1. O you whose heart is captive and hostage,
Whose affection is veiled and whose love is grieving,

2. A brother of longing, guarding the stars as if
His brow was suspended from their heights,

3. Enduring blame when a blamer condemns him,
But excessive passion has tied his certainty,

4. In his heart a latent, buried pain of sorrow -
No wonder he weeps for his buried love!

5. To him belongs a doe among the Turk's captives,
And in India, a meaning from the water of his eyes,

6. Al-Talibi concealed love in his youth,
And he who hides love protects its honor,

7. I concealed passion in my love like a philosopher -
So my love spoke revealing its secrecy,

8. I saw the lines of her cheek and swore
By the beauty of her dimples and graces,

9. My heart yearns and by God whoever saw
A loved one following the departing with longing,

10. It is love in which a man's tears are sweet to him
And the sound of moaning delights him at night,

11. Despite my will an absent beloved
Replaced my eyes with the water of tears,

12. My eyes were sated from the spring of tears - so listen
To the conversation of my heart about her son,

13. I am steadfast in the practice of love,
Swaying in devotion to my faithful beloved,

14. I am supported in my passion by one whose help
Established the pillars of his faith like Ibn Ayyoub,

15. A sovereign who assumed virtue after its loss
And refined this age after its vileness,

16. Who extended a hand that makes excuses for the sea and life
If they swear an oath on the day of dew,

17. The brother of charity who values praise as it should be
For he does not buy praise except with gems,

18. When people bring praise to his door
They bring it only to the door of nobility,

19. That is not from stinginess with praise - rather
It is the nature of a pouring cloud to be tranquil,

20. Ardent in the heights, knowledge, valor and dew
So excellent is the discourse of his passions!

21. He has an abode towards which purposes incline
Like the inclination of a dove flock to their nest,

22. The flood of dew flows from his side
So the pilgrims' steeds are like his ship,

23. When a pauper seeks the victorious king
He sees good news in his face like a guarantee,

24. I am amazed that when the face's guarantor comes
The dew's creditor demands his debts from him!

25. How magnificent that the age trembles at his command
While the towering mountains stand still,

26. If he attempts a momentous deed, you will find him
Matchless in tribulations and equal to them,

27. A resolute man whom exertion in the heights
Does not weary, as if toil were his habit,

28. Often travelling between the thickets of spears
You are a lion walking in its den,

29. You meet the enemy on the day of battle smiling
As if you had met him with your cheeks,

30. Distracting him in the fray with the twang of your bow
When a vibrating string distracts a man with its resonance,

31. If you wished, the memory of you would suffice over armies
And how many swords are defeated by their clashing!

32. O sovereign whose generosity suffices over rain
And skirmishes of war suffice over citadels,

33. Through you the afflicted time turned from harm
And released the children of purpose from prison,

34. It had been censorious and suspicious but ended
Gentle and kind after refusal and harshness,

35. How much favor you have with me that surpasses praise
And swears poetry is not your peer,

36. When I say I have met you with a poem
Others appear jealous in ambush,

37. So I praise you with the talent of a praiser
Who meets the best prayers with his help,

38. He saw you as a sea with pure roses
So he came to you with the stringing of pearls in his poem.