1. I looked, desiring only my cure,
So I treated sickness with stubborn medicine.

2. She appeared, and her veil was her palms,
To eyes made sore with weeping.

3. So she was an allurement that weakened us
With the beauty of that covered and the beauty of the covering.

4. She says, when I blamed her in the wilderness:
"Can the sun rest anywhere but the sky?"

5. And he did not cease to insult me, and if you see
Men's hearts as stubborn as women's...

6. And I continued to grieve more than they,
So patience taught me through prolonged estrangement.

7. And I am, due to the calamities of love,
Bent double like the canal of the bend.

8. I fast while your water is not for the roses,
And I live while your fire is not for warmth.

9. Who is deceived is deceived by a mirage
And is deluded by a false lightning flash.

10. But to God is our stance and our reproaching
Where shame blooms on the cheek like a rose.

11. Beauty has poured in it a copious torrent
To which the teary eyes flock.

12. My gaze follows the stars' paths;
Mayhap they will lift the veil of bashfulness.

13. You saunter with your body atop the mounts
And toss away your heart among the wolves!

14. My covenant with you bearing it cannot be denied
By any subtle interpretation or firm obligation.

15. I turned away from a shining sword with fever,
And turned away from kohl with sty.

16. And were it not for the treason of the color of virginity,
I would have sold the bonds of love at a high price!

17. And how many nights have I drawn the youths
To my chest as I draw my cloak.

18. Had I control of my affair, I'd buy
That darkness with this illumination!

19. And they said: "You have reached the prime of youth,
And whoever does not grow old will not attain survival."

20. And the source of glory springs up only from
The sides of a tall, smooth-bodied mare.

21. Who lag behind me in the house of disgrace,
Restless there and stumbling in slowness.

22. I fled with my honor from those you see
Of the hypocrites to the firm ones.

23. And were it not for the noble chieftain
The promise would not have walked the roads of loyalty.

24. But through the generosity of my father Qasim
Glories were lived after decay.

25. He is of manifest lineage in the high pursuits,
While others in pretense are counted.

26. His bounties shine resplendent,
And through him the heights of loftiness gape wide.

27. Eyes roam when they discern him
In the garden of his grace and plentiful watering.

28. If you scent his lightning then attachment-
Yearning shines like the gleam of illumination.

29. That people were imprinted with dew
Upon the path of the constant downpour.

30. He counts providing the means of praise
With abundant gifts as alchemy.

31. His hands pour without sieving
When the scum seeks the strainer of the cupbearer.

32. He quivers at the wafting of a request
As the litters quiver with the hired camel-drivers.

33. So his glories are like a watering place,
And the tone of his asker like warbling.

34. Created from excellent stock molded
With the incense of praise added to it.

35. You’d think the wine and the clear
Sky-blue drink are pressed of their scent and clarity.

36. As if the knotting of kinship ties with him
Were upon a withering or a ruin.

37. They meet misfortunes when he tries them
With ample room and a capacious breast,

38. And resolve as the whirlwinds solidified in air
Poured into the atmosphere.

39. You see in him resolve, discretion,
Wisdom united in one vessel.

40. Nothing captivates the eye like a man
Who contends with him in splendor.

41. In him are proofs that have grown insolent
Of the two testifiers testifying to him in song.

42. In the blade's gleam the onlookers find
Evidence of its sharpness and polish.

43. The ransom might be paid before flight
And the race might be judged before contention.

44. Nor does the caravan's desire guide them,
Your brilliance in a standard or flag.

45. Goodness to you belongs, from one saying and doing,
Who built the highest edifice with glories.

46. You vowed, should you attain grand affairs,
That you would not be adorned with arrogance.

47. So had your soul been granted all it desired
You'd not have increased it beyond this loftiness.

48. In everything we found disagreement,
Yet in you we saw no contention for them.

49. Therefore sincere devotion inclined to you
Until it halted at this courtyard.

50. Without you it would be like a swing
Swaying between dawn and evening:

51. If the north star ties it, the sun of the Haba'
Tears it; if the sun ties it, the north star tears it.

52. And how many yearnings I have in Baghdad
Asking about your quarters - what are my lodgings?

53. I said: a resident who fulfills wishes
And unites wealth with song.

54. With a magnificent man whose buckets in the sky
Follow his hand in the showers.

55. When the pens compete, his palms
Suffice over both, wading into blood.

56. The leaders called him "chieftain" through him,
And that was from their severity and peace.

57. After trials they praised his traits
And praise comes after tribulation.

58. May God water your house with the water of bliss
And embroider it with the gardens of splendor!

59. May cups of joy always circle around you,
Drawing from plentiful meadows.

60. You were congratulated for feast and festival,
Both prospered by one greeting with delight.

61. We found them to be as you love
And as you desire with sincerity of prayer.