Sol 6.1

  1. For a time I was alarmed by the people's discord,

    Calling to them, yet finding no answer.

  2. And how often I treated their sons alike with my counsel,

    Yet it stirred neither the contented nor the angry.

  3. And my reproach arose from no faction I encountered,

    But I was truthful with them in my reproach.

  4. And my death in their defense in war is better

    For Egypt and me than death from despondency.

  5. And after separation, they were united

    By love of Egypt—so they met as friends—

  6. And by the two chambers' gathering, for every consultation,

    Of the people's elders and youth in a single rank.

  7. And the supporter of the one among them he entrusted

    With the reins of government was now the one who delegated authority.

  8. And they came with the document, an envoy of a covenant,

    And settled that account among themselves.

  9. And their deed was, in my eyes, a fulfillment

    Of the king's due: they recognized what was right.

  10. And if tomorrow a reward is due to someone like me,

    Then their reunion is reward enough for me.

  11. They repel calamities from their protected land,

    Though these have descended on others as torment.

  12. And the Day of Resurrection has been surpassed in its scale

    By the tyrants of war in horror and turmoil.

  13. So we see no torrents but destruction,

    And no clouds but blazing fire.

  14. Nor do I know: did they rule despotically for sustenance,

    By force, or to possess people's necks?

  15. Nor do I know to whom among them on earth

    Its resources will belong when it becomes a ruin.

  16. And a time may come upon humankind

    When people find neither food nor drink.

Sol 6.1