1. From a graceful neck that bid farewell in peace,
And restrained the flow of tears as they hastened,

2. Appeared the beautiful white wrists, displaying
Their charms completely to his eyes.

3. Like a full moon veiled in darkness,
Flirting with a lion masked in iron.

4. Or a moist branch wrapped in soft fine silk,
Swaying gently with the stir of its trailing ends.

5. They tempered the sweetness of love with bitterness,
So he sipped what was disliked from her.

6. If love's union someday disintegrates,
Have the strength through patience to reconstruct it.

7. When an ardent lover visits, they count me
Among the false ones, though once I listened and saw.

8. Evading the sweetness of my cheek's soft skin,
Though it murmurs musk when gently stroked.

9. And in sleep he grants me what, had I sought awake,
Would have been refused by him and denied by me.

10. Does time bare its claws to pounce
On the valiant, marching them off undetained?

11. Resigned to events, enamored of its own nonexistence,
Lessening and humiliating lest it be disgraced and submit.

12. And charging the innocent with accusations,
Having already accused them falsely among people.

13. Oh wonder of verse! Are its strange, wondrous expressions
Like a serpent spewing poison from its dripping fangs?

14. When have I not illuminated every perplexing line
With speech that glows with limpid nectar?

15. And channeled from the river of eloquence streams
That flow and return to nourish the wilderness.

16. I have excelled in its wondrous subtleties,
Beyond what any predecessor strove to attain.

17. Is there, oh Prince, a hearer to my innocence,
Which I establish impartial between the two ranks?

18. Praise, that when you see the polish of its composition,
You imagine it joined like gems of pure brilliance.

19. A knight who vied with the lofty before he was weaned,
And shepherded justice before he could walk steadily.

20. A steed who when he fulfills his duty generously,
Does supererogatory acts out of love for bounty.

21. We seek his closeness like the sun at its zenith,
And when far on the horizon, like the rising sun.

22. Asking with expertise in nobility,
And if we forget to ask, he volunteers.

23. When the talented panegyrist is inspired, his discernment
Also excels, enhanced by his excellent gifts.

24. And if time injures with its harms,
His manners within it become most harmful and beneficial.

25. The noble deeds of the famed performer, when rulers
Don them, excel even rulers in nobility.

26. His rest whose direction, when clouds pour,
The shelter cannot compare, so cool and ample.

27. You see the hopes of the prosperous need his overflowing stream,
Yet you never see his enemies hoping in him.

28. The feats of the master of feats begin
Naturally when the questioner one day pretends.

29. When the morning passes in its torrents,
It turns away, leaving the late night squared.

30. Features fairer than the garden's adornments to behold,
And better than the work of clouds as pasture.

31. O father of Taghlib, you remain conquering the age,
When the multitude turn and flee terrified.

32. You engage them with the sword without deceit,
And stab them deeply with mortal wounds.

33. Prepare one studying your exemplary deeds,
For the excuse has been clearly exposed and convinced.

34. In you I have means to praise handsomely,
Enabling me to properly place the craft.

35. And secondly, your cousin Saifi,
Were he to implore the rain, it would quickly pour.