1. Hattem was pleased with your love though angry,
For how long will you wrong me and complain?

2. I would not have erred, if not for your boredom,
When you wearied, you claimed I was at fault.

3. Take the excuses of the distant lovers, for I have
A heart that loves beyond reason and will not be swayed.

4. Do you think after you I yearned for solace?
Never! Your affection is closer to me than my own comfort.

5. For you I have a fire in my soul that will not be extinguished,
Burning, and tears in my eyes that will not run dry.

6. Have you forgotten the days we shared and the nights
Of play and leisure that were ours?

7. Days when neither the spy counted my missteps
Nor the blamer chided my distraction by you.

8. You used to be fair to me when passion rode me
Through the perils of love - perils I rode undeterred.

9. Today I will be content if your phantom passes
Through my sleeping mind and haunts my dreams.

10. Never did the leaves of youth whither
Or the raiment of adolescence wear out,

11. Until the night of temptation passed and the right path shone,
The lamp of misguidance was snuffed out and that deceiver fled.

12. The good omens parted and turned away,
Sa'ada abandoned me and Zainab disavowed me.

13. She saw the pallor of our separation on my face
And cried "The bloom is gone, the one you adored!"

14. If you blame my sickness, your waist is too slender,
If you deny my greying, your lips are too full.

15. Seeker of youth, though youth has passed,
Its benefit vanished - time has whisked it away!

16. Do you hope after forty to number them,
While the goal is remote? Vain is your ambition!

17. It is great folly to seek from his envoys
Gain, when your pursuit wearies greybeards.

18. If not for nostalgic love, O abode of love,
No fervent longing or passion would rage in me!

19. Never would I beg from the vulgar of life
Or the fallen glory of Saladin and his like!

20. A king too lofty to impose taxation,
To whom the humps of camels are offered.

21. A mighty grandfather who humbled the enemies
And a conquering lion who guarded the realms.

22. Feared yet hoped for in times of crisis, the truly
Great one whom we fear yet in whom we hope!

23. Steadfast when wars and zealots rage,
With order against chaos and discipline against corruption.

24. His partisans flourish while his foes
In a year of drought are red with shame.

25. A land made fertile by noble deeds,
An earth covered in the blossoms of virtue.

26. A youth exerted in achieving greatness,
For he who seeks greatness exerts himself.

27. After years of infertility she bore for him
What no mother bears - the sublime!

28. His sublime character won hearts with love,
For the noble soul is beloved to hearts.

29. A hand that halts tribulations and a tranquility
That finds comfort in endeavor, a knowing heart!

30. Munificence that rushes to aid the weak,
Hospitality that welcomes both visitor and stranger!

31. Severity like fire that flared in its prime,
A nature more gentle than wine and purer!

32. His pardon tempts transgressors, as though
No offender in sin approaches him.

33. He sees he owes them a right, though they owe none,
For mercy to show, the offender must exist!

34. O you who blame the son of Ayyub, desist!
Not all blame is justified - do not weary yourselves!

35. Do not assail the honour of my defender -
You will but exert yourselves in vain!

36. In you, O Salah al-Din, Joseph is saved
From remoteness, and the arid cloud rains.

37. You tamed the age for its people,
So it obeyed though naturally unruly.

38. You opened a profitable market for praise,
To which noble virtues are imported.

39. You rose for Islam with true determination,
Mending schisms and bridging crevices wide.

40. You raged for the Faith since you raged,
Pleased in Allah whether pleased or angry.

41. You left the transgressors between estimation
Of the consequences and fear of punishment,

42. Or fleeing though the vast earth narrowed
And nowhere to flee from you could be found.

43. Thus the lands of Rome meet your raids
Heralding victory - no deceit in the herald!

44. Your swords marry the frontiers they visit
Each day in your armies, O sharp-bladed one!

45. Resolve with the edge of your sword a malady
Whose cure after festering becomes difficult.

46. Until the balcony is seen to feast
On the bloodshed - its food and drink!

47. Justice does not relent or flinch,
While the blades of your resolve drip red.

48. Show no mercy if you capture a criminal,
Though some crime may be forgivable.

49. So a protected community will thank you
As a father leans to the weak.

50. And rend the garbs of the oath-breakers' hearts
With a violation that links to the Caliphate.

51. A hope and a flame whose brilliant aura
Nearly outshines gold with its light.

52. A turban unmatched by Chosroes' crown
In glory, though it crowns Chosroes' head!

53. A sword Indian steel and Yemeni forging
That in old Arabia was given its mettle.

54. It shines with its essence and the polishing by water
And the resolve's radiance - so it cleaves!

55. The healthy blades were dyed by the blood of enemies -
Soon by your hands to be dyed red.

56. It has become customary for Caliphs to pass it
Down to sons, bequeathed from one heir to the next.

57. Of these it has taken a band of kingship whose crown
Is revered and welcomed by kings.

58. So God crowned Gabriel in honor -
No angel near to Him was so garlanded.

59. Tame the foe with the chestnut steed, Canopus rising,
As the dawn creeps over it, greyish-white.

60. It has stripped night of its cloak; its crescent
And stars are saddlery it carries upon it.

61. Accompanying you in battle by your command, else it would not
If not for the Caliph's approval.

62. The black banners - the hearts of polytheists quake
Since first unfurled for your kingdom, frightened.

63. As if the dark night's tents,
Their guide stars shining upon them.

64. Bestow them upon you in plenty, never rescinding,
A gift and blessing never undone!

65. Wear a cloak like none but the Imams
Of Quraish have worn so gloriously.

66. Chosen for you by the Caliph's favor
Meet for what you have earned.

67. Al-Nasir li-Din Allah, his partisan,
Loyal to the Prophet in his loyalty!

68. From him we seek shade in tribulations,
And in his blessings make our home.

69. Lofty, his munificence known from afar,
Generous however far its reach.

70. Veiled from sight but with bounties intact
Unbounded for those denied an audience.

71. His insight brought you near, divine discernment
Though absent dictates the truth to him.

72. He found you the best guardian for his kingdom,
Wakeful, striving always to please him.

73. And the boldest against his enemies in attack,
While others tarried and hesitated.

74. So don the raiment of fortune! Let it trail
Upon the horizon for its seeker.

75. Possess the authority it has given you
With fortune prevailing, its dawn unsetting!

76. In a blessing with days that never end
And power no other can overcome!