه

    مي قَد أُصيبَ بِهِ الغَرَض

    And I shall know for certain that my arrow

    has indeed struck the target.

  7. وَسَمُحتُ لَكِنّي كَما

    سَمُحَ الرَضِيُّ عَلى مَضَض

    And I shall be generous, but just as

    al-Radi was generous—with reluctance.

  8. أَو كانَ يَأبى أَخذَهُ

    إِلا بِإِنفاذِ العِوَض

    Or if he refuses to take it

    unless he sends compensation,

  9. فَالإِنقِيادُ لِما يَنُصُّ

    عَليهِ عِندي مُفتَرَض

    then compliance with what he stipulates

    is, in my view, obligatory.

  10. لا زالَ يُحيِي بِالسَماحِ

    مِنَ الفَضائِلِ ما اِنقَرَض

    May he never cease reviving through generosity

    those virtues that have died out,

  11. حَتّى يُجَدِّدَ ما عَفا

    مِنها وَيَرفَعَ ما اِنخَفَض

    until he renews what has faded

    among them, and raises what has sunk.

  12. فَاِبسُط عِقالَ الهَمِّ وَاِب

    سُط مِن نَشاطي ما اِنقَضَض

    So loosen care's tether, and restore

    the vigor in me that has collapsed.

  13. وَاِعلَم بِأَنَّ الاِنتِظارَ

    فَلا بُليتَ بِهِ مَرَض

    And know that waiting—

    may you never be afflicted with it—is a sickness.

  14. فَالجَوهَرُ الباقي هُوَ ال

    إِحسانُ وَالدُنيا عَرَض

    For the enduring substance is

    benevolence, and the world is an accident.