Sol 6.1

  1. To you belongs the loyalty that no one has concealed,

    and no nation has lacked it, nor any land.

  2. You have governed justly, unswayed by

    passion; nor does sound judgment ever bypass your counsel.

  3. And you have led the kingdom on safe paths, auspicious

    in your endeavors, relying on the Quran.

  4. You spent the night warding calamities away from it, as

    the lion stays wakeful at night, guarding his thicket.

  5. Until you raised for it a sanctuary above the stars,

    resolve its supporting cords, wisdom its pillars.

  6. It thus became impregnable in its foundations, watched over

    by God's eye whenever its guards slept.

  7. The people are of two kinds: a captive, bound and fretful,

    in your two hands, and a hopeful man whose life is easy.

  8. For adversaries, there are turns of fortune that bring them misery,

    and for loyal supporters, turns that bring them happiness.

  9. If you wish, you give this earth its fresh bloom,

    and if you wish, it becomes ablaze with evil.

  10. You have never raged in vengeance for any but God,

    nor subdued any but those who bore hatred.

  11. Nor have you conquered, for anything but religion, a kingdom

    that you saw straying from the path of goodness.

  12. You revived the faith, restoring its strength,

    and it rose, spreading through the world and advancing steadily.

  13. Yours are the armies that have so often relieved distress,

    like a cloud of battle-dust gathered in the sky.

  14. God guides their aim; they are supported

    by reinforcements of angels in their raids.

  15. They rely on the covenant of faith

    on the day of combat, and their belief supplies their arms.

  16. Yours is the banner that reached the crescent moon; no

    hand of adversity can attain its height.

  17. Its fluttering brings joy to those sheltered beneath it,

    and terror to enemies; within its folds is anguish.

  18. Yours are the fleets, towering like mountains,

    sailing as the foam makes thunder around them.

  19. But for your pledge of safety, the sea would rage ablaze

    with their fire, and land and solid rock would melt and flow.

  20. Yours are the domes that rise soaring

    into the air, with soldiers there as guards on watch.

  21. In your countenance is a light of the caliphate that has

    become, among the people, proof of what they believe.

  22. If the radiant stars could, they would descend

    in longing, arraying themselves in place of your crown.

  23. My lord, your festival has arrived with its blessings,

    offering mankind joys, as they have known before.

  24. For it, the universe appeared in its fairest forms,

    and the days and eternity gathered all their beauty.

  25. The earth is radiant with lights, fresh in bloom,

    lush with youth, clothed in brocade and striped mantles.

  26. It struts, smiling upon all mankind, as

    a coquettish woman struts, adorned with supple grace.

  27. Delegations crowd beneath your throne; neither

    your lofty gate nor your gathering place is too narrow for them.

  28. You heal hearts of their intense longing through what

    they have encountered of your majestic presence and what they have witnessed.

  29. As though they had drunk wine that brought them joy,

    yet they drank from no source but your everlasting spring.

  30. O possessor of enduring righteous deeds, and O

    master of benefactions beyond all counting,

  31. a greeting and a prayer, with which we seek

    to express the joy and love we feel.

  32. You came while the people were split by their desires into factions,

    of many kinds, their paths fragmented by their waywardness.

  33. Then they submitted to you when you rose to guide them,

    and held fast to the bonds of the covenant, and united.

  34. You drove masses of enemies away from them, and they escaped,

    while you stood alone in the thick of the battlefield.

  35. You charged among them, and their resolve betrayed them

    at the encounter; patience and fortitude fled.

  36. They cried for help, and a clamorous host came to them

    from the realm of illusion, filled with despair and misery.

  37. You overcame their cunning and slew their treachery,

    and trampled their plot, which they had striven to conceal.

  38. What harm can come to you from those who went astray,

    grew arrogant and, when you favored them, proved ungrateful?

  39. Would a father harm his children, who are filled

    with love for him, though one son among them disobeyed him?

  40. Let no deprived sinner despair of you, if

    captivity and fetters have deterred him from relapsing.

  41. O House of Osman, be gentle with enemies, and do not

    draw a sword against them, for they have desisted.

  42. They have spent the night envying you your happiness,

    but that envy has harmed none but themselves.

  43. In their hearts, hatred of you is a sickness,

    and in their eyes, your light has brought soreness.

  44. So they remain in this misery until

    they despair, and you see them all fallen quiet.

  45. Slowly, sons of the Turks, in conquering lands! Is there no

    limit to your longing for lofty aspirations?

  46. Without you, religion's proof would not have appeared,

    nor would the crookedness of its remaining glory have been set right.

  47. Abd al-Hamid, yours is sincere devotion; hear the

    praise that comes unceasingly, and reward those who praised you.

  48. And your kingdom, in the radiance of its adornment,

    is truly a paradise, where I am the warbling bird.

  49. God will fulfill, in the world that has smiled

    on Muslims through your hands, what they were promised.

  50. So rejoice, sons of Islam, and await

    tomorrow, for tomorrow has guaranteed manifest victory.

Sol 6.1