1. The coquettish one with the mole incites jealousy in me
While the cheek's lover is eulogized by me

2. He holds back his hand from her dress though able
And disobeys desire though under her spell

3. When will a lover find relief from the burning of passion in his chest
When he is near yet so far from his beloved?

4. If you fear disgrace in every tryst
Why do you hunt the beautiful gazelles?

5. Illness persisted until I grew accustomed to it
And my physician gave up on my recovery

6. I passed by the home of the beloved so my steed neighed
Do trained steeds lament separation?

7. The abode does not deny the vestige of an encampment
Watered by the rain of parting and childbirth

8. What do I care for when the nights seem to
Chase me from existing, and I chase them

9. Isolated among groups in every town
When hopes are high, supporters are few

10. And moments of joy come to me after moments of gloom
Extolling, witnessing, proofs for her, of her, from her

11. It walks steadily with the gait of one speared
As if its joints spur the spears to strike

12. My horses’ ankles are forbidden at the spear
While their forelocks are adorned with beads

13. I take my soul and the lance in my hand
To pastures none but the valiant dare to tread

14. But if the heart cannot bear a state
The hand cannot bear the burden either

15. My friend, I see none but the poets
Why do they claim and I compose?

16. So wonder not, many swords exist
But the Sword of State today is one

17. Unsheathed in noble nature during war
And sheathed in pardon and grace during peace

18. When I saw people below their worth
I knew fate appraises men

19. The most deserving of the sword: he who drew it
The most deserving of safety: he who faced perils

20. The most wretched of Allah's lands are those
Whose people reject your glory, deny your might

21. You raided them until you left their eyes
Awakening behind the Franks, tearless, unblinking

22. Crimsoned yet their men lie dead as if
Prostrating in prayer, not prone from war

23. You invert them while their mountains race them
And spears pierce them while plots elude them

24. You pummel them to dust though they rest in graves
As the lions rest in earthen beds

25. The towering citadels crumble into ruins
While your horses adorn their necks with necklaces

26. They routed them at Luccan and led them
To Henrict till clothed in white from captives' gowns

27. They joined Lucain to Sapor till both lacked
Inhabitants, garrisoned troops, living souls

28. At the valley he buried them, the revered imam
Blessed is he behind the veils, devout and chaste

29. A warrior who desires lands without end
Whose desires cannot be contained by time

30. Brother of raids whose swords spare no necks
Unless blades are sheathed, sharp edges blunted

31. Until none survived but those the hyenas' mouths
And suckling breasts of gazelles protected

32. Over them the Patriarchs weep in the gloom
While here they lie, discarded like pillows

33. Thus the days decreed what was between peoples
Some's misfortunes, others' gains

34. Of valor's nobility: you walk towards death
As if eager, though you'd be mourned if you fell

35. You let blood flow in dignity, aware
Some hearts would stop beating if yours stilled

36. All see the paths of courage and munificence
But one's nature for one's self is the guide

37. You seized from life what - had you kept -
Would have granted you eternity in this world

38. You are the sword of sovereignty, and God wields
You are the banner of faith, and God upholds

39. You are Abu Al-Hayja', son of Hamdan O son
An heir resembling his noble father

40. Hamdan begot Hamdun, and Hamdun Harith
Harith begot Luqman, and Luqman was rightly-guided

41. They were all caliphs' fangs, and other
Lands were mere additions to their realms

42. I love you, sun of the age and its full moon
Though I am blamed, ardent in passion for you

43. I love you for your overflowing grace,
Not because life with you is desolate and cold

44. For loving a little with wisdom is proper
But loving too much in ignorance ruins one