1. As you both said, youth’s innocence lies in despair,
With no recourse but to feign composure.

2. In passion there are no sweet pastures
Nor fresh sweet springs to delight the senses.

3. My questions to the love gurus are met with silence;
I complain to one whose heart is hard.

4. My locks turned white while my heart burnt within;
As if righteousness found its home steadfast.

5. Yet these are but parchment pages
Faded white by the bleach of old age.

6. As if healers learned medicine
Only after much trial and error.

7. I extended a hand to the doctor but he directed it
To my jugular, content with monitoring my breath.

8. Still, this lightning kept provoking me
Whether a glowing ember or a shining lamp.

9. On a night of union, the steps of time raced heedlessly
By the drowsiness of a wakeful guardian.

10. No horses’ hooves clattered for the two lovebirds,
No legs were shackled on a blossoming meadow.

11. The bright smiles of dawn are like
The radiance of the Abbasids’ rightly-guided Imam.

12. He is the heir, the light that was a sign
To past generations since the days of Elias.

13. Else, people would have no rest at night,
His brilliance illuminating every settlement.

14. As if Allah’s messenger had bequeathed his cloak
To the rightly-guided guide on Mount Ras.

15. A conscience burnished by wisdom and piety,
And a palm endowed with munificence.

16. Veiled in glory - else the corners of earth
Would swarm with people to behold him.

17. The age resides in his shade; his company
Like days of celebration and nights of weddings.

18. He pastured them in safety’s meadow, spared from fear,
Clothing them in riches after destitution.

19. He gentled the obstinate with his grace;
Among them only scales of justice.

20. He protects that Revered House - forbidden
To sharp-clawed eagles above its courtyard.

21. Else Allah’s she-camel, though barren,
Would have tasted no assassin’s dagger.

22. As for one shaded by clouds releasing
Bolts of lighting - what harm from warring foes?

23. For the procession of his generosity, spoils in his funds
Were never apportioned by fifths.

24. From veiled knowledge he derives information;
No good in a man’s opinion lacking perception.

25. No injustices are recalled in his recollection,
No rights of Allah forgotten for other men.

26. But for him, religion would be downtrodden,
Trampled underfoot, preyed on by young lions.

27. He quenched it with waters of glory till it flourished,
And branches burgeoned with ripening fruits.

28. So do not raise falsehood’s flag today;
Can one exhume what lies in the abyss?

29. The Merciful backs him in every tribulation,
With triumph causing even lions to retreat.

30. Battalions of destiny annihilate his enemies
Sans stroke of Eccha’s sword or Sheesa’s spears.

31. How often you saw a day where he donned
Armor destined for epics by sublime poets!

32. He prepares for battle as the moon gleams;
The angels attend and ancient armies descend.

33. The Egyptian knew his soldiers
Were disks of Joseph and the plague of Amwas.

34. They surrounded him until he doubted himself,
Sensing dread of some power.

35. Palaces over the encampment now seem
Like the wilds of Samaawa and ruins of Edhra.

36. The Prince of Faithful’s arrows are schemes,
Many arrowheads strike sans firing from bows.

37. He is the Chosen, taking piety as provision,
His essence pure, his image immaculate.

38. When the train of kings steps on his carpet,
Every victorious Sasanian withers.

39. Before him skulls and minds bow down,
Every being of dignity grows humble.

40. They swear by the Prophet’s remnant:
The heart within the breast and the eye within the head.

41. And they vie for a bite of Luayy son of Ghalib -
His lineage counts every ancient house.

42. Of caliphs who built its edifice,
With the tallest pillars and firmest foundations.

43. Their states nurtured Islam’s law
And steered the nation’s affairs sagely.

44. Stars - when deluded astrologers lose their way,
Their fires raised upon minarets provide guidance.

45. On days of turmoil their goblets are triumphs;
If they fight, their arrows never fail.

46. They filled the world with their speech’s fragrance
As rattles fill ears in a bridal procession.

47. Ascetics of the night who spurn repose,
Lions of dawn who flout the jackals.

48. None who enslaved his heart to passion,
Nor did the brimming cup make advances.

49. Their gear whether for hajj or jihad
Was embroidered robes and noble steeds.

50. They are the Imam’s forebears and kin -
Noble roots producing excellent branches.

51. You have graced the Prince of Faithfuls with bounty
And wholesome life in shade ever-verdant.

52. Still the eminent come on deputations
With gifts arriving in continual caravans.

53. You announced sanctuary till pilgrims of wishes
Could attain their wants, unlike the destitute.

54. No boon but you extravagantly clothed its folk
Save the reticent you appointed its attire.

55. Favors wherein gifts to the Heesan and Haabis line
While would that the Mirdas clan had its equal!

56. What grievance have I when your sea of grace teems,
Its waves lapping in the hall of hospitality?

57. For you ritually kindle lamps
In which no wicks were lit aforetime.

58. I seek haven in your sacrosanct valley
Lest I fall prey to the era’s peering archer.

59. By God! The days’ caprice and justice
And vexations exceed all bounds.

60. If you resurrect my bliss, you are its guardian;
My wishes from your assistance are never disjointed.

61. With the slightest praise you grant us heights;
No wonder pearls may be strung using diamonds.

62. If the breast of generosity for you is abundant,
Pearls of Labun may be threaded using ebony.

63. The days have shunned us, but you remain unscathed,
Safe from their schemes to undo our union.

64. So long as you are sound, the days’ changing fortunes
Do not threaten your family with fear or harm.