1. Names has a house where the sands are cut off,
Watered in the evenings by a flowing spring,

2. It dragged its tail and its lightning flashed,
Then it departed while its thunder roared.

3. And I beg the rains of life for her,
Though my tears cannot substitute for the downpours.

4. I made a pact with her, and it was as if
Her first trysts were seasons of union.

5. I swore by intestines burning with passion
And by every tear-drenched eyelid.

6. And from no bosom shot by love’s arrow
With two kohl-less eyes was an arrow launched.

7. Indeed, Babylonian eyes have wrought havoc on me.
Woe to you, O my heart, because of the soft gazes!

8. Unbridled passion did its work in the enclosure
As fires do their work on sturdy firewood.

9. And though my tears overflow, I won’t cease shedding them,
For from a burning liver and blazing agony do I pray and weep.

10. The tyranny of Time! If I but saw in it a fair judge,
I would take it to task and judge it with justice.

11. The likes of me roam east and west on earth
On a bed too narrow to accommodate my sparse belongings.

12. The journeys hurl me in every direction,
From one worry and hardship to another, gentler worry.

13. The days deny me what I deserve,
As if those days were never in my favor.

14. So I go back, choosing to remain inactive,
Ally of the vile ignoramus and despicable envier.

15. And folk have flocked around every fool
As nations clustered around the calf of Moses.

16. He who I don’t please with my doctrine
Assails me and deems his slipper too good to measure up to mine.

17. And he in whom ignorance is a point of pride
Has rivaled me though we share no resemblance.

18. So perish a Time whose dignitaries
Are the riffraff exalting themselves and lording over others!

19. They’ve taken my place – so they claim –
But no pact was made, no agreement settled there.

20. And had they sought my equal, his existence would have been rare,
For they never found my equal, nor will my equal be found.

21. Why do I wish for a proud and high-minded soul
Whose lot, in this lowly life, is nothing but humiliation?

22. I make a pact with it, but Time refuses
To let my worries subside when grief torments me.

23. And he who knows not reproaches me, but if he knew,
He wouldn’t blame or reproach me.

24. Yet I am between the evil of a gang
Of avaricious souls, not the most virtuous of people.

25. They rejected qualities in which they fall short,
And they have never recognized anything but stinginess.

26. Nor did they fear the stabbing of sly tricksters
As they feared generosity on the day of bestowal.

27. I praised the bright star of the faith for his knowledge and wisdom –
And to praise him is an obligation upon the likes of me.

28. No camel has carried me but to his door,
No saddlebags have rested except through his kindness.

29. He is the highest honor, he is knowledge and piety,
Inherited from his grandfather, the master of messengers.

30. Whenever misfortunes have tried him, I have roused him
To the illustrious lord with my words and deeds.

31. To a palm tree from the prophetic line of Hashim –
Yes, this branch is from that origin.

32. Lest you discount a scholar greater than all in it –
Ask the brave among men about the essence of the sword's blade.

33. And when I listen to the meaning of his words,
I am fruitful, ceaselessly transmitting his praises.

34. Your speech, nothing eludes it of each wonderful thing,
Your words, nothing surpasses them from every bee's comb.

35. Your books are like rising suns
Veiled by no night, for doubt is like the night.

36. With them you have guided whoever was lost,
And elucidated the ambiguous paths.

37. You have dictated what minds were confused by,
And pens began writing what you dictated.

38. The world does not deny you are a scholar,
Though this age leans towards ignorance.

39. If the elders were counted for knowledge and wisdom,
You would be the elder of all, my master of all.

40. You are the imam of all Muslims together,
In you is the authority of transmitted and reasoned speech.

41. I take nothing but from you in the whole religion -
Indeed, the authority to take from your words is conclusive.

42. And if some say you've been removed, that is because
You've been removed but not from knowledge and merit.

43. Removal debases none but others from the nobility of high station,
And the likes of you is never debased by removal.

44. Can the dignitaries have no father but their father
Other than you, even if the dissenter dissents?

45. Even if they were entrusted to unworthy kin,
Freed, they would come to you walking on foot.

46. Yearning for your protection, longing
For you with the craving of one terrified to be separated.

47. How many a position has said to its folk one day:
“To you, so carry me to him, for you are not my people!”

48. With you I provoke the enviers in every eulogy
More fiercely against the enemies than the hurling of arrows.

49. And I spoke without returning to any but the like of him,
O, how many things I postponed saying!

50. My poetry infuriates every rival
Who sees in it a constant stinging and piercing.

51. And for you I speak the truth even if
I taste bitterness in it, bitter though wholesome.