1. I yearn for the exalted in seeking praise,
The yearning of uncouth nomads for Najd.

2. Every love but love of her union
Is futile, though persistent to the extent.

3. Aloof from joy is my hue and my nature,
Adversity cannot reach the depths within.

4. I spurned the debts of singing girls and stilled
The messages that remedy the fervor.

5. And they said, after disowning me as a youth,
You turned away, what led you to avoidance?

6. When I saw gifts were few,
I became ascetic, hoping fate would spurn my asceticism.

7. I harbored despair without greed thereafter,
Until I am buried in the grave.

8. I have not forgotten living in al-Jazirah and the bliss
When life makes me forget its goodness from old.

9. He fulfilled the need of the visitor as if
He visits when darkness falls upon a promise.

10. Those desolate places and ruins have not ceased
To smile at thunder over the roar.

11. The violent winds pass through them sickly
As if they contain what hearts contain of fervor.

12. When they wrap their murmur in their places
The musk is squeezed and the roses shattered.

13. Ask the caravan about me, shall I meet their party
And return like the deaf from the murk?

14. They tested me at the supplies and the surplus provisions
And when the fifths attacked the flowers.

15. By God, I have a day in which I did not obey
A desire, though it reached the jugular in exertion.

16. I flee as if I am an offender of the unlawful
Who shed blood of a relative intentionally.

17. And I was certain that partisanship would shame my obtainer
And that is a touch too coarse for my skin.

18. I am determined and it is enough that the sword knows
Me in fear, as if I am a captive in irons and shackles.

19. The wilderness was not too narrow for the wanderer
Crossing its distance and purposefully.

20. I saw Abu Nasr and his cheek had not blackened -
His merit sufficed him over old age for leadership.

21. So I did not don my ropes with weak resolve
Rather, I strove with the resolute and hardy.

22. And most frightening, worries do not divert him
From fate, fulfilling its affairs, or from fortune.

23. Rival of the edges of the sharp tongues, glorified,
He sees wisdom more befitting men than excess.

24. When one day you fear it and aspire to it
You will meet your end or be free of toil.

25. The penetrating glance at mankind is a trait,
As is approaching from afar and jest in earnest.

26. The whiteness of his eyes makes his complexion
Act like the rays of sun on sleepy eyes.

27. He gestured with the eye of a falcon, saw his prey,
And lowered his gaze like the shy lion.

28. How can I repay the glance of an eye that inclined
To me from afar, without visit or pact?

29. And your saying to me, you have not come but for a need,
Is not my need for your remaining glorious?

30. You have restored and initiated what you deserve
And you were worthy to repeat as you display.

31. I contemplated testing the people's bounty, who
Would help turn away ill fortunes or bring them?

32. Among them was none to undertake a feat
Except you, no guardian more rational and praised.

33. And others, the good words deluded,
The good places do not prove ability and limit.

34. It warded off the striking of worry when it shook me
With my palms, as if I was striking with a sheath.

35. And it protected you from adversities, every rival
Who sees fancy as more guided in matters to propriety.

36. It tossed at you but when it did not find a defect in you
It exceeded the rancor of enviers into hatred.

37. If you are a king among many kings
You are among them uniquely wise and empowered.

38. There are stars in the horizons of the sky, rising,
But among them there is no single one except the unique planet.

39. Your father called me and al-Jazirah was between us,
A noble call that cannot be rejected.

40. I, when he searched people longing
To bestow desires and aid with my soul,

41. It did not harm me that I was the last to arrive
And that I was not on the day of pilgrimage among the delegation.

42. I have not deviated from forbearance, despair, and dew
When the tribes arrive, missing an absence.

43. The rain quenched the grave of the crown of the faith and leveled
The torrents of gullies and valleys.

44. For he was a pillar of virtues and ascension
While you are the white hand from that shoulder.