Sol 6.1

  1. Greetings and peace, O singer,

    and honor and respect, O assembly.

  2. You found comfort in the gathering, like those returning to

    the safe haven of their homelands from the valley's desolation.

  3. And the melodies kept the soul within a body

    worn down by the terror of lightning and thunder.

  4. A festival for the grieving in a bloodstained world—

    if a grieving soul could be distracted by festivals.

  5. You reminded your people of al-Faruq, guiding them,

    and you are among them to remind and guide.

  6. You exalted him, headstrong in his pre-Islamic days,

    and as a Muslim, with the qualities of townsman and nomad.

  7. You described the life of one whose gesture

    spared the caliphate the need for troops and commanders;

  8. and who justly enforced verdicts through his discernment

    and his judgment, before confession and attestation;

  9. and who sought justice in dismissal and appointment,

    safeguarding it in favor and exclusion;

  10. and who wore coarse, threadbare cloth upon a body

    barely sustained by meager provisions.

  11. He governed, with none among his subjects

    but reckoners, tally-keepers, and critics;

  12. and he died content with himself, trusting

    in his Lord after sending forth and bringing in.

  13. And many a kingdom's glory rose through one man,

    but did not rise through groups and individuals.

  14. The best of kingdoms is that which builds on honor

    and mercy, not on rancor and grudges.

  15. And the finest arbiter is one who holds the power

    to make peoples companions, not adversaries.

  16. Conquest comes through learning and understanding, not through blood

    flowing from burning hearts and livers.

  17. Here is peace; so recite poetry inventively,

    and spread it among the blessed and the illustrious.

  18. May sweet discourse bring rest to hearts

    that have tired of talk of cruisers and airships.

  19. God has embodied God's kindness in noble men,

    radiant in character—moons and lions.

  20. Poetry's festivals spring from their lofty generosity,

    like the hills and the clouds that pass at evening and morning.

  21. Sons of al-Sham, which I have never ceased to remember,

    and deep within me is a parched man's burning thirst for her.

  22. And al-Sham, whether near to Egypt or far away,

    is kin to the refuge-seeker, welcoming to the visitor.

  23. Mikal is king enough in his character,

    walking through Egypt like a lord setting out in the morning.

  24. He adds each fine deed of his own

    to the noble deeds of fathers and forefathers.

  25. He restores, in Sultan Ahmad's time, that with which

    al-Rashid brought Baghdad's literature to life.

  26. He gave you a precious gem from among his jewels,

    a source of pride for peers and equals.

  27. Prizes are the cure that has reached poetry—

    and how long it lay without a healer or visitors!

  28. And he began drawing from their precious talents

    treasures of praise-poems and recitation.

  29. I saw what stirred my verse and made me speak,

    though I had been postponing my verse until an appointed time.

  30. And that is a part of what I hide and keep secret;

    indeed, time lies in ambush for the likes of me.

Sol 6.1