Sol 6.1

  1. Glory is yours, newly won and inherited,

    and excellence is yours, near and far.

  2. And yours is truthful praise, which I set forth, as

    you once arrayed troops for war.

  3. And I go forth in your name, filling the valley, as

    you once filled it with spears and banners.

  4. And I drive the conceited man away, vanquished, as

    you drove the enemies from Egypt into utter flight.

  5. One who missed, in his old age and youth,

    the ranks of glory you attained as a child;

  6. one who gained his worldly fortune wretched and unjust,

    while you amassed it, pure of conscience and happy.

  7. It possessed him, and he surrendered to its bondage,

    committing sins deliberately and in plain sight.

  8. He dispatches his thieves to murder the innocent,

    while you preyed upon the haughty rebels.

  9. He builds up disgrace to leave an ugly memory, while

    you built up glorious deeds, time and again.

  10. And you see him a craven when asked for bounty,

    but a champion when called upon to do harm.

  11. And if he sees in a kinsman or a neighbor

    noble standing, he becomes his enemy and envies him.

  12. And when he summons others, it is to sin; and if he strikes,

    then it is widows and the orphan he destroys.

  13. His treacherous nature will not let him

    honor pledges to the one who bestowed kindness on him.

  14. The devil knows only his breast

    as his home, sealed against guidance.

  15. He kept leading him astray, and his heart hardened,

    until it became a deaf, unyielding stone.

  16. He grew callous; his wealth rescued no needy man

    who complained to him, nor did he aid a grief-stricken man.

  17. He listens to slanderers, making much of what

    they report, and loves the abusive drunkard.

  18. Boasting of sin and acknowledging it,

    he savors reproach and censure for folly.

  19. And it is a calamity to see him dwelling

    in a palace housing slave girls and male slaves.

  20. Is it through his learning, or his merit and striving,

    that he becomes the peer of one of lofty honor?

  21. Though he is condemned for his conduct and endeavors,

    and despised for his lineage and forebears.

  22. Not for greatness, faith, or homelands is what

    he has taken to building among us.

  23. At evening and morning he desires for himself

    only more unlawfully gained wealth.

  24. Had he any mercy, he would not have left

    the dearest of his sons shut out from his kindness.

  25. How long will he openly commit disgraceful deeds,

    and how long face those who curse him unflinching?

  26. Has his life amid wicked deeds grown sweet to him,

    or has he imagined immortality for the unjust tyrant?

  27. The tyrants, his advocates and protectors, have died,

    yet I see him continuing alone after them.

  28. Woe to him! Why does he not guard against

    God's might, or fear His warning?

  29. Then when will punishment and death descend upon him,

    and what once struck Thamud strike him too?

  30. He sought his sovereign's pardon for his crimes

    only so that people would call him a chief.

  31. What good is pardoning him, after he

    has spent his life leading others astray, defiantly rebellious?

  32. Wait! I fear he may lay claim to

    the country's throne and its far-reaching rule.

  33. Were I appointed an arbiter among the judges,

    I would banish him from the land of Egypt,

  34. and throw him in prison to weep like his son,

    dragging chains and shackles there.

  35. And I would have the painful lash leave on his palm,

    and on his head and cheeks, a furrow.

  36. And I would exact great vengeance for a people

    who met death through his brutality.

  37. And I would strip him of what he stole, until I saw

    the people's rightful due restored to them.

  38. And I would heal the rancor of those angry with him—rather,

    I would quench the fire in noble hearts.

  39. What most revealed their gloating over him

    was a goal of his that left him worn out.

  40. He displays feigned loyalty to attain it,

    but he is rebuffed and utterly shunned.

  41. And he imitates the princes in their manners,

    but his profound ignorance spoils the imitation.

  42. Never in my life have I met a flattering panegyrist

    in Egypt who honored him and was sound of judgment.

  43. O Minister of Egypt, to you my greetings and approval,

    and yours is praise, repeated again and again.

  44. Had God guided him toward what

    your sovereign approves, he would have chosen you as a loving friend.

  45. We have not forgotten the ministerial term you spent

    vigilant, steadfastly supporting its affairs.

  46. Thus you won a favor from the lord of the land,

    which made your former reward new again.

  47. One like you best deserves to have his breast adorned,

    if they did him justice, with necklaces of stars.

  48. May you ever call us to the path on which

    you display your praiseworthy devotion.

  49. And uphold among us a duty owed to the crowned ruler

    that, before you, had been absent from our midst.

  50. You revive the commemoration of his accession day,

    prescribing a festival for him at every moment.

  51. You spend nights that come bearing wishes,

    white, while your enemy spends them black.

  52. So accept the praises of a poet—rather, a bird

    that now sings your praises, clear-voiced and melodious.

Sol 6.1