A poem by Alan Dugan
by Al Mutanabbi
Resolutions are measured against those who make them; generosity in accordance with the giver.
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Littleness is magnified by small men, while grandeur is deprecated by the great.
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Sayf al-Dawla imposes upon the army his will, yet seasoned armies cannot achieve it.
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He asks from men all that he has in himself, though even lions would not claim to match that.
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Dose al-Hadath know of its red color? Or which of the two pourers was a cloud?
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White-streaked clouds had watered al-Hadath before his arrival; when he approached, it was inundated with skulls.
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The enemy came at you, hauling their weapons as if they traveled on legless horses.
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When their ranks caught the light, their swords remained unseen, since their shirts and turbans were also made from steel.
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You stayed where you were, when doing so meant certain death: as if perdition itself slept while you stood in its eyelid.
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Wounded and fleeting, heroes passed you by, while your face remained bright and your lips, smiling.
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You surpassed the bounds of courage and understanding, until people claimed that you knew the unseen.
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To you belongs the praise for these pearls I pronounce; you are the giver, I the arranger.
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Oh, Sword never sheathed, whom none can doubt and from whom there is no refuge.
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Blessed are warfare, glory and eminence; blessed are your subjects and all of Islam, for you are safe!
Copyright ©:
Translated by Nancy Coffin

A few random poems:
- Robin Hood And The Butcher poem – Andrew Lang poems
- Silver by Walter de la Mare
- Evening in a Sugar Orchard by Robert Frost
- In A Restaurant by Sara Teasdale
- Ad Martialem by Robert Louis Stevenson
- A Time to Talk by Robert Frost
- Oh Day Of Fire And Sun by Sara Teasdale
- Robert Burns: Young Jockie Was The Blythest Lad:
- Rock ‘N’ Roll Band by Shel Silverstein
- Olney Hymn 33: Seeking The Beloved by William Cowper
- Why Do All Good Things Come To An End? by Michael Yuan
- Спиридон Дрожжин – Смерть коня-пахаря
- Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking. by Walt Whitman
- At His Grave
- Epitaph by Sir Walter Raleigh
External links
Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus
Talking Writing Monster’s Page –
Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh
Poems in English
- Malay Song
- Malaria
- Mahomed Akrams Appeal To The Stars
- Love Lightly
- Lost Delight
- Listen Beloved
- Lines By Taj Mahomed
- Less Than The Dust
- Lallji My Desire
- Lalila To The Ferengi Lover
- Kotri By The River
- Khristna And His Flute
- Khan Zadas Song On The Hillside
- Kashmiri Song
- Kashmiri Song By Juma
- In The Early Pearly Morning
- Illusion
- I Shall Forget
- I Arise And Go Down To The River
- Hira Singhs Farewell To Burmah
More external links (open in a new tab):
Doska or the Board – write anything
Search engines:
Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)
Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.
Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees
Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.
Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.
Parallel Translations of Poetry
The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works
Alan Dugan (1923 – 2003) an American poet, a contemporary classic of American poetry.