On his Friends - Meskin Aldaramy

With conscious pride I view the band 

Of faithful friends that round me stand, 

With pride exult that I alone 

Can join these scatter'd gems in one: 

     For they're a wreath of pearls, and I 

     The silken cord on which they lie. 

'Tis mine their inmost souls to see, 

Unlock'd is every heart to me, 

To me they cling, on me they rest, 

And I've a place in every breast: 

     For they're a wreath of pearls, and I 

     The filken cord on which they lie. 

---

Meskin Aldaramy (8th century) Iran

Translated by Joseph Dacre Carlyle

Source: Specimens of Arabian poetry, from the earliest time to the extinction of the Khaliphat, with some account of the authors, by Joseph Dacre Carlyle, Lunn, 1796

NB: spelling of original [preserved (silken in stanza 1 and filken in stanza 2