Sol 6.1

  1. Honor excellence in its spacious abode,

    and revere it in its fruitful age.

  2. And remember the man whose generosity reaches us

    from his hands, and whose inspiration comes from his heart:

  3. the state's poet, devoted to the state

    in his private life and his public declarations.

  4. And remember his justice and his benevolence in

    his commendable rule and in his authority;

  5. and the fine qualities of the perfect gentleman,

    in his home and in his office;

  6. and the fidelity of the companion who lost his beloved,

    and was noble in his sorrows.

  7. And he traversed east and west, asking after her,

    while she was in his heart and in his eyelids.

  8. He nearly abandoned the world from the intensity of grief,

    but for the consolation in his faith.

  9. And it is as though the sorrows in every soul

    come from his sorrow and his grief.

  10. His patience in calamity did not lessen in them

    their share of his tenderness and affection.

  11. Honor the family that brought him forth,

    a luminary in his grandeur and eloquence.

  12. And what he received from the righteous king,

    as reward for service, out of the king's favor:

  13. the title of a rank that is the rightful due of

    learning, owed and guaranteed by the homeland.

  14. It honors poetry in the homeland that

    the noble poets should be among its notables.

  15. And genius is exalted when a gifted man finds

    someone like Aziz among his peers.

  16. And whenever dominion is firmly established on earth

    for a people, poetry is one of its pillars.

  17. And for dominion it holds the place of pearls

    and rubies on the heights of its crowns.

  18. And the greatest of conquerors is he who conquers cities

    with his mind and his tongue.

  19. O companions of Aziz in his two paths of life,

    and comrades of Aziz in his field,

  20. the minister's kinship with him has brought you together

    amid the evident splendor of his building.

  21. And you gathered for him, faithful to both pledges,

    at his celebration and his festival.

  22. He has come to take from your gardens today,

    just as you take from his garden.

  23. So you have all you desire of his conversation,

    and all you desire from his dining table.

  24. And from the friend of Qays and Lubna you have

    the well-wrought works of his invention and artistry.

  25. He revived the two lovers after decay,

    amid the legends of his art and his vision.

  26. And his power brought Abbasa back to life

    between his thought and his fingertips.

  27. A masterpiece among the beauties of eternity, it came

    from his private chambers and in his melodies.

  28. Many a remembrance has brought a dead man back to life,

    in new garments, out of his shrouds.

  29. O Aziz of the valley, this time of yours

    is in the valley's peace and in its tranquility.

  30. Today it has found its people and has met in

    you the man of letters, a stranger in his native lands.

  31. And he rose among the stars after having been

    obscure and unrecognized by it.

  32. You are the poet of the age, and this is an acknowledgment

    accorded you by its gray-haired elders and its young men.

  33. And I am the devoted one, for whom everything that pleases

    you is within his power and his ability.

Sol 6.1