1. For whom are flowing robes like silk curtains,
Cast by fate upon the expanse of the deserts,

2. They contended with darkness and from it dawned
A shirt whose edges were fringed by the dawn light,

3. If the raven cries over the abode of Sa'dah
You become anxious while all else remain undisturbed,

4. One evening I left you without bidding farewell,
But where is farewell needed for seekers of union?

5. So I found no solace in her, a delicate damsel
Whose brother was slain on the day of turmoil,

6. On the morrow among the youths who lost their loved ones
And met with the heat of piercing, deadly lances,

7. The rolling folds contended in perturbation
To ask about her brother each wailing woman,

8. I look upon Capella, and it looks upon Suhail,
Feeder of mothers, from the newborn separated,

9. And between the star and star of al-Yaman
Is as between the spearpoint and mirror image,

10. So none may approach you but noble ladies
Who disdain sighing and loud lamentations,

11. They ruled the desolate valleys and every wilderness
Of hidden trails and cleft ravines,

12. Like spear-tips, leveled,
At the cheeks of maidens and chaste ladies,

13. The blood of maidens after the necklaces of Nejd
Were displaced by the pulling of the twisted ropes,

14. They repelled the slaves of darkness until
From them appeared a bouquet with gleaming flowers,

15. And the stars of night were scattered by it
Like sheep scattered by their shepherd,

16. Companies of cavalry from the clan of Na'sh
Took the place of earrings on the ear of the beloved,

17. The returning messengers turned away
From passions that ferment into affliction,

18. As if the full moon wore above it the Pleiades
A sovereign over which jeweled crowns shine,

19. It greets the night though night is its enemy
Just as you greet me though I make you suffer,

20. He called me to wealth but I turned away,
A youth who could not grasp the reins of his mount,

21. He knows not what I lack and what abounds in me
Nor the extent of my poverty and need,

22. Abu Shujaa tried both conditions
But grasped neither my joy nor my sorrow,

23. By your father's life, the clan of Tamim
Most deserves that I make peace with them,

24. And before you none of Thaqaf ibn Sa'd's kin
Disobeyed me, so Thaqaf ibn Sa'd increased my crookedness,

25. I will gift to Ibn Hamd's son some wise sayings
Of words guarded without corruption,

26. Lo! By God and the virtuous, a people
Who esteem the rose garden of their neighbor,

27. I sought refuge so which refuge of one seeking protection
Did I cling to, and which shelter gave me peace?

28. And your noble one accustomed me to charge against spears
A generous man who never disappoints one who hopes,

29. His face brings joy, the smile upon it
Is like light upon Babylonian glass,

30. Say to the splendor of Al-Kisra's family
"Aid Hasan whom you addressed in intimacy,"

31. You will remember him if events donned
Their mantles, negating depression and grief,

32. And which person is like my father 'Ali
If natural talents surpass expectations?

33. He who contains in life the least joy
And is most perceptive of misery or mirth,

34. A flowered meadow is my visit to him and roses a river
To one with an Iraqi accent and bent branches,

35. He shows you nothing but kindness though he is yours
Forever devoted in his inclination,

36. Through him your anxiety was relieved after distress
And tribulations reached their conclusion,

37. And the day at Basra his hands stripped away
The flinging to and fro of the two swords,

38. And men crouched to leap, lions
Against the enemy's assault like angry lions,

39. And so reward him with an abode
To soothe your eye in the Hijaz,

40. At Ahvaz leading spirited horses
Who gushed forth from the troughs and paddocks,

41. When their hybrids passed through a land
They adorned it with gowns of varied colors,

42. Prancing at the halting places, every spear
As if its point were the flame of a lamp,

43. That is the youth from whom goblets are passed
And his care is known to intimate friends,

44. For you see no difference in life
Between sweetness and bitterness,

45. Most of these passions are madness
And illness cured only by remedies,

46. All people other than you, Ibn Hamd,
And other than I fear the fickle days,

47. It's not because we're equal in them
Though some praise while in rage,