Thus am I...

Friend! Stop… and look, towards the sebkha of en Nîsh If you catch sight of (mounted) camels, stop… and search the horizon: your eyes are better than mine; look Do you not see the palanquins of Su'da passing Do you not see (mounted) camels that left the dunes of Al Mawj at dawn, heading for Azzivâl, Crossing the pass of Zali; they carry beauties whose coquetry and cunning are formidable. Let us hurry now: we must reach the palanquins before the caravan has reached the treacherous soft dunes

He said: "There is not, among the leading palanquins, that of Su'da… besides, to give oneself over to passions, to sins, is folly for an old man…!" I replied: "The palanquins have unleashed, today, a sorrow indifferent to age, to white hair. If your sight has not deceived you, we must wait for the last palanquins So halt your she-camel and wait with me, or else leave me alone and go, having betrayed all friendship. I have, in those palanquins — if you only knew — a sorrow that time cannot soothe: my Su'da is in the palanquins, and Su'da is my sickness and the only remedy for my pain. Oh! my friends. How well she knew how to appear weak, fragile, vulnerable! Yet it is I whom she killed thus, unconcerned by my loss!

She was in a camp that was moving towards the pastures of Alkarb after those of the dunes, among her companions, beauties (of the tribes) of 'Abnâ'Mûsâ, al A'Mam and al Akhwâl, (Women) of supple limbs, of modest brows, beautiful as the antelopes of the desert Chaste, adored… Ah! the fine adornments of a fine camp… That of the Ya'qûba*, the noblest of men, those whose worth is revealed in hard times.

O Ya'qûba, set out to conquer the summits, be ever ready to face all the assaults of fate Let your motto be the love of truth, patience and sobriety, and integrity your chief wealth. Be swift to uphold Good and to fight Evil, raising yourselves thus to the highest virtues Do not strut about proudly: only thus does one rise towards glory. The most inaccessible summits are reached only at the price of the hardest efforts. Banish avarice, weakness, baseness… all the qualities of lesser folk.

My old wounds of love reopened at the sight of a camp on the move with its baldaquins, at 'Inâl, Palanquins whose silhouettes, vanishing into the distance, called to mind the high crowns of the palms of Kenawal. They bore their beautiful occupants gently across Marawra, the little hill of Tairalâl, Leaving Timezgîn on their right, in the morning, and Techlâ on their left Thus they passed without stopping before at-Tu'âm, carried by the swift pace of their fine camels, Then to where the pastures of Tîras become — though with difficulty — accessible If you saw them (those beauties) you would understand that the sage subjugated by their charms cannot be blamed.

I remember a time when women did not disdain my tributes I see them now, turning away when they notice white hairs on my temples. If you see me today — O 'Umaîma — tired, weakened, worn, There was nonetheless a time when, in great trials, I was Hope, when the weak lost their composure; There was a time when, in the assemblies, I was an arbiter, when the sober restraint of the wise was set off by the ramblings of fools.

How many times have I led proud companions to face the terrifying breath of the Simoom. They walked without pause nearly all night, then stopped at the foot of small hills. Sleep seemed to have intoxicated them, Like a cool wine that softens every joint (they lay) amid their mounts, made inert by fatigue… I kept watch to guard them, and served them their fill of carefully prepared méchoui. Then I woke them again, after allowing them to restore their strength. (Thus am I: when my companions are exhausted, I serve them without weakness)

They rose with a start — this one dressing again in haste, that one still crouching, another standing, still dazed. They rose… and saw break a day with a pitiless "one-eyed" sun They looked at one another, saying: "where is salvation? Where to go?" and their hearts filled with dread. I said: "Fear not, I am able to guide you to the purest, most quenching water." They set off at the pace of their mounts, beautiful tall she-camels, swift as ostriches. I led them, before dawn (of the following day), to an old well so hard to find that it defies the most seasoned guides They drank their fill, and those who were sad found joy again. It was abundance after severe privation; it was relief; some sang and joked merrily Others tended their mounts… cared for those that limped…

Fate is eternal change: so do not fret over these hard moments Nor should you gloat if, one day, all your wishes for success and happiness are fulfilled: How many of those on whom fortune smiles were, only yesterday, in need! And how many have lost everything after possessing everything!