1. Not a dream fulfilled nor ideal attained
Save for memory of his farewell and companion

2. For sleep that repeats our dreams to us
Would be but dreams of dreams again

3. He hands us the wine cup with his hand
One whose image comes not to mind

4. We string the stars into necklaces at his throat
And take the sun’s eye from his anklet

5. You have turned from the discerning eye within you
And dwelt in the heart’s passionate thoughts

6. You approached and your approach was from his side
You forgave and your pardon was of his wealth

7. Indeed I hate the phantom of the one I loved
When he was absent from us for a time

8. Like sadness, gloom, and sorrow
When I left him, strange lands me enchanted

9. And I have weaned myself from passion and let it taste
Of my chastity what I have tasted of its torment

10. And I have stored for every land an hour
That entices the darkness away from its cubs

11. Faces meet faces and between them
Stalks a death roaming in its times

12. And I have hidden the start of words
And quenched those I blamed with their houses destroyed

13. And when the steeds stumble on its plain
I release others not hobbled by their reins

14. And I judge in the barren land with she-camels
Accustomed, covered, concealing

15. Walking as the pacing camels behind them
Prolonging their period of silence and stillness

16. While others, unhobbled, are stunned around them
So they pass by them scornfully with their bridles

17. And success comes gently walking
While sorrow goes stumbling in its chains

18. And I made the state of Hashim share its sword
And tore the rags of wretched power off its tatters

19. Of the one whom the lions were denied perfection
Who makes prey forget its fear with his beauty

20. And princes bow before his throne
And love is seen to be one of his eaters

21. He kills before fighting and rejoices before attaining
He reaches before asking and attains before seeking

22. The winds, when they conspire against a watcher
Their approach spares him having to hurry

23. He gave and favored over kings with his pardon
Until people equaled in his bestowal

24. And when they sang his giving, needing no urge
He enriched, no need to say "My Lord!"

25. It was as if his open hand was a critic
Jealous of the asks of his decreased giving

26. The stars set, so they set, heedless of his worries
And rose when they rose, heedless of his attainment

27. And God makes happy each day His seriousness
And adds, of His enemies, to His family

28. Were their blood not flowing on his swords
Their throats would flow toward his attainment

29. They left upon him no trace from the tumult
Save their blood on his cloak

30. The like of him gathered resolve
And in the like of him the ropes of war came untied

31. O you the proud-faced shining moon
Lie not, for you are not one of His forms

32. And if the pounding inclusive sea roars at you
Say "Desist, for you cannot comprehend his state."

33. And the Inheritor gifted that which He inherited
And saw not their deeds to a son without deeds

34. Until when the heritage ran out but for the banner
He went straight for the foes with its length

35. With a deaf mute He clothed Himself toward them
Above the iron, trailing its hem

36. As if the daylight were embroidered with its spots
Or averted its gaze from him in reverence

37. The army is your army but you are its army
In its heart, its right, and its left

38. You turn aside the repeated piercing from its horsemen
And make champions concede to their champions

39. Each man wants his own men for his life
O You who want your life for your men

40. Apart from sweetness in time there is bitterness
That is not traversed but upon its horrors

41. And so Ali alone transcended it
And walked with his blade toward his hopes