1. When will this lovelorn heart find solace
And quench its passion for you, o object of desire

2. I refuse to indulge my love for you lightly
And stay up all night while others slumber

3. I answer the call of yearning wherever it summons me
Though many blame me for loving you, I pay no heed

4. From my eyes I shed copious tears
While my heart harbors searing agony

5. I complain of passion to you though you do not hear
To whom else can I pour out my woes to elicit sympathy?

6. Why should I divulge my love while you disregard it
And make plain what I conceal from you and withhold

7. I make excuses for my weakness in pursuing you
And build up fantasies of love for you only to demolish them

8. Bitter regrets consume me and I yearn
As tears flow freely from my eyes in pairs and singles

9. Love has manifest signs to reveal itself
At times explicitly, at others vaguely

10. I endure nights that seem endless
With stars like sea birds over turbulent waves

11. In the battlefield between ribs and chest
An army of sorrows marches to subdue me

12. My chest has been pierced as though
By mountains and spears shattered through

13. An ardent love takes hold of my being
Inflicting an agonizing, tormenting malady

14. When passion visits me, it comes like a sigh
Roving my ribs, dreaming, murmuring

15. It recalls past days of youthful desire
And dictates chronicles of love to recollect

16. I cannot forget the dwellings left desolate by my beloved’s absence
Their vestiges arouse intense longing and I sketch their likeness

17. Caravans halt there and bid them adieu
As if birds hovering above water about to swoop

18. They conjure up memories of past youth
Though decades have elapsed since that time

19. We lived in delight and bliss
That was life, though it slips away

20. Whenever they are recalled, my friend
Or their songs recounted, my eyes brim over

21. I suppress imminent tears
Weeping at a hinted smile

22. May God protect the neighbors I fell in love with
I made loving them lawful though forbidden

23. I tended the garden of love in its bloom
And surrendered my heart completely to their judgement

24. Oh for defenders to aid me against
An unjust ruler I implore for redress!

25. Bereft of them, patience deserts me
My heart followed their course unswervingly

26. My restless soul travels like
Spheres disappearing over the horizon

27. When gloom is dispelled in the evens’ grace
A wing of the dark night glows bright

28. Does the slanderer of love suppose
I could forget them? Vile is his presumption!

29. Our age is devoid of noble men - wait instead
For better souls, think well of them

30. None like Salman the Gatekeeper remains
In Baghdad solicited for his generosity

31. Of noble bearing, his lofty marks thereof
And true divination - an honorable sage

32. His dignity and tranquility apparent
He personifies the highest bliss

33. A lord of pure Arab lineage
Most honorable, refined and benevolent

34. No less than a scion of the Hashemites
Their chief and most illustrious elder

35. Before him eager hopes are reined in
When determined ranks spur on

36. None but he can fulfil seekers’ needs
Nor provide more righteous gain

37. His extending hand and widespread grace
Grant us gifts and benefaction

38. He assumed leadership of the cadre
With none to rival his ascendance

39. In times of adversity we rally to defend
As the Indian blade, polished and keen

40. Ever as an unsheathed sword to uphold
The just cause - in the fray his edges bite

41. I clung to the bond that never frays
Heedless of fickle turns of fate

42. Daily, gifts and provision from his hand
Bounties received, distribution apportioned

43. In his days virtue’s season blooms
For his generosity and nobility a season

44. In his visage we glimpse the dawn’s sun
And the gloom of nightly turmoil lifts

45. Of resolute determination sharper
Than the sword’s edge, intrepid

46. At the mention of him verses take flight
Inspiring the farthest regions’ bard

47. O Father of Mustafa, I see none who,
In praising a man, does not concur:

48. “This is true beyond doubt”
May Quraish glory wherein you led

49. And be exalted among its nobles
What can an eloquent orator say to enhance

50. One whose grandsire was Abdul Qadir the Sheikh!
Unnumbered your blessings I gained and thanked

51. Even if no tongue nor mouth conveyed
But for your grace no drink was savored

52. And no food delicious without your shade
Yours the exclusive right to panegyric

53. In your virtues odes sculpted and compiled
When articulating your essence, enviers are dumbfounded

54. And fluent oration leaves them mute
From you came my wealth wherever I roamed

55. And you made destitution thrive
Through you I found the world pliant

56. Without the sweet honey of your bounty - bland
I served you in praise you are worthy of

57. One such as you, my lord, is praiseworthy
Poetry, I see, save in you, falls short

58. Its coins outside your eulogy but dirhams
Each hour I extol and bless you

59. Commencing with the fairest recollection, and seal