Sol 6.1

  1. I asked God, in supplication, to grant your wishes;

    so He doubled what I asked and said, "Here, take it."

  2. And through your hands He restored the kingdom when

    it had come to be thoroughly ravaged by the Turks.

  3. You are a sword for the lord of this kingdom;

    whenever calamity befalls him, he unsheathes you.

  4. The vizierate in Bukhara has refused

    anyone but you, just as it refused anyone but your father.

  5. Since you were swept from it, the seat of authority

    spat out its men until it embraced you.

  6. The kingdom was left bereft of you only

    to test those besides you with what it had tested you.

  7. They did not help a poor person as you did;

    and can anyone besides you give the help you give?

  8. You were the sword sheathed on a day of peace;

    then, when war flared up, he unsheathed you.

  9. Against the enemies they were keener

    and more decisive than their swords—your spells.

  10. If all the men of the earth rose together

    to shoulder your charge, their service could not equal yours.

  11. You accomplished every deed with only some of your words,

    and with effortless judgment did the work of your sword-edges.

  12. As a child, you were fed on milk from learning's udder,

    and surpassed creation in seasoned wisdom while still in the cradle.

  13. Drinking wine never distracted you for a day,

    nor white necks from what concerned you.

  14. If the night of calamity shrouded the kingdoms,

    the dawn of your counsel, or your radiance, dispelled it.

  15. Wider in their advance than the Khatti spear's strides

    are your strides when you advance into battle.

  16. And more lavish in giving than unceasing rain

    is your bounty whenever its rain pours down.

  17. Never once did your lips open with "No,"

    nor did your hands close upon wealth.

  18. The sea fell short of your reach when

    you raced, so we did not call it your brother.

  19. Nor did the clouds' rainfall keep pace with you when

    it flowed and your bounty flowed, nor did it resemble you.

  20. Rather, the cloud bowed in prostration

    on the face of the soil before you when it saw you.

  21. You are too great in worth to be rivaled,

    and too high in rank to be imitated.

  22. It has rivaled heaven and swayed in pride,

    upon al-Suha's bough—the town that nurtured you.

  23. Its people and all within it are a protection

    for your person against all who seek you out.

  24. Here it is, a garden for you; make the most of it,

    and they are your shield against whatever assails you.

  25. I am almost reckoned among the Azizis,

    so closely have I woven myself into them.

  26. If you let your gaze run through my heart,

    you would see proof of that as plainly as I see you.

  27. O Abd Allah, may I choose no verse

    throughout my days except in praise of your greatness.

  28. How many favors of yours you have hung about my neck!

    I cannot see them ever coming loose from me.

  29. If what you have made me bear were laid upon

    Shamam, it could not stir beneath it.

  30. You have clothed me in robes of honor,

    and set the arch of my foot upon al-Simak.

  31. It is height enough that you have raised my ankle;

    lifted by you, it has reached al-Simak.

  32. May the days never lower your glory,

    nor may the Guardian reclaim what He bestowed on you.

  33. My poetry journeyed by night far and wide across the earth,

    and pitched its tent when it saw you, never passing you by.

  34. I had resolved on departure, until

    I was held back, and spent the night seeking your approval.

  35. Had the nights not straitened my circumstances,

    I would not have undertaken a journey from your sanctuary.

  36. You have named two things for me; enough for me is

    part of them, if you choose that.

  37. And if you are not content with a star as my sandal,

    nor the Milky Way's line as my sandal-strap,

  38. then leave aside what you deem fitting for us, and lower it;

    for our souls and all they possess are ransom for you.

  39. I have not disdained your bounty, but

    your freely given affection has sufficed me instead of your gifts.

  40. Were seeking gifts in the sea's nature,

    it would turn to you for gifts and seek you out.

  41. May I never seek any sea but your bounty,

    nor pitch my tent anywhere but in your shelter.

Sol 6.1