1. Mount up, my camels, for glory, and strive!
Bestir my will to munificence, and abide!

2. No glory's mine, should the she-camels not
Be seen, as stirrups swing empty at their side.

3. Youth rides them bareback, each stripped
For the fray, more keen than blade unsheathed.

4. He drives the foe from his precious tents,
Yearning for fame from brave deeds achieved.

5. He scorns to drink but from helmet's bowl,
And equanimity shuns, unaccustomed, beside.

6. Like warriors unflinching they strip for the fight,
Slashing relentlessly, blow after blow.

7. Lonely he wakes between dark and dawn,
Lamenting the loved-one, tears spreading wide.

8. Privily he nurses ambition's ache,
Grieving o'er glories for him denied.

9. I spurned passion in al-Karkh, and revels in Damascus,
Turning from egg-white, pure but over-rich besides.

10. The wine flowed free as the cock's bright eye,
Twirled by the like of grape-laden date-palm.

11. Blended in the goblet with spicèd wine,
As though with juice from a flushed cheek supplied.

12. I quaffed it straight, its bouquet quickening,
Nor could forego such nectar for water beside.

13. No remnant of night now but traces
Of sins darkening horizon far and wide.

14. I recalled you, O Tryst, with love's fire kindled;
Else those flames had never been stirred or supplied.

15. When passion sears my heart, I school my pain
To fortitude, lest it spread or subside.

16. I shared my secret only to please friends,
Lest enviers trumpet it far and wide.

17. The two-faced jaundiced without cause or ailment,
Going as the knave had gone, to chide and deride,

18. Showing in the blackness of his heart a sign
Borne witness by eyes wherever they spied.

19. And grey hairs of evil did God let grow
On his cheeks - a base fool, known far and wide.

20. I make known my bounty; he knows that I
Am the sun, hiding from no man's sight, though he hide.

21. Such is my news, and these are my poems;
Their fame spreads swift in every place and tide.

22. They shred scoundrels' names as though a blade
Raging to destroy all dignities they prized.

23. Men flee their venomous blows, disgraced for good;
In them resides bane, banished far and wide.

24. They carry travellers east and west, so who
Will sing them, giving voice to their fame undied?

25. In Baghdad's towers I left you to dwell,
Preyed on by fate and misfortunes beside.

26. Of what account am I, athirst, to you?
Neither compliant nor bound down and tied.

27. If you but knew me, noble of soul, you would wish,
Though pardoning others, my hands to chide.

28. You wrong God's servants by raising wretched knaves,
Corrupt and vile, o'er the virtuous to preside.

29. Now, lacking glory, Basra is naught but ruins,
A lifeless ruin, traces faint...its light died.

30. You exalted over its lords the lowliest thralls,
Consigned by you to dishonor's nethermost side.

31. You did as you pleased, not as justice decreed,
Speaking without the counsel of prophet or guide.

32. Suppose you feared no evil therein, still should you
Have feared the reproaches of critics who chide.

33. I gave sincere counsel you knew not before,
Though lying in wait hostility spied.

34. I undermined, since sustenance bitter here,
And my abode brought torment...new pastures I spied.

35. I told Jesus urgency stirred me to roam;
Henceforth take care that you do not divide.

36. I brought her to the Euphrates' and Sublime River's course -
She bade me draw near or go far and wide.

37. None left in glorious Basra but Muhammad -
Najib son of sires most noble, in whom reside

38. Boasts that humble all the great...
He to whose house one turns for shelter

39. Lives in bounty that knows no loss or decline.
Bestower of favour, seeking only praise,

40. He who seeks praise earns fame far and wide.
If you gain his full bounty this day,

41. You await its like from him tomorrow beside.
In his sires' great deeds he shows the way -

42. Fathers he follows, ever their pride.
To the noble spirits generous wine is life;

43. The clash of swords and spears their music beside.
Warn the tyrants, and their hearts quake in fear;

44. Show but kindness, no promise fortifying their side.
Bounteous souls; let your palms fill with rain -

45. It flows generosity, like streams dignified.
When you speak their deeds, be prepared, repeat them,

46. Sweeter than cool soul-quenching wine beside.
God grant them life and salute their campaign,

47. Noble, from His lightning in clouds deified.
How they left the eulogists sighing with dew

48. Of yore's glory, glorifying the glorified!
When resolved, no hesitance stays him

49. From glory - unlike the waverer tongue-tied.
He sees what others cannot, and thereby

50. May guide the lost aright...may serve as their guide.
Whoever wears the cloak of lineage finds,

51. As time passes, his soul say: be renewed with pride!
With their swords they built lofty grandeur,

52. As though a firmly planted mountainside.
When stirred, their bodies quaked with fervor

53. Like they had downed a draught of Zamzam's pride.
The rhymed prose of swords and spears delights them

54. More than grape-bunches...days unified.
If they promise strong fighters dread, fulfilling it;

55. If they show kindness, no prior pact fortifying their side.
What bounty their open palms have spilled,

56. Only seeking renown perpetuated with pride!
It is said: relate their glories, be prepared,

57. Speak of generous deeds...let them be your guide.
More delicious than cool soul-quenching wine

58. Is remembering them to a fevered heart dried.
God grant them life from His cup divine,

59. And bless them with His lightning deified.
Many they left among eulogists sighing,

60. Both old in glory and glory personified.
If resolved, no hesitation gives him pause

61. From glory, unlike the hesitant tongue-tied.
He sees what others do not, and thereby

62. May guide the lost to wisdom...be their guide.
Whoever wears his lineage like a cloak finds,

63. As time passes, his soul say: be renewed with pride!
With their swords they built towering grandeur,

64. As though a firmly planted peak unified.
When roused, their bodies shook with fervor