Sol 6.1

  1. Listen: tell all the Sanhaja,

    the full moons of the age and lions of the lair:

  2. Your lord has indeed made a blunder,

    with which he delighted the eyes of those who gloat.

  3. He chose an unbeliever as his secretary,

    though, had he wished, the secretary could have been a Muslim.

  4. So the Jews gained power through him and grew proud,

    and swaggered, though they had been among the basest.

  5. They attained their wishes and exceeded the bounds,

    so destruction's hour arrived, though they were unaware.

  6. For many a virtuous Muslim is submissive

    to the vilest ape among the idolaters.

  7. This did not come from their own efforts,

    but their helper arises from among us.

  8. Why, then, did he not follow toward them the example

    of the good and God-fearing leaders,

  9. and place them where they deserve to be,

    and send them back to the lowest of the low?

  10. And they roamed among us after being cast out,

    with humiliation, abasement, and disgrace upon them.

  11. They scoured the dungheaps for a rag,

    colored, to shroud the one to be buried.

  12. They did not disdain our eminent men,

    nor act arrogantly toward the righteous.

  13. Nor did they sit with them, being of base stock,

    nor accompany them among the closest companions.

  14. O Badis, you are a discerning man;

    by your surmise you reach certainty itself.

  15. How, then, did their very persons escape your notice,

    while their horns are struck into the earth?

  16. And how can you love the fledglings of fornication,

    when they have made you hated by all the world?

  17. And how can your ascent be achieved,

    if you build while they tear down?

  18. And how did you place your trust in a sinner,

    and join yourself to him, when he is a wretched companion?

  19. And God has sent down in His revelation

    a warning against the company of sinners.

  20. So take no servant from among them,

    and leave them to the curse of those who curse.

  21. For the earth has cried out at their wickedness,

    and nearly reeled with all of us upon it.

  22. Survey its regions with your own eyes:

    you will find them there as despised dogs.

  23. And how have you alone chosen to bring them near,

    when throughout the lands they are among the banished,

  24. though you are the favored king,

    a scion of kings among the illustrious,

  25. and you have precedence among humankind,

    just as you are among the greatest of the foremost?

  26. And I indeed settled in Granada,

    and would see them there acting wantonly.

  27. They had divided it and its districts,

    so in every place there was an accursed one of them.

  28. They collect its tax revenues,

    and they devour, and they gnaw.

  29. They wear the finest garments,

    while you wear the humblest of them.

  30. They are your trustees over your secrets,

    but how can an inveterate traitor be trustworthy?

  31. Someone other than them consumes a dirham,

    and is banished, while they are brought close as they consume.

  32. They have risen against you, even against your Lord,

    yet you neither restrain nor denounce them.

  33. They have entangled you with their spells,

    so you neither hear nor see.

  34. They slaughter in its markets,

    while you eat its offcuts.

  35. Their ape has clad his house in marble,

    and channeled to it the sweet water of springs.

  36. So our needs have come to depend on him,

    while we stand at his door.

  37. He laughs at us and at our religion;

    so surely we shall return to our Lord.

  38. And if you said of his wealth that it was

    like your own wealth, you would be among the truthful.

  39. So hasten to slaughter him as an offering,

    and sacrifice him, for he is a fat ram.

  40. And do not ease the pressure upon his clan,

    for they have hoarded every costly treasure.

  41. And scatter their enemies and take their wealth,

    for you have more right to what they gather.

  42. Do not think that killing them is an act of treachery;

    rather, treachery lies in letting them run riot.

  43. They have broken the covenant we had with them,

    so how can you be blamed on account of the oath-breakers?

  44. And how can they have a covenant of protection,

    when we are obscure and they are prominent?

  45. We are the abased ones among them,

    as though we had done wrong and they were doing good.

  46. So do not condone their deeds against us,

    for you are answerable for what they do.

  47. And be mindful of your God concerning His party,

    for God's party are the victors.

Sol 6.1