1. Saad visited while the night's robe was trailing,
So the watcher had nothing but hints to unveil,

2. And Saad, when she visited, wore nothing
But the does and the pitcher that gave her plenty,

3. Saad shot me with a glance from her eyebrows,
So my heart was wounded and slain among the two camps,

4. Her scarf was like my restless heart, folded,
And her wrists were silent, chained and fettered,

5. O short night with reproach, I think it
Shortened by her blame or lengthened by her height,

6. My night talks with her continued until the
Dawn broke and the warblers began their song,

7. Her veil and her voice, she cared not for the veil,
And some of the veil was surrendered and given,

8. Smooth from smoothness or smoothness itself,
By her ankles the anklets at a walk do jingle,

9. You see nothing in her but gentleness from her cloak,
No harshness comes from her, nor twist and bend,

10. I knew no sorrow until I fell for her,
And making peace with her brought woes untold,

11. I found no critic in love but one foolish,
Who knew not love adorns a man with grace,

12. Is it fit for love but one of courtesy,
In faithfulness and keeping troth well-bred?

13. Or how can words help that youth has spoiled,
When reason rules and passion lies dead?

14. A man in love has two hearts busy with it,
Another, for a time, from it withdrawn,

15. No warning of my graying hair can sway me
From loving her, though I wished to feign,

16. Love is but youth’s feast, fulfilled and perfected,
Before, a transfer, then cause and reason,

17. Worthier for one who knows and masters a thing,
To make it sweet, with zeal and labor filled,

18. Saad's company has troubled me, the passion
Grows with remembrance and imagination stirred,

19. And the lone doves of the battlefield have maddened me,
Complaining when the night brings heavy dew,

20. As though she sees in my love no substitute,
Though to replace lovers is simple and slight,

21. Or she decided we're related in poetry
In rhyme and passion where hearts are chained,

22. But in praise, I have specified Ahmad,
Whose glory the sayings recite,

23. He is the King time sought, to enthrone and perfect,
One said in praise or lauded his shade,

24. Say of him, or say, a King who mends when fate does wrong,
So one who calls him has help like a neighbor,

25. He gives generously at first, while apologizing
That lavish praise is insignificant,

26. The people are between the aura of his palm
And the dew of his hand, while he rules both states,

27. When his rising glowed on France,
And his hands showered them with new moons,

28. The serpents envied him until their chieftain said:
"We have two accountable and responsible clouds,"

29. If holding great splendor back gave him peace,
The land's praises of him would not cease,

30. In his fair morals, the signs have purified them,
Contemplate; and from benevolence, lessons,

31. He kept with them a rank that enlightened,
Each busied spreading his qualities,

32. Until he rose great though young, and glorified
Though their elder, preferring the last first,

33. No one remained in East or West,
Whose praise of him was not conveyed and told,

34. And excellent poetry cannot match a King,
In praise generally or in detail,

35. The least of his signs cannot be matched
By long praises composed and spun,

36. To share names with others, yet his surplus of merit
Made sure no one shared superiority,

37. In his praise the Arabic poets I preferred,
Above Persian philosophers where verse is weak,

38. Whoever in verse is conventional and seeks him
Bears his rhymes, so the convention bears the burden,

39. He never ceased in his folk, successive in praise,
Bearing adversity, resolve fulfilled,

40. He ruled the lands with justice, not distracted
By vanity and falsehood’s empty noises,

41. He stood by religion and the world, so they never
Ceased, prosperous, with no deceits imposed,

42. He never rose up except on wealth he freely gave,
And rose up, people and family to support,

43. If the sword and scroll were equal, they would not differ,
And would balance, with his decree today amended,

44. Or if the people made peace with age’s orbit,
Generation would greet generation in his gift,

45. O green Tunisia, his presence has filled you,
As long as on earth there is rain, ever-flowing,

46. If Egypt prides the Nile's flooding seasons,
In you, always, are his rains of plenty,

47. As if you are Persia boasting of its lands,
When all pride is contained in your heavens,

48. Praise for his blessed return he presents,
Might and victory, glorification and esteem,

49. He did not leave a land but grants when he comes
Abundance, ease therein secured,

50. In the West, his brilliance, and all the earth,
Praise him, prayers always linked,

51. He is God's shadow, his substitute, and his sword
To vanquish enemies, its sharpness whetted,

52. Would he be opposed but by the most wretched, whose
Rush to doom before victory was hurried?

53. His determination is supported, God grants triumph,
Wisdom guided, and fate a mystery,

54. If he wills a thing, its sequel fulfills his aim,
Or ordains a thing, by success brought about,

55. Of refined throat, of praised deeds,
Majestic, his satisfaction is to please God,

56. May God eternally grant him pride of all,
And crowns on the foreheads from his hands,

57. And may he remain happy, his time joyous through him
As long as a reciter recites revelation,

58. For the believer, after prayer for him,
Is a believer, and through him ruin is denied.