Sol 6.1

  1. My lord, O judge of judges, and one whose

    Lineage is ennobled by learning and forbearance,

  2. And a lord whose gate of bounty is a sanctuary

    Of safety, which all humankind seeks.

  3. His justice has spread in al-Sham and grown,

    Just as his eminence has become renowned there.

  4. I sought him, hoping with confidence

    For success in a purpose that depends on him.

  5. For he settles, by the Prophet's law, what

    The most obstinate of litigants has kept denying—

  6. An overseer in whom the clear-sighted find blindness.

    God has led him astray; how can you guide him?

  7. He seeks to devour a school's allotted income;

    It complains to God of what it suffers

  8. From the erasure of its allotted income and its landmark of

    Old, through the very means with which he renews it.

  9. He is al-Nizami; ever since he settled there,

    He has assailed its community, scattering it.

  10. So he has left of its outline only a trace

    Which the eye recognizes, then denies,

  11. And a landmark that has almost perished from what

    He now threatens it with, out of his ignorance.

  12. Will you not, in generosity, consider its condition,

    And that of a servant whose promised time is long overdue?

  13. He has become poor, in need of the wealthy one—and can

    He be seen as poor when the wealthy one is his master?

  14. He seeks to travel toward Edirne;

    He fears that by staying his goal will slip away.

  15. May you ever remain in high station and at ease,

    And with your livelihood safeguarded, its wellspring sweet,

  16. As long as a star crosses the horizon and by night drifts

    A breeze from a garden whose songbird sings.

Sol 6.1