Sol 6.1

  1. Carry a message from me to Abu al-Jarud:

    Do you take exception to every word I have spoken?

  2. You batter my words to leave my need distraught,

    And some words deal crushing blows to other words.

  3. Is it from you that verses have reached me, as though they were

    Piercing arrows when they strike a man?

  4. For no reason, except that I offer a reproach,

    And that is a practice people have established, still in force.

  5. So if you truly must take me to task,

    Then do so knowingly: you can see who is being called to account—

  6. An innocent, sincere Muslim, a kinsman,

    He has a claw that weakens the enemy, and a molar.

  7. Those are qualities that will guard my side,

    As catch-basins held the water of the pool.

  8. And you have left me behind those I once stood ahead of,

    As experts left bows behind them.

  9. So take this: I have uttered a poem,

    Its final lines are verse seeking refuge.

  10. So say what God has shown you; you are rightly guided.

    Both of us seek refuge in God from foul speech.

Sol 6.1