Sol 6.1

  1. Risings of good fortune are ascendants for auspicious stars,

    And meteors of eminence rise from their horizon;

  2. And stars of prosperity in the spheres of sovereignty

    Have appeared from fortune's zodiacal signs, with fortune rising.

  3. And moons of might in the stations of elevation

    Have their gathering in conjunctions of the auspicious stars.

  4. Theirs is a dignity fixed above the fixed stars,

    And the light of its eminence falls upon the earth.

  5. Beneath their orbit, through glory's elevation, is seen

    A ray shining throughout the regions of the worlds.

  6. At the seat of generations, the seat of a scholar,

    An imam before whose thresholds pride bows.

  7. A king of intellect, whose command proceeds with resolve,

    And he has no rival in seeking the heights.

  8. And a lion—the lords of the age have bowed to his glory;

    Glory no aspirant can approach is glory enough for you.

  9. An imam of piety, unbeguiled by ambitions,

    And a mountain of wisdom, unswayed by tempests.

  10. His is an illustrious lineage in the very substance of eminence;

    Glory grew from him as a mature man and as a youth.

  11. And a character: the garden after its rain appears

    No fresher than it, though radiant and flourishing.

  12. A magnanimous man whose surmise is the vanguard of his judgment,

    As though through it he beholds what lies unseen.

  13. He acquired the sciences of the ancients, affirming

    Them in accord with what the sacred laws have brought.

  14. A sage: when one day the subtleties of his thought

    Climbed the degrees of the spheres, where the ascendants lie,

  15. And poured over them from the first principles of his sciences,

    Through illuminative wisdom, their radiance shining,

  16. They bestowed upon the seven planets the secret of that

    By which the elements receive formation from them.

  17. Thus he exalted Kaywan through the loftiness of his stature,

    And made Jupiter's outpouring abundant, even in retrograde;

  18. And gave the radiance of Mars the flame of his fire,

    Which it lavishes in its horizon and uses to repel;

  19. And singled out Mercury for kinds of clouds,

    So behold, it is accomplished in fine writing.

  20. And gave the full moon's orb a light, determining

    Its stations, so that natural qualities might be readied;

  21. And cast radiance upon the sun, endearing

    Melodies to Venus, who repeats them.

  22. So say to a youth whose body is ceaselessly struck

    By separation's arrows, loosed from its bow and pressing on,

  23. A companion of journeys through the horizons, whose outward form

    You see has wasted away, while his body limps:

  24. His aspiration is at the apogee, yet his fortune

    Lies so low that the earth's nadir towers above it.

  25. You see ravaging time has accustomed his eyelid

    To long sleeplessness, while tears stream down.

  26. How long will you urge the pale camels on, seeking night journeys,

    Striving and hastening to attain eminence?

  27. And spend the morning in one land and the evening in another,

    A toiling companion of night journeys, your life going to waste?

  28. You suffer time's turning away from you and its leaning

    Toward every ignoramus grazing in ignorance.

  29. It feathers for him the eagle of wishes, setting it flying,

    While your eagle lies fallen in the nest of humiliation.

  30. And you abandon a beloved home in al-Sham—

    May rain and streaming downpours water it.

  31. Enter the broad shade cast by the throne of his glory,

    And turn to the corners of its surface, for it is spacious.

  32. There the southern pole is seen tucked away,

    And on one side of it the northern pole rises.

  33. And consider no deviation from the equator of his gate:

    You will reach your hopes, for deviation there means severance.

  34. For the center of hopes is none but his court,

    And a conclusive proof of that will suffice you:

  35. The masters of perfection stand at his gate,

    In reverent attendance, humbly bowed.

  36. As though birds sat on their heads, so great is their awe,

    And no speech passes save what fingers signal.

  37. So O master whose fame has traveled

    Like the east wind through far-flung lands,

  38. And you of whom everyone's judgment agrees

    That you alone unite the scattered virtues,

  39. And foremost man of this age, the excellent one

    Whose judgments guide the rising stars,

  40. And you whose gate is a refuge for supplicants, and whose pillar

    Amid time's calamities is a pillar of defense:

  41. To his lofty seat I have brought a grievance

    That time's incessant reversals have inflicted on me.

  42. It grants wishes to the ignorant, just as

    It grants death instead of what I crave.

  43. And I know my offense in its eyes, though it does not know

    That my praise of your gate intercedes for me.

  44. May my master's glance turn toward me, for I am

    A fitting recipient of what you bestow, and you are a benefactor.

  45. For this age, your servant, has set itself to work

    To bring me low, and none but your action can raise me.

  46. May you endure, blessed, as long as the two Farqad stars,

    Your court a place of hope, your bounty vast,

  47. Throughout time, while the exile yearns and there sing

    Upon the pulpit of branches gray, cooing doves.

Sol 6.1