1. Whether near or far, their association is equally disdained,
Though difficult is the attainment of their union and my hopes.

2. In closeness there is estrangement, and in distance, yearning -
Every day for the longing lover is a day of tribulation.

3. And I find solace for the sickness of my eyelids,
Yet does a sick man seek remedy for his illness?

4. Whenever we met - as is the custom of the eye -
It would arouse the spies' suspicions at every meeting.

5. Had it not been for her brilliance, they would not have seen me distraught,
Nor would they, because of her, have become my adversaries.

6. But she appeared like a shining sun,
And I, amidst the light, seemed like a mirage.

7. My tears on her cheek gleamed from its polish,
So they were envious and thought she had wept for me.

8. When I saw the living departing, bidding farewell,
And saw naught but glances from her eyes,

9. I looked at the horses with a restraining gaze,
Out of extreme sorrow and separation’s harshness.

10. On an evening when neither a returning traveller leans toward a pasture,
Nor a departing one concludes a journey begun.

11. Would that on that day the living’s horses had been carried
And their agile racers replaced with slowness!

12. The beloved's mare, the lover's she-camel -
So who would replace the "n" of their names with a "t"?

13. And the one with the two eyes split between sorrow's stupor
And the return of the caravan that startled her.

14. With one of her eyelids she returns my greeting,
While the other keeps watch on the spies’ eyes.

15. I intentionally intercepted her arrows with my heart
The next morning, when her glances had intensified their aim at me.

16. And I sent my eyes to follow them after her glance
Had come between us to separate the mingled throng.

17. Until they crossed the mirage, looking
Like the hem of an embroidery on the whiteness of a garment.

18. What pained me, while time undermines me,
Were the doves that sang in the branches of trees.

19. Never before had I found the melodies of foreigners
To kindle such longing and chant with such eloquence.

20. Nor did they remind me of what I'd forgotten of passion
In any state - only an intoxication of song.

21. The hand of the Pleiades star cluster does not cease
To pour down abundant rain when rising in the east.

22. By my life, I have worn out the cold of my youth,
And exhausted my back with harshness and luxury.

23. Prolonged for me have been tribulations until I grew accustomed to them -
So this poison has become my nourishment.

24. Had time, in its own affairs, consulted my opinion,
It would not have uncovered what my equal judgement concealed.

25. I have filled the vessel of my bosom with knowledge of its mysteries,
Yet have found naught but silence to seal up my vessel.

26. And I have viewed, with an observing eye, in the mirror of my own perception,
One who sees what comes behind me from before me.

27. So do not advise me, for obedience to advisors
Has sufficiently provided me guidance to follow.

28.
Do you not know that I am awake, uncovered from my eyes

29. Every mantle that could veil them?
And I have filled the pages of the scrolls with letters

30. Of salvation - not letters of censure.
Arrows of love that pierce through the cloak of darkness,

31. Even if they are not aimed perfectly from a twanging bow.
I say - and the earth has made residence familiar to me -

32. My mornings upon it and my evenings.
Is it not time for me to journey from the caravan,

33. For prolonged has been my sojourn, O Umayma!
I roam the east and west of the country,

34. Seeking sanctuary from fate in a journey of salvation.
And I find no comfort but in him - and if I compose his name in verse,

