Sol 6.1

  1. Bring, O London, black tidings,

    and surround them with fire and iron.

  2. And spit them upon the innocent as poisons,

    and send them upon the trustworthy as thunderclaps.

  3. The soldiers carried them before

    flashing lightning and the post could carry them.

  4. Do we see an envoy's words, or the sword

    of an executioner, while you offer pledges?

  5. We have tested your hidden dealings before;

    and we have found nothing new since.

  6. Your demands for the cities of the realm have grown,

    though once you demanded its borders.

  7. And will the Nile be free in its channels

    tomorrow, after you have built the dams?

  8. You deny the fertile land water whenever you wish,

    and irrigate the deserts if you desire.

  9. Change the mind of the one you deputed, and raise

    him to ambassador, or send him back as commissioner.

  10. Whoever refuses to let your generosity become a fetter—

    how can he accept fetters in humiliation?

  11. If you allow denial after acknowledgment,

    then it is only just that he should allow denial too.

  12. He shunned what you offered once he began

    to see it as a prelude to killing him.

  13. And Egypt refused to be bought and sold,

    or to see the free man bound and shackled.

  14. And it befits a free man to give up what he has,

    if he does not thereby recover what was lost.

  15. He asks for nothing difficult who seeks a right

    plain and clear, nor does he desire anything far-off.

  16. What compels the man whose claim is sound

    to tackle a boulder?

  17. And how long must one whose means is honesty

    walk slowly toward what he desires?

  18. A man of insight and judgment is of no use

    unless he is bold and steadfast.

  19. A man willingly devoted to the covenants—

    is that whom you want, or one driven and led?

  20. If he acquiesces, you scorn him; and if he rises,

    you picture him as sinful and rebellious.

  21. The days kept him waiting until they ran their course,

    and behold: the promise to Egypt became a threat.

  22. And behold: the state of equality returned

    to dividing people into masters and slaves.

  23. Is this how one plants affection who seeks

    an ally always at hand through the years?

  24. A friend endures only when he is

    bringing benefit through his affection, and benefiting in turn.

  25. What right can we gain from an adversary

    who cares nothing for the whole world bearing witness?

  26. Which people will he incite against us, after stirring up

    a stubborn neighbor against the people of Iraq?

  27. Egypt has joined Iraq, and now the

    Nile, like the Euphrates, flows with pus.

  28. He will see our patience with him as beautiful,

    even if his violence against us is fierce.

  29. And after one unyielding man he will face more unyielding men,

    and one contingent of the struggle will follow another.

  30. And the tyrant will see whether the course he has

    taken will strengthen him or destroy him.

  31. The weak are not denied a reversal of fortune,

    nor can the strong guarantee immortality.

  32. And the rout of armies is worse than an opinion

    that meets with censure and refutation.

Sol 6.1