Sol 6

  1. Whoever neither weeps nor tries to weep

    For the ugliness of what he does is not pure.

  2. The world called to me, and I told her, “Desist.”

    No one who answers you is counted among the wise.

  3. No person has attained purity before God or drawn near

    To Him while befriending you or coming close to you.

  4. You have kept deceiving me with a flash of false lightning;

    Had I found guidance, I would not have been deceived by it.

  5. She said, “Has the length of your wing made you proud?

    It is as though it has already been clipped in my snares.

  6. By God, there is no resting place on earth

    Over which I have not set my nets.

  7. Fly as you wish: you will fall into them,

    Their captive, with no hope of release.

  8. Whoever can throw his opponent in battle,

    I can throw him without a fight.

  9. I know neither the polished, sharp sword nor the spear,

    Yet I have seized the armed warrior.

  10. How many a lion I have brought low in his den!

    How many of the fiercest killers I have slain!”

  11. I answered her, astonished by her treachery:

    “Do you repay one who loves you with hatred?

  12. I look over your children, and all of them

    Are your captives, your wounded, or those you have struck down.

  13. If they repaid you for what you have done to them,

    They would spend their whole lives detesting you.

  14. Their minds and the light of their hearts have been obscured,

    So they rush greedily toward your sweets.

  15. They are like flies that tumble

    Into honey until they are destroyed.

  16. May you never be a mother to us, devouring

    Your children after birth! How little shame you have.

  17. We have known mothers to treat their children gently

    Out of tenderness; how harsh you are!

  18. No one who dwells or travels upon your back

    Will escape being crushed beneath your millstone.

  19. You are a mirage and a hidden illness

    Within the ribs; how hard your cure is to find.

  20. God is disobeyed when you are obeyed; my obedience

    To God, my Lord, is to defy you.

  21. It is our duty to honor our mothers,

    And disobeying them is forbidden—except in your case.

  22. Neither poverty nor wealth lasts in you;

    Your poverty and your wealth are alike to us.

  23. Where are the mighty rulers and all their finery?

    After silk, they have touched your dust.

  24. How often they were wrapped in robes of splendor,

    Only to exchange them for the shroud of your destruction.

  25. Their faces were like moons in the dark,

    But came to be covered by your cloak of darkness.

  26. They bowed before the Sustainer of the highest heavens,

    Lord of all and Subduer of kings.

  27. By my Lord’s majesty, if my resolve held firm,

    I would renounce you and seek what lies beyond you.

  28. I would take my provisions from you through deeds of piety

    And strengthen my faith by breaking your bonds.

  29. I would set down my baggage beneath the banners of guidance;

    God has not seen me beneath your banner.

  30. Enough: annihilation will overtake you,

    And you will appear without earth or celestial spheres.

  31. The Lord who caused us all to die will restore us,

    So that one other than the person who pleased you may find favor.

  32. By God, the one beloved by his Sovereign

    Is a discerning person who has always shunned you.

  33. He left beautiful women and sought noble women

    Who smile with love upon the weeping devotee.

  34. I lie awake for them, not for doves

    Cooing mournfully on arak branches.

  35. Life is not serene for kings;

    The life of ascetics alone is serene and praised.

  36. May God’s blessings be upon the Prophet,

    As numerous as the stars and the angels.

Sol 6