Sol 6.1

  1. I swear by the dawn of a dazzling full moon's brow,

    And by the countenance of the luminous, radiant moon;

  2. And by the languor of eyelids that shoot into the heart

    The arrow of death from the sidelong glances of young oryx;

  3. And by every slender-waisted beauty who, when she sways,

    Puts the verdant shoot on the gardens' sandhill to shame;

  4. Of every tender beauty who rivals the midmorning sun,

    A graceful beauty who mocks the skittish gazelle,

  5. Full-fleshed at the anklets, with a supple figure,

    Hungry at the girdle, with a languid gaze;

  6. A tender young beauty, strutting in youth's exuberance,

    Like a leafy grove in the garden, filled with blossoms.

  7. No—rather, by resolve like a cleaving sword,

    And by steadfast determination that subdues enemies;

  8. And by ambition that has surmounted the Milky Way's heights,

    And so soared above the sky's Flying Eagle;

  9. And by newly acquired honor, lofty in its station,

    And by inherited nobility, unassailable and pure:

  10. I am indeed the armored champion in the thick of battle, when

    The envious launch an avenger's raid against me,

  11. From every man I have never accepted as a friend, nor

    Ever counted among the nobles of my clans.

  12. A lion against me, yet in wars an ostrich,

    Slack-winged, fleeing from the whistler's whistle.

  13. This morning he claimed that I had plagiarized

    What I had said—woe to him, what an unjust man!

  14. If he wishes, I shall embroider verse in his praise,

    And describe him and portray him with noble deeds,

  15. With every rhymed verse that, when recited,

    Leaves Jarir in the last rank,

  16. Until he sees that I am a man from a family

    Who built lofty honors in bygone times.

  17. Yet mine is a lineage that has let fall

    The train of loyalty over treacherous time.

  18. O man of virtue, whose thoughts have brought us

    The brightest meanings in dazzling love verse,

  19. I adorned Time's neck with a necklace of peerless pearls,

    And clothed it in the brocade of sumptuous praise,

  20. With resounding odes that have left nothing

    Of rising dust for the sons of estrangement.

  21. Take them to yourself, more delicate than the east wind's breath,

    Enchanting, and subtler than a visiting phantom.

  22. They go forth against Sahban, trailing their train,

    And drag the mantle of pride over al-Hajir.

  23. And guard them jealously, for their place

    Is that of my eye's dark pupil within my eye.

  24. May I ever remain a garden lush with virtues;

    You compose rhymed poetry among companions,

  25. As long as a turtledove laments in a blooming garden,

    And a dove of Hajir goes forth to exchange songs with it.

Sol 6.1