1. The caller to passion called him,
So he began recalling the days of youth,

2. Shedding tears that had been released
By a grieving heart, depressed and anxious.

3. The bachelor saw him as you see him,
Suffering from extreme distress.

4. Within him lies hidden
A torment that pains him in various ways.

5. So he blamed and reproached him not,
For forgiveness was more rightly guided.

6. The singing girls abandoned him, though he'd abandoned them,
So neither whiteness nor darkness remained.

7. Even before this, the love of Salma, Zainab and Rabab
Terrified him.

8. He turns to the tender one, devoted to her,
Finding comfort in her time of dusk.

9. Repeat your wailing, O Warqa, as if
You complained to me of some of my deeds.

10. You cried but did not cry for loss of a friend;
Rather, I was hurt while you were spared.

11. The lightning's gleam reminded me of a mouth
Whose cool drink was my wine of flagellation.

12. No thirst has left my liver wanting
For a sip of the tender girl's torment.

13. Do you forget, O Hudhaym, the morning we stopped
At the abode of slipping away?

14. So we halted the camel at traces
Like the ruins of scripture from scripture,

15. And the ruins of Layla the devastated,
Whose ruins the clouds wept over.

16. I asked about those long gone from it,
But it was silenced, O Hudhaym, lacking all answer.

17. Our tears there became like kohl,
Or taking the place of kohl.

18. After my people went away, my soul wished
For what the departed hopes will come back.

19. Leave me, O Umayma, to my wishes,
For they were nothing but a lying promise.

20. Leave me to roam the wilderness, for I
Saw seriousness is best for seekers.

21. So why, O Umayma, do I persist in despondency,
Prolonging with the world my complaints?

22. I am sick among folk
Whose company I wish for like a mirage,

23. Whose nearness spares my honor
And leaves me to baseness and avoidance.

24. How many piercing arrows I have
And yet my quiver of arrows is not depleted!

25. I will unleash them, though they're unsteady,
With the obstinacy of one wronged who refuses.

26. I am like the auspicious Mount Sa'd,
With dignity and heavily-stomping ships.

27. I arm myself with coats of mail against every horror,
Sheathing a sword in its scabbard.

28. I accompany all who whiten reputations
And whose protective covering is the night's wing,

29. Who take from my discourse a saying
Independent of the consumption of wine,

30. Praising Muhammad, Lord of the Exalted,
And the choice of the sensible elite's drink.

31. With delightful praise.
I am enraptured by it, not the rapture of songs

32. And cups of wine dancing with bubbles.
When the resolute rider travels his round,

33. With lofty determination,
I embellish the verse of poems with his name

34. Like embroidery on the brocade of departure.
Through him do our needs descend upon us

35. And in his courtyards descend the vastness.
If hope turns to him, it finds

36. In the realm of his glory, fair success.
He is humble, though lofty in worth, transcendent,

37. And no wonder! He is the son of Father Dust.
Noble among the illustrious house

38. Of Zawba'a, pure of all faults.
When I draw near him, he brings me honor;

39. My approaching him raises me high.
And between us - though kinship is glory -

40. Is the bond of knowledge and blood ties.
I rave in praising him in every valley,

41. And emaciate myself praising him at every gate,
To his noble presence paying tribute

42. And from there I made praising him my habit.
His generosity makes the virtuous covet him

43. And hope for his open-handedness.
Gifts that no request can surpass,

44. He may bestow abundantly beyond measure.
He spends wealth in God's path

45. For wayfarers and slaves.
May God reward the Excellent Minister for us

46. And recompense him manifold.
He brought Iraq and its people joy

47. With an unswerving, unbiased judge.
And may God maintain for Islam a Sheikh

48. Who repels calamity from the stricken,
With the likes of his governance resolving issues

49. And the likes of his authority deciding speech,
From the folk who have ascended and led

50. As heads are raised over tails.
They have looked with loftiness over the lands

51. As mountains look over the hilltops.
It will bring you joy, O Baghdad, to have him,

52. With the radiant expectation of his awe.
He established justice in Zurra’ so that

53. We found sheep friendly with wolves.
How could truth not be obeyed there

54. Or affairs not proceed properly?
The sword of God is in a Hashimite’s hand,

55. Its blade sharpened and ready.
Your departure from Damascus of Syria resembled

56. The rising of the Pleiades, poised to strike.
You came in a torrential flood until

57. You reached even the highlands and groves,
With knowledge from you, stirring of torrents,

58. And favor from you, filling valleys.
From this and this together

59. You brought people shocking wonders.
And people, my master, began praying

60. For your might with answered prayers.
May your stars never set in the west,

61. Nor your suns be veiled in clouds.