1. When she promised with beauty on a day of twisted sands,
Her covenants left me only with delay.

2. Her tents shone from the full moons and circled
Above the bending [horizon] from the brightest stars.

3. The pain of her eyelashes from the glances of a beauty -
The charm of her glances filled with languor.

4. Her glances are like stars
That took aim in the sky of beauty beyond any peer.

5. She donned the fine writing of poetry as cloaks -
Youth quenched them in vintage poured on parchment.

6. The stallions were adorned with what was in her cheeks -
The adornment of steeds with strung pearls.

7. She spent the night watching over the wounded of love -
The sanctuary of the heart, not the refuge of pasture and sand.

8. Indeed, in her abode gathered a foursome
Of dark clouds, ever rains pouring.

9. With laughter that elicits smiles in the gardens at watering places
From cheeks that entice the meadows’ bushes.

10. She sways the slender twigs toward the gazelle,
As the young oryx glance at her from sleepy eyes.

11. She renews from those features covenants
I promised regarding the beauty of her face and form.

12. She captivates and the teeth of her eyelids when she is amorous
Turn the cups of comfort with a languorous gaze.

13. My friend, stay with me in the dwellings so we may
Inquire of their singer about the youthful foal.

14. Stay so she may return the word, or perhaps
I will leave with her some of the madness that is within me.

15. If she pauses for your sake an hour,
Then pause by those landmarks for my sake.

16. For many a beauty from the tents, their new moons
Shone for us in the darkness of flowering nights.

17. They revealed to us from the brink of a paralyzed love
That returns at dawn in a clear caravan.

18. Of the antelopes, a white-thighed doe
Said, “I am slain by love without reserve.”

19. “My union is in sacrificing myself, if you desire it,
Else, parting is nearer to me than union.”

20. So I said to her, while my eyes overflowed in gratitude,
And in my heart was a burning fire, its coolness boiling:

21. “I ransom you, O my soul, with my kingdom, but
Sa’d of the wilderness gained it before me.”

22. The Imam of guidance, ocean of dew, vanquisher of enemies,
Ally of dew ceaselessly bestowing.

23. He is the pure scholar whose right hand
Apportions what bounty lies in both worlds.

24. He is the revealer of the secret of creation, whom
I quenched my thirst from the symbol of truth that he manifests.

25. He is the displayer of the light whereby
The realities of genus and categories appeared.

26. He is the source of rulings and the wisdom
That shows us the clear path of truth.

27. He is the overflowing of light, the banner that,
By mentioning his name, rain is summoned in place.

28. He whispers to the shadow of God the secrets
As they are in the Mother of the Book in origin.

29. The desired, the desire of truth, his kingdom remains unceasing,
Seen by the conjunction of fortune collected whole.

30. Thus the felicity of Sa’d al-Din in an age like his
Is a martyr of God’s oneness and justice.

31. Blessed is he who granted him a rightly guided view
Upon which the sword flashes like a cutting blade.

32. Without you, O felicitous Sa’d, the knots of this kingdom would not
Have been undone, with slaughtered necks bleeding.

33. And this attendant is in your right, beneath him
Taking the place of the white land and the withered grasses.

34. The kingdom is but a beauty by you made,
Else what is the merit of antelopes without beauty?

35. O Sa’d whose mention traveled
Like the morning breeze between the two orbits of day and night!

36. One whom the spheres obey his desires
And one whom the spheres almost record what he dictates!

37. To your door the eulogies came as if
Cast by the eyes of beasts, concentrating their gaze.

38. Poetry cannot be consoled by your description, but
It has risen in the celestial sphere, eulogizing you on high.

39. The poets’ strengths rise up and the meter of their verse
Vies as dignified she-camels vie the looks of overlords.

40. It has lineage in Tai [tribe] but it grew
Between the gardens of Damascus in torrents of generosity.

41. Delicate, pure of nature - if she is soft,
The limit of her bite makes swords slick.

42. And how many like her I have among the Romans, but
God forbid you are like drops in a foreign land.

43. Knowledge, wisdom and argument summoned her to you
And she hopes for nothing but your abundant bestowal.

44. She came to glean from the plenty of your ease,
And obtain blessing in your presence without delay.

45. Nothing remained of her patience but an antelope
Suspended between promises and procrastination.

46. So why do you not grant her special intercession?
For your command is like fate, prevailing over all.

47. By God, she is no less than the slain of love,
A Muslim in surrender to your nobility.

48. You are the nobility whose nobility is bounty, and one who
Doubts is like one who doubts God and His messengers.