35. It is circulated among people both near and far.
My thoughts have departed from me; I say nothing original,

36. For nothing can match my poetry in meaning.
And I accord poetry its full due,

37. Even if it does not stand with me as it did with the poets.
I extract meanings from the speech of contemporaries,

38. Yet take no meaning from those ancient.
I have guarded the daughter of protected thought, fearing

39. Her marriage to one not my equal.
And I have decided her virtuous ode will not visit,

40. From mankind, any but the most honourable ministers.
So when I praised the glorious son of Muhammad

41. And fulfilled the greatest loyalty to the most high,
No sooner had I done so than his oath swore by mine

42. And he granted me gifts beyond any grant.
The pride of Islam - its affairs are now governed

43. By one whose loyalty to it is eternal.
The trusted advisor of the rightly-guided Imam, his supporter,

44. The mightiest of supports in the most splendid purity.
More wondrous to the eye is the light of his face

45. Than the sun rising in a clear sky.
And the palms of his generous hands overflow

46. With seas of wealth, not seas of water.
Ask the caravan - has anyone ever entered into his presence

47. And departed unsatisfied?
Does he string peers along the length of his spear

48. With a stab, like threading pearls on a necklace?
What terrors the sheaths of his sword contain!

49. For every shaker and brandisher is the promise of might and brilliance.
Fearful yet hopeful, never ceasing to inspire

50. Awe and hope in every era.
The sights of archers are dimmed in awe of him,

51. And the tongues of orators rendered speechless.
In strength and attainment he is transcendent,

52. A record engraved with loftiness and blood.
His justice illuminates the horizons with its encompassing light,

53. Like the rising sun at dawn’s first glow.
A superiority which God has clothed in the raiment of pride,

54. To excel, beyond knowledge, those deserving excellence.
A sovereign ascended to the highest pinnacles of glory,

55. Beyond the aspirations of the most ambitious.
Whose ministry is adorned with men surpassing -

56. None of them equal to him in merit.
How many a friend appears pleasing to his friend

57. Whose inner reality is different from his outward show.
He displays one banner openly, yet his secret

58. Is another, concealed beneath covers.
But the defender of the nation today is true as his name -

59. Loyal, like the loyal companions.
He protected the nation of Islam in the shade of his sheltering wing,

60. So it found refuge in his loftiness and splendour.
O Majid - never has time heard the like of him

61. In glory, nor has any other been seen.
Your father, manifesting piety alongside dominion

62. - The rarest combination among the great -
One hand grasped the world, while the other relinquished it,

63. Making him the most fortunate of its possessions.
And he inclined toward the Prophet's tomb, emigrating

64. For the reward of virtuous deeds and praise.
He dwelt beside the best of messengers in death

65. And the greatest of caliphs in life.
And you, his son, bestow upon his son today what sufficed

66. Your father - abundant independence and bounty.
So persist forever, as the sun and moon endure,

67. Filling the days with sunlight and the nights with radiance.
O you who called me toward fortune, so I pitched

68. My abode in the most glorious mansion.
When I saw you appear in the world’s dawning,

69. My eyes were dazzled with clarity.
The kings of earth are ransom for you from fate's assail,

70. And that is the least of sacrifices if we measure.
You are the best of those who have marked the earth

71. With digging a canal or trailing a garment.
Gentle when faced with the necklace of pearls,

72. Generous when given provision in youth.
The most handsome of God's creations in appearance

73. When you appear on a steed beneath the banner's shade.
To me there is no pride in shining faces

74. If morals are not equally resplendent.
We humble ourselves before your greatness and meet you

75. Unable to restrain our necks' haughtiness.
Most wondrous in generosity you incline to praise,

76. Needing no intercessors for the prosperous.
A crescent, ever growing, that is full in its light,

77. A full moon, ever perfecting its increase.
Its nights are white as pearls in the justice of its rule -

78. So may it persist eternally in the chain of continuity!
May God grant you, when your rain pours forth,

79. A torrent that does not cease except from downpour.
It seems my praise of you is a necklace

80. That adds beauty in the eyes of the discerning.
When a man's praise exceeds his worth,

81. It is nothing but vain vituperation.
One who clothes his slender stature in a long sword

82. Will have his garb of dignity stripped.
While I had undervalued verse, your gifts refused

83. To be sold except at a high price.
I composed the order of poems in praise

84. To attain reward after the night of ascension.
Virtue from the eggs that, due to their polish

85. And their excellent inborn nature, God has illuminated my talent’s fire.
Yet in truth, O source of virtue, I see in you no claim

86. Other than the rhyme of my prayer.
For the people know well that you have always

87. Surpassed the furthest reaches of the learned.
Time will not fail to produce many great men,