1. Where is she heading, when the path to love's roses leads nowhere?
This is the season where the deer have their grazing and stars their watch tower.

2. If you seek help the living will aid you, or light if you need illumination - it will not be denied.
My tears cannot quench my burning thirst for those nights I spent awake.

3. Their shining stars mock whenever they rise or set in the darkness.
If shaken, they are weak and pliant, or coil up stiff and erect as blades.

4. The dark night saddles its steeds, followed at dawn by the grey one.
The dawn has furled its banner, beneath which the pearls of dew are plundered.

5. The honest folk have faces that please, lit up beautifully at sunrise.
Passion flames in my heart when I think of them, however often their white hair appears.

6. I hastened to them when they pitched camp, and my effort was not in vain.
I care not for the critics, what business have they? Every lover is exhausted by them.

7. They know that for the impassioned, all torment is brought to bear.
Were they peerless eyes or arrows that pierced and shredded our hearts?

8. Oh how often misfortune has scorned my hopes and denied my wishes!
How often it tossed my heart about in its embers until transformed and overturned!

9. A calamitous fate whose clouds, whenever life is hoped for, flash with barren lightning.
So where can I seek refuge, O Guiding Imam, other than in your lofty heights?

10. The gardens of culture have withered since they were abandoned, no gentle breath issues from them,
And bounty finds no rain for its irrigation, so they have no abundant crops.

11. But for our Master there is comfort, which now flows copiously for him.
No surprise in whoever was hostile or harvests what he sows, for such is the way of fate.

12. How often has a stingy granter denied me what I constantly desired!
How often has a tyrannical adversary blocked my quest, barring the path before me!

13. How often has passion heaped burdens beyond endurance or contentment!
How many nights have I spent awake, when stars barely seemed to set!

14. Their full moons appearing between them like the face of al-Nasir's son, ringed by his entourage.
Yusuf the Victorious is the sea of dew, and for him Qays ibn Sa`d is a father.

15. Have mercy on the world, their rule is bountiful like pouring rain.
Their foreheads shine radiant in the darkness like stars and planets.

16. Those who obey the supremacy of his rule, in the East and West,
Those who came to his aid in days of strife, his resolve and fearsome sword,

17. The two honored in the jewels of his rule, my praise for my Master whom I serve,
The two victorious, for whom Marwan ascends and Sa`ad prospers,

18. A king whose origin is Mecca, and this Imam rooted in Yathrib,
The supporters of Allah's faith were his forefathers, from them came the greatest Master.

19. A Master who gives generously when asked and pardons transgressions.
His noble nature decrees forgiveness, not blame.

20. Clemency, knowledge are his traits, as are wisdom and might that elicits awe.
Deeds no past king achieved, far beyond count or measure.

21. If bygone rulers had seen a fraction of his feats, extolling his essence,
They would have been titled, not for victory, guidance or wise rule, but for security and safety.

22. In war or peace, his fearsome sword, intimidating yet enticing.
When fear furrows the brows of his enemies, his every frontier becomes a yawning gulf.

23. He will be seen opening what was beyond reach, impregnable and difficult.
The whites rise on pulpits of their skulls, delivering sermons.

24. The browns find rest when unleashed to dye their blood.
O King of the World whose justice has dispelled the gloom that veiled its horizon,

25. I have attained my hopes through what you grasped, and now crave nothing more,
No wish of mine today will be thwarted, or pursuit of mine made arduous.

26. My Master accept this eloquent eulogy, though it conveys my purpose.
Your acceptance is my aim, and he who attains it can trail his mantle above the clouds.

27. None can capture your qualities in verse, whether elaborate or succinct.
May you remain the pillar of Islam, for as long as the sun's rays emerge at dawn!