Sol 6.1

  1. The believers are racing toward you,

    Sacrificing themselves for their honor and their homes.

  2. Muster the battalions you have prepared

    For radiant truth and steadfast hope.

  3. Take fidelity from sharp swords and spears

    If you find none in your age who keep their word.

  4. Let your fearsome strength pronounce its judgment:

    You will find your enemies submitting their disputes to you.

  5. When you possess might that prevails over them,

    You possess justice and the law.

  6. Admonish, O Commander of the Faithful, kingdoms

    That have spread harm to left and right.

  7. They feared your kindness would win from humanity

    What the aggressors' ferocity could not win.

  8. They began laying snares for you openly

    At times, and stealthily contriving plots [final word unclear].

  9. O followers of Jesus, why has Jesus not risen

    To denounce the crimes you commit?

  10. He charged you concerning aggressors—why, then, are you

    Murderers of the peaceful and secure?

  11. What wrong did the Muslims do you

    When they held sway over the lands?

  12. On the day of your wickedness, did they offer anything but

    The pardon of the powerful and the power of those who pardon?

  13. Their mercies were wasted in vain; had they

    Fallen upon one who remembered, they would have remained debts.

  14. Among the calamities is that your beasts rise,

    Their claws in anarchy, claiming civilization.

  15. O western lands of Islam, in you is a consolation

    That comforts your wronged brother, the East.

  16. The remnants of the spoils in you are a reminder

    And an incitement to your remaining defenders.

  17. Suddenly, Tunisia and Algeria were joined

    By Marrakesh—let those who weep mourn her.

  18. Tripoli defied the aggressor, and

    Made no fortresses but the hearts of the unbowed.

  19. A radiant Arab beauty, whose secluded chamber is guarded

    By Arabs, as lions guard a den.

  20. Proud men, whose affairs are directed and who are governed

    By proud Turks, steadfast in their charge.

  21. O sister of Egypt—in Egypt's breast burns an ember—

    She answers, 'At your service,' until the callers are satisfied.

  22. She sent you her provisions, and wishes she could

    Send you soldiers rushing to your aid.

  23. The Nile, if she held its reins, would flow

    After the hearts, in love and longing.

  24. What room for turning aside—and what has Egypt, and all within her,

    But sorrows that awaken sorrows?

  25. The willing volunteer should not

    Complain of restraints or fear suspicions.

  26. After the faithful man has freely given his soul,

    Must he seek approval and assurances?

  27. Enough for the Caliphate, from Egypt's emirate, is what

    Struck the enemies dead and silenced the slanderers,

  28. And strengthened the case of Egypt's crown and throne

    Through the women giving charity and the men who give.

  29. How welcome is illustrious Umar, granted success,

    A helper to the patient and steadfast.

  30. And the tenderness the Mother of the Believers pours forth,

    Joined with her generosity and her gifts.

  31. Would that I had accompanied her mission, hoping

    To tend a wounded man or rescue one stabbed.

  32. And go among the martyrs upon their field,

    Shaking its lofty mountains with elegies.

  33. And see the souls hovering over battle

    After they had reached 'Illiyyin,

  34. And the heroes' resolves around their protected ground,

    Drawn tight, and the tyrants' defeats.

  35. O people of Rome, do you seek hopes

    That deceive—or do you seek death?

  36. You came dragging iron, and departed

    Shackled in your iron in the sea.

  37. You danced upon it drunk—then dance

    Slaughtered in the black night.

  38. If the ringing of your swords stirred you,

    It has indeed become a sigh and a groan.

  39. And if your emblazoned garments made you proud,

    You have since clothed yourselves in mud.

  40. You were arrogant toward your advisers and refused;

    Now the marksmen's blaze counsels you.

  41. Bring the wolves to the lions: five

    Of them annihilated fifty of you.

  42. Muster your whales and your eagles:

    The hunters there lie in wait.

  43. Heap up delicious provisions, for you,

    Your weapons, and your stores will all be taken.

  44. Not one of them remains poor or unarmed

    After what they seized in victory.

