1. O Fadl, your praises clothe me
Though I have cast off fine robes.

2. My youth’s garb is ever new;
Why should I wear what youth has worn?

3. Your ransom, from a free man ignorant of roots
Whose freedom proves a wasted bargain.

4. We sent you to seek wise words, not mere speech,
And you brought back a star bound from the horizon.

5. I examined you and found an ardent intellect
Like the fires of steeds flickering in the dark.

6. I was sure the ropes of the sun would reach me
When I saw the thread of brilliant dawn.

7. This, from angelic spheres, is a hidden grace;
Do not diminish it by hawking in the streets.

8. Like a garden revealing wondrous vistas
Though strewn tomorrow on the roads.

9. How many gardens mourn, no consoling friend
To soothe, where ravening lions prowl and rake.

10. Seek then the key to livelihood from a lord
Who gave you the key to a niggardly lock.

11. Words here as though the meanings of wine lived in them;
He who preserved a verse was brought back to life,

12. And you gave me of them cups whose drafts redeemed me
From both calumny and every final need.

13. Weighty lines to rally one who lent an ear;
Cure of timidity and panic they.

14. Trilled by a singer, the music met no death;
Without fear or distinction did song and singer blend.

15. In eulogy articulated for rocks
The boulders' reply was fresh and unconstrained.

16. Weave then your threads like a necklace on
The person of the noble, without excess or breach.

17. Anklets for the feet, a sublime diadem for
The brow, and a necklace of pearls for the throat.

18. Journey to a land whose generous sky
Is the downpour's soft replacement there.

19. Each dawn their herdsman leaves for pasture bearing
A lunch of grass or leaves to eat.

20. Shun certain folk who, when a man proves stiff,
Scowl at him bitterly, nursing indignation -

21. Like a tomb whose only yield is filched away
While summertime still robes the trees in green.

22. Refuse to be appeased until you see
Prosperity spread before you like the dying light.

23. Horses of purest breed and glossiest coat
Stand ready to convey you forth in state by day or night.

24. As though the millenium coursed through their vessels
And they burst forth from the flood by God's grace.

25. Heavy with gold so none but they can pace
With high-stepping gait and arching neck.

26. Rearing with what they flaunt of pedigree,
Graceful as the smooth rocks of holy Medina.

27. Destriers for fray and phalanx apt for war
With dense mail and linked armour of defence.

28. Disdain me not, and do not forget my fragrance,
My freshness suits you well, emulate my ways.

29. For oft a fault may profit, good remain;
As spittle cures, though loathsome to behold.

30. A moment with a friend no lasting pledge;
As night’s brief span from dusk to break of day.

31. When concepts match in people of one age
Yet seldom do their meanings coincide.

32. Things far apart may resemble one another -
Behold, are not the sky and sea akin in blue?