Sol 6.1

  1. Fuad is intelligent, a poet, a prose writer, a free spirit,

    But he is conceited about his learning and merit.

  2. He strutted proudly before his friends, yet

    Vanity and arrogance did not diminish his standing.

  3. His renown was thus his finest advocate

    With them, and his remarkable gifts made them patient.

  4. If they shunned him for an hour, their fondness grew

    For him; so they returned with excuses, feeling compelled.

  5. Had they left him and dispensed with his affection,

    That would have checked his accustomed ways.

  6. He persisted, believing none on earth was his equal,

    And that, among mankind, his fame alone was fame.

  7. Then his conceit extended even to

    His father, whom he mocked and shunned.

  8. At times he taunted him for ignorance, and transgressed

    Against him in ways that honor and filial piety reject.

  9. He dominated him, insisting despotically on his own opinion,

    And in his house all commands and prohibitions were his.

  10. He was not content until he aspired greedily

    To a journey after which travelers ascend to the heights.

  11. He said, 'Father, I have tried Egypt and her people;

    Egypt did not satisfy me, nor did Egypt have room for me.

  12. I long for Paris; perhaps I

    Shall find comfort there in what the age has invented.'

  13. He replied, 'Can I afford what you seek, after what

    You have seen of my debt? My debt is my excuse.

  14. If you aspire to glory, earn your living;

    Money and abundance will help you achieve your hopes.'

  15. He said, 'If you do not give me the money willingly,

    The family's unity will break, and evil will take firm hold.

  16. So sell some of my sister's jewelry, or pawn it, for I

    Am set on my resolve, even if the burden of guilt is heavy.'

  17. So his father, compelled, sold some of his property,

    And rage filled his breast, making it tighten.

  18. He said, 'My dear son, depart, provisioned with my wrath.'

    He said, 'Farewell, you gullible father!'

  19. His father cried, 'May you never attain your wish,

    And may humiliation and harm befall you through what deluded you!'

  20. The youth traveled by night and turned aside to a village

    Where he had a foe; dawn had already risen.

  21. It was time for the Eid prayer, and he was compelled to hurry

    To a mosque where Bedouins and townspeople had gathered.

  22. He met a preacher exhorting with superstitions,

    And shouted at him, 'Be silent! What you said is unbelief!'

  23. They had taken him for a ruler and welcomed him warmly,

    Nor did his foe's hostile sidelong glance alarm him.

  24. The people's preacher was his enemy's uncle,

    So his foe could not bear to see his uncle lose esteem.

  25. He called to them, 'People, why not test

    The man who calls my uncle a liar? Then the secret will be revealed to you.

  26. I shall debate him, if you heed me,

    And I ask no reward of you if I defeat him.'

  27. He brought a piece of foul clay

    And said, 'Answer me, if you wish, and you have my thanks:

  28. Do you see an accident or a substance?' He answered,

    'I see a substance—no doubt of it, no denying it.'

  29. He said, 'Marvel, people, at your guest's judgment!

    Such a judgment throws the mind into turmoil!'

  30. They rose against him, pelting him with pebbles,

    Like a vast army surging on its battlefield.

  31. He departed only in humiliation and contempt,

    With a wound on his face and a fracture in his leg.

  32. They had robbed him of his money and clothes,

    So he returned to his family, shamed by poverty.

  33. That calamity became a deterrent for him,

    So he lived as he hoped, and time made peace with him.

Sol 6.1