  45. Eat of Zaqqum if you pass

    Beyond the bounds of captives, and drink ghislin.

  46. Complete your vast reinforcements with youths

    Driven toward battle in terror.

  47. Of fear will die, on seeing its horror,

    Whoever did not die of madness before battle.

  48. Did you think Barqa's plain a tavern

    For you, and the invasion of Kairouan mere revelry?

  49. Or will you triumph, though among your enemies

    There are twisting plains and rugged heights?

  50. Or fill your bellies, along with blood,

    With gold, when scalding water has left no bellies?

  51. The defenders' might exhausted you, so you went

    To slake your rage upon the inhabitants.

  52. You mutilated their elders and their women,

    And slaughtered children as tyrants.

  53. You feared the captive's proud spirit and dignity,

    So you killed the captive and the prisoner.

  54. Your swords shattered their bones—but did they

    Wound their covenants and their certainty?

  55. Your earth and your sky are angry with you,

    And religion too—if scorpions knew religion.

  56. Your companions' faces have turned against you,

    And your allies have become reproachers.

  57. Can you raise your heads after what

    Disgraced you, or open your eyes?

  58. You fought and failed, and will coil

    Your hatreds within yourselves, until you fight one another.

  59. And that dominion will fall into chaos which

    You sought to enlarge through those you diminished.

  60. You proclaimed the annexation of the land, while

    The land's lions proclaimed victory and firm dominion.

  61. O commander of the fleet, those seas are theirs:

    Have you felt safe from their depths and surfaces?

  62. You weighed it down with armored men; return with it

    Full, laden with their dismembered remains.

  63. When you reach its anchorages, which

    Have weakened, you will be the most eloquent bearer of death-tidings.

  64. Carry certainty to the people, for they

    Have tired there of the narrators' deception.

  65. Tell of your spoils, with which you satisfy

    A crippled people and a deluded reckless fool.

  66. O house of Osman, the outcome rests with you,

    And I see your fortunate crescent as its guarantor.

  67. Every people has a vengeance to exact from you—yet

    They will neither attain it nor forget it.

  68. If you cast them into hell, you would have imposed

    The due punishment, without committing injustice.

  69. No people, while protecting their dominion

    With justice and kindness, has faced what you face.

  70. Why do I see throughout the Balkans,

    After the rallying and clamor, silence?

  71. May those who leap upon you find no welcome

    On earth, nor may the surging sea carry a ship.

  72. An anxious feast has already passed over you;

    Welcome now a feast auspicious for you.

  73. O son of the Caliph, before you lies the valley which

    Received a brother of yours as its lord and companion.

  74. The Caliphate's gift to the emirate has become

    A precious inheritance, as al-Aziz wished.

  75. A man trusted at heart confided in you, leaving no

    Secret guarded within a heart filled to the brim.

  76. In every quarter a banner flutters,

    And someone greeting you scatters wild roses.

  77. In Egypt's sister lands are subjects who wish,

    Longing for you, that they might come as a delegation.

  78. Bring their share of access to your retinue nearer to them;

    I see them drawing nearer to it.

  79. He who placed the Caliphate among you

    Placed affection and love within us.

  80. The union of our hearts and yours

    Surely stretches your hands toward ours.

  81. O people of Egypt, there is a lesson in events:

    Survey them today, taking heed.

  82. The Caliph has rewarded you with what

    You sought through your loyalty for years.

  83. Here is Diya al-Din, honoring your land:

    Welcome him today in celebration.

  84. Hasten toward lofty hopes, for

    Al-Rashid has sent you al-Ma'mun.

  85. He bestowed kindness upon your guests, and you

    Are held in honor, and your guests are content.

  86. Their haste toward it was not mere show,

    But the acknowledgment of those who concede.

  87. Leave the matter to the Caliph; perhaps you

    Will find safety after friendship toward them.

  88. There would be no hardship for Egypt if

    You tried gentleness after estrangement.

  89. If you knew the due of each day,

    You would praise practice and training.

  90. I see the new era as blessed,

    And I see your well-being as a pledge for it.

Sol 6.1