1. What would the ghosts of my loved ones do if they passed by,
And if they forgave me for past grievances?

2. They inclined towards the words of slanderers and turned away,
Yet God knows that is a fabrication.

3. O you who turned away from me without any wrongdoing,
Except for what the envious embroidered and falsified.

4. Suppose I did wrong, as was claimed and fabricated,
And I did something objectionable in my love for you.

5. There is no punishment after your estrangement and rejection,
O migrant! It is time for me to be forgiven.

6. Do not combine your reproach and enmity against me,
For the lover, estrangement is punishment enough.

7. The burden of rejection is lighter than the burden of enmity,
If only I had a choice in love’s matters!

8. Had they punished me in love with anything but alienation,
I would have hoped, and aspired to show resilience.

9. It rained on Damascus, its valleys and Hama,
With continuous thunder and broken clouds,

10. Until you see the face of the meadows darken
And the peaks of the dunes blossom with flowers.

11. It brought back pleasant bygone days
Between Harra and Al-‘Ulayqin and Ashtar.

12. Those are the abodes, not ‘Uqqa’s precipice,
Nor Kadhimah’s sands, nor Wadi Al-Qura.

13. A land - when the southern breeze blows through it
It carries the sweetest musk on the branches.

14. I left it - not happily, and deserted it -
Not willingly, and departed - not by choice.

15. Seeking sustenance scattered in the lands,
And misfortune is that it be scant.

16. I roamed the land for a while, journeying
Through Najd and Awina, most wary of peril.

17. I guard my countenance, discreet with flattery,
And restrain the tail of my hopes, hiding.

18. How many nights, dark like an ocean,
I spent until the clear brilliant dawn broke!

19. Among young men, like stars, elevated
In the desert, like landmarks set in place.

20. They slept clinging to the camel litters,
While sleep seduced the fleeing prey and birds.

21. Moaning from drowsiness, as if they had drunk
Deep drafts from cups of old wine.

22. They said, as sleep sewed up their eyelids,
“Where is the stopping place?” I said: “Seekit in travel by night.”

23. “Do not grow weary of night journeying
Until you attain the palms and green thickets,

24. In the shade of the auspicious victorious banner,
The pure lineage of Mansur the trimphant,

25. The just King whose names
Honor every place with glory,

26. And every land is a paradise of his overflowing justice
For which he poured copious water.

27. A justice where the wolf and gazelle
Pasture together while the lion watches.

28. For the believer in true guidance
There is no doubt that Abu Bakr is the best of mankind.

29. A sword whose glory has the purest blade
And whose excellent origin is evident.

30. His praise is not by simile, for he
And the tokens of his glory are no fabricated tale.

31. Between the bygone kings and him
Is a difference in merit between Sirius and the ground.

32. Do not listen to tales of any king but him,
For all the prey is in the belly of the catcher.

33. His noble traits transcended what was related
In books about Kisra and Caesar.

34. A king - when the flesh of the forbidden quivers in awe of him,
He gains more dignity and gravitas.

35. His composure on the day of battle is like a lion’s,
And his resolve in times of tumult, a lion of the thicket.

36. Wakeful - he almost says about the morrow
With surety that makes it needless for him to ponder.

37. A forbearance that makes mountains seem small behind him,
A determination and wisdom that belittles Alexander.

38. He pardons grave sins out of nobility
And abstains from vile speech out of pride.

39. How can his envious rival reach his summit through effort?
Never! Even if he rode Al-Buraq he would lag behind.

40. He has sons in every land - among them
A king who leads armies against the enemies.

41. You would think every bright-browed youth of them
A full moon - and if he witnessed battle, a fierce lion.

42. They rush eagerly into the flames of battle,
And disdain rushing eagerly into the flames of home.

43. Pressing ahead until the piercing white swords
Bared the captivity of the protected souls - then they stepped back.

44. A people of pure lineage and virtuous upbringing,
Open-handed and regardful of dignity.

45. Their steeds disdain drinking at a watering place
That has not been reddened with blood of battle.

46. How many incidents made the forbidden flesh tremble in fear
While your boldness in them was more entwined than string!

47. O King! There is none among your superlative qualities, customs and principles
Comparable or approaching you.

48. You, whom time takes pride in for his munificence, existence and being -
That alone suffices as a matter of pride.

49. God has privileged you with kingdoms and chosen you
When He saw you as most worthy of them.

50. I complain to you of an enmity that has prolonged
Until today I count it as months.

51. My life does not settle, the pattern of passion does not pardon,
And my eyelid is not clasped by sleep.

52. I have neglected the swift she-camel, now accustomed
To avoid the pasturage of An-Nimir, disgusted.

53. Of wonders is that all the lands took shade under your shadow
While I was rejected and abandoned in the bare plains.

54. I have wearied of poetry and its composition
When I have no wares that can be sold.

55. When I set about praising with it
The King of Kings, I profited the most as a merchant.

56. So I will give thanks for circumstances that have cast
My hopes to you - and their due is to be thanked.

57. I will remain outstretched, surviving, so long as you see
Jesus seeking the aid of Jesus in the lands.