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:
- A General Summary by Rudyard Kipling
- Cold Eyes by Vaishnavi Prakash
- Motel Pool by P. K. Page
- If It Is True What the Prophets Write by William Blake
- On Envy (From The Greek) by William Cowper
- Olney Hymn 5: Jehovah-Shalom: The Lord Send Peace by William Cowper
- To Mr. Lawrence poem – John Milton poems
- Ольга Седакова – Все труды
- Олег Бундур – Быстро расту
- Obscurity, the Essay and Poems on Obscurity by Abraham Cowley
- Book Fifth-Books by William Wordsworth
- Hurting Dive by Satish Verma
- Robert Burns: My Bonie Bell:
- Владимир Высоцкий – Песня о Земле
- Kalli
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
- Total Recount by Pamela Griffiths
- To a Beloved Child by Patrick Pearse
- The Uses of the Eye by Paul Blackburn
- The Undeniable Pressure of Existence by Patricia Fargnoli
- The Triumph Of Achilles by Paul Celan
- The Sea and the Shadow by Paul Blackburn
- The Rising and Falling of Trees by Patricia Fargnoli
- The One Night Stand : An Approach to the Bridge by Paul Blackburn
- The Mother by Patrick Pearse
- The Choice of Trees by P.J.Reed
- The Café Filtre by Paul Blackburn
- The Blue Guitar by P. K. Page
- That Light by Paul Hostovsky
- Teenager by Patrick Connors
- Teasing by Pamela Griffiths
- Summon Me by Walid Saba
- Stony Grey Soil by Patrick Kavanagh
- Spring Thing by Paul Blackburn
- Single Traveller by P. K. Page
- Shancoduff by Patrick Kavanagh
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.