Sol 6.1

  1. You leveled the tawny spears in defense of the Law,

    and guarded its meaning with gleaming sword-blades.

  2. And brought glory the bridal dower of piety,

    so you won her, a slender-waisted virgin.

  3. And how often you have tamed her steeds,

    though they are unruly for whoever mounts them.

  4. O lord, whose judgment

    is that of Solomon, prophet of the winds.

  5. You led the judges of the age—indeed, surpassed them

    in knowledge, forbearance, generosity, and seeking bounty.

  6. For Iyas is not clever when

    your judgments are recounted—by the Lord of success!

  7. Nor is Shurayh versed in judgment

    beside you, O son of the noblest, fair-faced men.

  8. The office you attained has gained glory,

    with dignity of soul, eminence, and gladness.

  9. The sultan appointed you to it—by him I mean

    Murad, God's shadow, lord of bounty,

  10. after it had been sought by

    fifty, each having signaled his desire for it.

  11. He saw you, among them, as fit

    for it, and appointed you by an explicit decree.

  12. So you went forth envied, with the honor of a man

    free of disgrace and any faultfinder's reproach.

  13. In Rum you trail the hems of exultation,

    and, fully armed, hold your peers in scorn.

  14. O exalted Safad, glad tidings to you! There has

    settled in your broad, spacious dwellings,

  15. after Salah al-Din, elder of mankind,

    Salih, a lord, master of freely given bounty.

  16. And since he singled you out as his abode,

    and prosperity from him shone in your precincts,

  17. I said to whoever asks its date:

    You were appointed—live on, Salih—to the abode of righteousness.

Sol 6.1