1. Alas! Is there no refuge for the lovelorn,
The sad-hearted with churning bosom,

2. Whom grief tosses back and belly,
And surrenders to the heat of sighs?

3. How can one find peace in sighs
When in his guts rages a blazing fire?

4. He treats freely flowing tears with love,
As the afflicted heart vents its despair.

5. How many grim lions in the wild,
Lie dead, slain by the intense looks of a gazelle!

6. I used to pine in times of yore,
For the maidens of the tents with my yearning.

7. Whenever I roared like an angry lion,
I saw lions take fright at my roaring.

8. Yet time has left me as you see me now,
Feeble in the grip of intractable misfortunes,

9. The ancients took after their ancestors,
And the young went astray, following the old.

10. This world has shown me
Its wondrous and bizarre events,

11. And my soul still longs for that day,
Gloomy, windy, and showery,

12. So I can vent some of my torment,
And calm the sighs that rend my breast.

13. If I come to live among a people,
And some of them look at me askance,

14. How strange that ignorance injures them
With arrogance puffing up their noses!

15. They see themselves as the epitome of glory,
Not as lords of dunghills and goat-pens!

16. I turn my face from them in disdain,
As the mighty spurns the mean.

17. I leave the arrogant to their arrogance,
And drag the train of the vainglorious.

18. How often time raises up a soul,
But cuts it short with its quick scissors!

19. How often fate debases to the dust
One whose place is above the stars!

20. I guard my dignity from the rabble,
For guarding one’s soul is the wont of the proud.

21. Since I began to versify,
I never dedicated verse to one devoid of taste.

22. How many live, yet seem
Among the dead in the tombs!

23. I came to Basra the radiant, hastening,
For love of you, intrepid one.

24. To visit a master scholar there,
Endowed by God with abundant knowledge,

25. A unique paragon of the learned,
Whose sciences pour like seas,

26. Ahmad, cream of the helpers; my journey
Would be to him, if I decided to travel.

27. If I enumerated the notables of a people,
And matched each with his peer,

28. The eye of those notables would be him,
And the heart in the breasts and bosoms.

29. Since I took refuge in his eminence,
I feel I have taken refuge in a lofty mountain.

30. Despite the hostile mouths of people
Who attacked me with rancor and loathing,

31. When my right hand takes their measure,
I seize the ultimate honor.

32. I found his company a tender meadow,
Where he quenched my thirst from the purest nectar.

33. To his exemplary spiritual path, my visits,
And to his frequented retreat, my inner thoughts.

34. I resorted to his lofty principles,
Not to the infamy of a deceitful rogue.

35. His face shines with the light of God-consciousness,
Gleaming brighter than the glowing moon.

36. Independent of all mankind, gentle,
Kind to the weak and the destitute.

37. You see reflected on his face
What you see on the radiant dawn.

38. He is counted among the foremost in piety,
Even if you meet him in later times.

39. Can the shining suns of his ascendance
Be hidden from the eyes of any witness?

40. So take knowledge from him, for God
Has granted him famed excellence.

41. We never attained the like of his eminence,
An enlightened sage of such insight.

42. Ask him obscure, intricate questions,
For you have landed upon the expert.

43. The people of merit circle him eagerly,
As the thirsty throng about a pool.

44. He never ceased to provide shade for the learned,
Sheltering them with his protection from the heat.

45. He satisfies me in place of supporters;
My ally when supporters desert me.

46. He has my utmost affection in sincerity,
And utmost affection is purity of conscience.

47. I will reward his favors with gratitude,
In a way that satisfies a thankful slave.

48. Naturally disposed to noble traits
And molded with nobility and bounty.

49. The rhymes shine in praising you
Like necklaces shining on throats.

50. Praise sounds sweet in my verse,
And my poetry exudes your fragrance.

51. Live long, greeting the endless nights,
And live as long as you live in bliss!