Sol 6.1

  1. You took the lead, bestowing favor and kindness beforehand;

    You bestowed a favor by which you secured gratitude.

  2. The first to begin has a rank in generosity

    That leaves the follower short, even if he offers the fullest excuse.

  3. Your maidens, whom you sent, came to us

    To broaden our knowledge and clothe us in pride.

  4. They voiced an apology and hung a favor about our necks,

    And said, “Whoever speaks poetry, let him speak it thus.”

  5. So you granted them gracious acceptance, honoring

    The due of a young man who bestowed renown on us through them.

  6. Reason reached its summit in them; their composition was fashioned by

    Thoughts to which the marvelous submits by force.

  7. When beheld, they add light to our eyes,

    And when unfolded, our gatherings breathe fragrance.

  8. My heart and eye contended over them for a long while,

    So I gave each half of their beauties.

  9. I delighted my eye in the brocade of their gardens,

    And set my mind to gathering pearls among their words.

  10. The meanings laugh with us within them; whenever

    I pondered a word of them, I thought it a poem.

  11. Some are once-wedded words, deflowered only by stealth,

    And some are virgin words, wedded to a virgin.

  12. My striving among them remains inadequate,

    And evening finds my conjectures weary, short of their goal.

  13. Whenever I seek to draw near them, they hold themselves aloof,

    And it is only just that they should show pride.

  14. For they issued from the source of virtue and eminence,

    And kept company with those traits and that lineage.

  15. So may blessing be complete for you, and wishes favor you,

    And may you enjoy a long life in ease, Abu Umar.

  16. A sincere intention spares both us and you the need for excuses:

    When pure, it makes no mention of union or estrangement.

  17. I praised you, recounting the eminence in you,

    And you clothed me in your bright, resplendent attributes.

  18. I am nothing but a branch drawing sustenance

    At the root of an outpouring from you that has engulfed the sea.

  19. There were words conveyed to me,

    At which I recoiled, unwilling that merit should grow used to lowliness.

  20. If the inhabited land, for all its breadth, grows cramped

    For a noble man, let him dwell in the desolate land.

  21. And how many a noble man refused humiliation and rose

    To clash with bright swords and tawny spears in defense of his aspirations.

  22. And whoever's cares are fixed on attaining wishes

    Braves the rugged quest, following their tracks.

  23. So do not complain of time's misfortunes, for I

    See it fixated on whoever complains of its calamities.

  24. Have they ever aided a man of merit before your complaint,

    That you should hope for help and victory from them?

  25. None conquers the days like an experienced man:

    When a goal defeats him, he makes patience prevail.

Sol 6.1