1. The lightning flashed its brightest in his core,
And longing's hand pulled him till he was sore,

2. Love he drew as treasure from his veins' mines,
Weeping o’er his loved ones turned to golden ore.

3. A downpour seeing passion’s path clearly etched,
Cares not if slanderers call him wild and unbridled.

4. Passion inclined his weary mind till it was shaped
By the hands of fate - erect, unbending, idle.

5. Dividing tears and passions they think him torn
Between aloofness and plunder now feeble.

6. With cheeks furrowed by tears’ streams that pained,
And a heart roaming on longing's wings unstable.

7. As if his insides had left their place
To wander in seas of tears as schools swim stable.

8. O lightning roaming Egypt's horizons, you
Reminded me of Nile's past, gentle, subtle.

9. Talk of the sea, or my tears, no shame,
And speak of the fire, or my heart, no fable.

10. Mourn the western pyramid, my bygone youth,
Blessed the pyramid I left no longer able.

11. And kiss the earth at the Aula's door, for there
You told the best tales, lyrical, florid, verbal.

12. Cry out my complaint in his club, for in
Kindness to strangers, none so noble, sacred.

13. His will, when peers invite, does not reckon
The sublime as play, but purpose sacred.

14. In knowledge's work, and practice, none reproached
Except what pens wrote on his cheek - these words.

15. His mentors' virtues mingled with his own,
In manners he perfected gentle, lauded.

16. When the sublime of his house is told in tales,
His fathers, relayed in sequence, applauded.

17. A home whose pillars in virtue equal,
Never wavering in praise, modest.

18. His match in an ode's words so suited him,
We deemed that lineage his, mistaken.

19. Thought gleaned his annals and found naught
But noble scions, pure, unshaken.

20. Brothers vie in merits and knowledge alike,
All rise in horizons radiant tokens.

21. All writers' tents became for a kingly state
Swords dispelling harm, defenses unbroken.

22. Do you not see Egypt joyous with a Ba'ali,
Now we've lost both Ali and Aleppo.

23. Guide for speech's ears, pearls he pours,
And rain of bounty, hands gold bespoken.

24. He smiles when a child recites, and looks
At Ibn Muqla's son with reverence unjoking.

25. I forget not, from his works clouds recalled
By verses preceding, rainclouds a token.

26. Passing by a Roman girl's words asking:
What do Romans want with those who mastered Arabic?

27. Had Kulaib's stud seen her lightning,
He'd wrap his tail round his nose ashamed.

28. She who reached the height of beauty,
Leaving nobles after her no rank.

29. Pearls made necklaces look like shells,
And wet kindling in its land looked burnt and charred.

30. She discarded me and my white hair, busy,
Seeking erudition after my fifties embarked.

31. O master, your path pleased me, none able
To seek it, however thoughtful and wise.

32. This, your beautiful improvisation left
No room for magic, bees, composition or enterprise.

33. When will I meet this eloquence in books
To fill tomes with its qualities precise?

34. Thanks to your pens that flowed long
In virtue - may my reach of it not tire.

35. They came and pleased the hearer, were inspired,
Won the race's merit - so people admired.