1. My heart blames you, O belovèd, so hasten
Your arrow before the archer is too far.

2. Love has reached in my heart’s secret a place
That cannot be reached by blaming or rebuttal.

3. My suppressed anguish makes my tears flow
And my tears testify to my passion.

4. How can I come to visit you at night
When fierce lions obstruct the way to you?

5. The messenger reaches you with kindness
Then returns from you to me enviously.

6. I watch for your promise but without it
To the zealous one, your threat is sufficient.

7. Woe to your charm when it allures youths
Disheveled, whom sorcery makes stoop.

8. It made love forget them but awoke desire
In their breasts while their eyes were asleep.

9. It revealed to them the beautiful one’s face gently
So to it on their mounts they bow down.

10. O friend, time’s nature refuses
That its gifts be marred by taking back.

11. So rise to enjoy happy occasions
For life is a necklace whose pearls are counted.

12. Do you not see the stars appearing
Above the sky as if each were unique?

13. And the moon, around which the planets shine
In the bosom of a gloomy night, still.

14. As if they are the flowers of the imams
That have adorned the horizon of guidance.

15. The guide of guides, by his knowledge the banner
Whose station was superior to all people.

16. In whose breast the secret of God’s religion was placed
From which falsehood recoiled, subdued.

17. He possessed the sciences so he went to its people
A king who protected them with his extended shade.

18. When the scholars gather in an assembly
The master and lowly will be distinguished.

19. Detached for God, championing His religion
While the sword is the best adornment when unsheathed.

20. The religion is exalted above all things by his raising it
While its enemy in its grasp is crushed.

21. His love is a limit in the wilderness, dividing
Misguidance and guidance, well-defined.

22. So he ransomed the derelict among the tribes
Whom a virulent, chronic disease had emaciated.

23. His virtues multiplied while his soul diminished
Like a blade grows sharper as it is sharpened.

24. And those who distorted his words
While falsehood is the pillar of his integrity, ruined.

25. It does not matter what the transgressors have said, so they increased
While God is Witness to the clear truth.

26. You have conveyed to the sultan sound arguments, and now
You initiate saying and repeat.

27. Doubts have been dispelled from certainty
As columns of light dispel the darkness.

28. You have done the utmost possible, but
Among people, benevolence is often fruitless.

29. So today the enemies are humbled and frightened
By the banner of your majesty, bound tight.

30. They have reached the extent of what is willed, so He has returned them to you
The Master of Victory and Support.

31. Sometimes the enemies’ schemes accumulate
And more firmness is added to what is ordained.

32. That is how people vainly oppose
While God makes unity settle in the breast.

33. I ask God to increase your prominence
If above you there is increase for the eminent.

34. And may celebrations continue in your favor, bending
One feast, and the next arrives with good tidings.

35. O you whom I envied for the honor I gained through you
While the words of enviers against the youth are refuted.

36. I swear by the nobility like modern henna
Above which are elders of sincerity from Kinanah.

37. They made the sacred town throng with them
All humbled, equalling obedient camels.

38. And they hastened to it, every tribe’s courtyard
As pilgrims to the Lord of Mankind.

39. The slanderers did not speak truth in what they conveyed
No! And the known did not change.

40. But when I glanced around me
Like the cautious hunter watches for prey.

41. And the supporters dispersed while the enemies
Gathered greedily, can crowds suffice one man?

42. I decided to take refuge in a loved one
But found the way to her blocked.

43. I held my tongue in caution, and sometimes
The silent one's sword remains sheathed.

44. I withheld speech while the enemies surrounded me
Cautiously, like the composer avoids rhythm.

45. And I disobeyed them to please you
To the extent of what is possible, and matters have limits.

46. That was not because, without you, generosity
Pleased me, apart from you I have no munificence.

47. But out of jealousy that time’s corruption
Would make me neglect a service while others are present.

48. So reconsider the case of the afflicted, sometimes
You blamed some people yet they are praiseworthy.

49. Is my devotion to the generous like
What your experience of men permits?

50. Or is it conceivable that something obvious
Escapes you, both intimate and affectionate?

51. Do not consider hypocrites to be sincere
Not all polished iron is iron.

52. And hold on to those whose sincere devotion
One day became evident, for concord is fecund.

53. After my ordeal, even if it did not please you,
Days of sincerity, all witnessed.

54. Have I deserved your threats when
Patience is that the promise be fulfilled?

55. And I listen to the excuse for a crime I did not commit
The wretched is happy for what he has attained.

56. I hoped for what time has done to others
Planting is effort and harvests, gifts.

57. I will weep over it my whole life
Not like Layla wept to the extent that she did.

58. Friends, blame has increased, so lessen it
Until we return to pleasure and you return.

59. Do not abandon us to injury after
We were bent to beauty’s bonds.

60. Do not shun me, for against what I was inclined to
By fate, only shunning you is freezing.

61. Reconcile, for my soul is created
To love you, and changing nature is difficult.

62. If what the slanderers claimed is true,
My share of you will remain estrangement and distance.

63. After fifteen years of companionship
Will I forget you? I must be ungrateful!

64. Between us is a pact that softens
A young man’s heart even if it is hardened.

65. And the precedents of service that refine
Continuity and turning white with age.

66. O you whom awe obstructs the way to
Perplexed, do I advance a step or return?

67. My eye did not lack your image for an hour
So nearness and distance became indistinguishable.

68. Be however you wish, for even if you do not let me approach
The love in me will eternally increase.

69. If the old affection has ended, excuse it
For there is new love you can choose.

70. Or you did not want me as a servant in my youth
So you remained while I want those whom you want.