Sol 6.1

  1. Nu'man, my friend, is a young man

    of honor and noble lineage.

  2. He successfully completed his time of

    study and his period of learning,

  3. until he excelled in religious law and

    poetry and the study of literature,

  4. and every useful art,

    cultivating and refining,

  5. from past and present,

    among non-Arabs and Arabs.

  6. Yet he knows nothing of

    striving or ways of earning a living.

  7. He is content with what he has,

    the least and nearest at hand.

  8. If he sees a crown on the head

    of an ignoramus, he does not grow angry.

  9. Or if oppressive time denies him

    his due, he does not exert himself.

  10. Or if he finds a friend

    turning away from him, he does not reproach him.

  11. And though Marjan's wealth is

    free to plunder, he does not plunder.

  12. Nothing but admonition's echo

    in his heart brings him delight.

  13. His evening companion is his reed pen,

    and his wine is in books.

  14. He considers the deeds of people

    and ever-changing time,

  15. comparing his days

    with bygone epochs.

  16. Sometimes he is at ease,

    and sometimes in distress.

  17. At times joy appears

    on his face like a star;

  18. at others, sorrow's dusty gloom

    covers him like pitch-black night.

  19. Sometimes you see him springing up,

    like an agitated lion;

  20. then he droops, feeble,

    surrendering to ruin.

  21. He bewildered his family's minds,

    and his people and friends.

  22. They knew no cause

    for his bewildering condition.

  23. 'Perhaps,' one says, 'he has fallen ill

    with a nervous disorder.'

  24. Another thinks he is

    laid low by the daughter of the grape.

  25. Another says he was caught by

    the glance of a gazelle from a herd.

  26. Yet quite other than all this

    is the dejected youth's ailment.

  27. His parents both weep for

    him with streaming tears,

  28. and lament his lot

    in his plundered life.

  29. His father says, 'O

    heir to my office,

  30. Nu'man, wisest of my sons,

    first of my offspring,

  31. O stronghold of the family after

    me, when calamities strike,

  32. time has struck me—

    how bitter it is when it strikes!

  33. In you I have lost a support

    I hoped for in times of calamity.'

  34. His mother says, 'O

    Nu'man, O my tormentor,

  35. I spent my life on you, hoping

    to gain from you my heart's desire,

  36. and to see you a man

    among men of noble worth,

  37. successful before the prince,

    winning from him the highest ranks,

  38. that I might forget what has passed

    of sleeplessness and toil.

  39. But I found in you nothing but

    worries that tormented me.'

  40. Yet he did not turn from his course,

    Nu'man, nor change.

  41. He had a female relative

    of remarkable intelligence,

  42. dazzlingly beautiful, tender

    in the freshness of youth.

  43. She once came to his abode,

    visiting in Rajab.

  44. The youth's condition saddened her,

    as it would a kind relative.

  45. She tried to uncover

    his hidden, puzzling secret.

  46. She entered his room

    like the sun, unconcealed.

  47. She greeted him, and nothing beyond

    her concern did she express.

  48. She asked him to explain

    his frightening, terrifying state.

  49. He said, 'O Nu'ma, I have seen

    my nation in affliction,

  50. failing in her endeavor, while the endeavor

    of her adversary has not failed.

  51. His fortunes are on the rise,

    and hers are falling.

  52. Every individual goes

    astray in every direction,

  53. distracted from the homeland

    by his amusements and play.

  54. If a guide calls him to

    repentance, he does not repent.

  55. Until, when the enemy assailed them

    with his havoc and war,

  56. before his terror they became

    a cock before a fox.

  57. They sought help from the dog, or

    the cat, or the rabbit,

  58. and overlooked a lion,

    awake and drawing near,

  59. watching over them with an eye

    ever wakeful, never absent.

  60. Whoever calls on him for help

    against the enemy, he answers.

  61. Until the enemy finished them off

    with the worst of afflictions,

  62. sating his vengeance by striking them,

    keeping the spoils for himself.

  63. Who among them was not filled

    with terror, and who did not turn gray?

  64. Whoever accepts humiliation has fallen,

    and whoever refuses it flees.

  65. I see in them no strength

    against the guilty enemy,

  66. nor do I see in them any love

    for God and the Prophet.'

  67. He began to weep just as

    little schoolchildren weep.

  68. If rock could hear his

    painful moaning, it would melt.

  69. She said to him, 'May you be ransomed, O

    Nu'man, by my mother and father.

  70. Life is a sea, and mankind

    in it are like a clamorous army.

  71. A true man is one who struggles in

    its current and surging waves,

  72. until he becomes so practiced

    that he outstrips every practiced man.

  73. Yet I see you drowning

    in its turbulent waves,

  74. possessing no health,

    nor even a little wealth.

  75. Suppose your people awoke

    from the stupor of doubts,

  76. and their zeal blazed

    for the homeland like flame,

  77. and they tried to free it

    from that usurper,

  78. and chose you as a leader

    for a chosen task:

  79. could you rise to it

    by a severed rope?

  80. And if they summoned you as commander,

    to direct the marching host,

  81. how would you manage

    the business of spears and swords?

  82. Or if they saw in you an orator

    with an eloquent tongue,

  83. what would you think, when you have never

    grown used to the platform of speeches?

  84. Nu'man, leave this distraction,

    and avoid lethargy.

  85. Strive for health and

    glory, and the gathering of gold,

  86. so that those may follow your example

    who have come to hunger.

  87. Set your own condition right, O counselor,

    then the conditions of the foolish.

  88. Begin with yourself, then

    work diligently to reform your people.'

Sol 6.1