1. I marvel at my heart, how it pours forth and wearies,
And the coolness of my youth is interwoven with gray hair.

2. I yearn for one who does not yearn for me—would that
He who was infatuated knew how his lovers feel!

3. He keeps me from all I had hoped for
And indulges me in all I fear.

4. He puts me off with promises from him, yet
Only one who will not fulfill delays the appointed time.

5. He resides in my heart and thoughts,
And every day my heart trembles for him.

6. Once I had lured passion the day they went away,
But a caller brought it back to the branch, shouting.

7. I lament while my heart is devoid of passion,
And my eyes shed tears while his eyes are dry.

8. Woe to passion—may God destroy it! Its pursuits
Are a trivial thing, a mere embellishment of the world.

9. One who does not persist in contentment seeks to please,
And one who is not just seeks favors from an unjust one.

10. I say to one content with virtue and eminence
Who scowls atop the saddle and is sullen:

11. Submit yourself to the command of the eminent shaykh, for you
Had aspired to be like him in glory.

12. To plunge into generosity, knowledge, integrity,
And valor when men stand in awe and halt.

13. I swear by the Sanctuary and Zamzam
And what Khayf has maintained and made honorable,

14. By disheveled pilgrims who came bare
And took refuge in the Pillars and circumambulated—

15. That you excel in every virtue
And I love benevolence among us and grow more enamored,

16. That when people raced in an arena,
You entered it as a frontrunner while they lagged behind.

17. So O eminent man of high rank! Yours
Is the most lofty position in honor and eminence.

18. It gladdens you that God has given you precedence over enemies
Who had looked to you with hope and aspired.

19. But they returned crestfallen in their hides
From the guile they had sharpened and made subtle.

20. Yet by God, your fortress did not avail them,
Nor the false words they fabricated and distorted.

21. They wished—when their arrows went astray from you—
That they had not done what they undertook.

22. Woe! Forgive their sins gently, for their family's sake,
For clemency is more appropriate for nobles and sublime.

23. Until people say al-Mufaddal was excessive
In his forgiveness of them, as they said they were excessive in wrongdoing.

24. What you pardon, you do for God, and feel safe
Tomorrow from one whom you see fearful today.

25. None but the gracious conciliator is privy among us
To the secrets of hearts.

26. As for Abu Sufyan, be harsh with him,
For there is efficacy in the palm if you examine it closely.

27. Is he not the one who expressed goodwill to you in person
And was not deterred from you by the intimidating enemy?

28. And when you took the steep path and found him
Behind you, preventing people from transgressing against you?

29. And one like you grants rights their due care,
While others neither care for nor sympathize.

30. I am not one who supports you out of greed—
And where is greed in one who is not covetous?

31. I would have refrained, were your outstanding merit not so evident,
When my praise was appointed, and I improvised poetry.

32. Below you in rank, no poet has ever undertaken
Such meaningful verses, for truth cannot be contrived.