1. Repent, O my censurer, and be grieved,
For my heart turns not away from its passion.

2. Like the rod of the wet-nurse I have become bent
By his black lashes when the white rods grew erect.

3. In my heart he left a pain cold as water,
Not leaving in me even a shred of desire.

4. He revealed charms that the dawn envies,
Even if at dawn they were spotless Arabs.

5. Never did his magnet attract my brain
But it almost burst from my temples.

6. How wonderful if our souls were clad
In mirth beneath the winds of rapture,

7. While we embraced in our revels, fearing not
The fangs of Time in our drinking parties.

8. Life was limpid and hopes were green, descriptors
Falling from them like ripe dates.

9. Whenever my beloved smiled, our cups
Also smiled, baring teeth of pearls.

10. I see this pearl set in ruby, and that
Pearl set in gold.

11. He matches a rose with a rose like it
From his cheeks, whether awake or drunk.

12. He offers the cup fingers white as flakes
And the fingers blush when dipped inside.

13. One fears for the cupbearer if he should shake them
In the cup, lest he be set aflame by their radiance.

14. Our nights have rolled away, blessed ones-
How much bliss have they concealed from us?

15. Our breaths were pent up, yearning when they were gone,
And tears poured down our cheeks.

16. We asked time to return to us
To dispel our doubts and misgivings,

17. As it had gifted supreme authority to
Mu’ayyad al-Din, the choicest selection,

18. Al-Arihi al-Lawzi al-Alma’i
Al-Shammari al-Hibrizi al-Muntakhab,

19. With the happiest of auspices he arrived the happiest,
Launching the arrows of misfortune backwards in reversal.

20. May it delight him that he conquered, not failed,
Thanks to earnest, playful effort.

21. A leadership whose statesmanship
In God’s cause was not acquired,

22. And since he was a child its promise flashed
In him like the cub among the reeds,

23. It grew in him when marked with his glory,
And now it reaches for the Goat star eagerly,

24. At it the people rejoiced, all saying,
“For the like of this day we were waiting.”

25. Now through us generosity stands restored,
Erect, though once it lay in ruins.

26. It has no escape from him, so it belongs
To the Father of Supreme Authority.

27. His pens therein are meteors and falling stars,
Baits and blows of warriors bold.

28. We deduce ideas while he is a scribe
Writing meanings white from the blackness of ink.

29. If Ibn Muqla the scribe could see him
He would cry, “O the wonder!”

30. “This is the pearl strung together doubtlessly,
While my script by his side is like a mangy camel.”

31. And if the son of al-‘Amid could see you composing,
O son of al-‘Amid, he would say, lineage restored,

32. “Never did ‘Abd al-Hamid do such,
Can a spring ever be compared to a ruin?”

33. O Father of Supreme Authority, you are smarter than any scribe,
Than any who ever essayed verse and prose.

34. If I am offered a date or a raisin.
It suffices that all mankind acknowledge

35. You are the best son ever born of the best father.
This glorious office was adorned by the likes of one

36. For whom time rose up standing tall.
One whose sword of resolve, when unsheathed,

37. Drove back the fearful armies in retreat.
One whose determination turns back the fangs of my determination,

38. When he extends his arm, from striking me.
His honor is defended from the attacks

39. Of brash raiders in time of war,
His wealth by the evils of sudden raids

40. In battle.
A tamer of manners, one could dispense

41. With diluted wine through him.
His praiseworthy qualities fold around him

42. Like the murmurs of the meadow round the clouds’ voice.
If anyone in our time claimed one like him,

43. He would be shouting lies and falsehood.
You are the best of the best in East and West,

44. And the noblest of Persian and Arab.
With you shining deeds have been raised up,

45. Wondrous in description, to the highest rank.
Through you this state lasts, its shadow shaken

46. By rapture and infatuation.
His opinions rout troops of enemies

47. Like piercing meteors and shooting stars.
He enlarged what was straitened for the unruly,

48. And straitened what was wide for enviers.
The clouds of his generosity disdain to see

49. A man of eloquence thirsty for the flowering meadow.
Fate itself has come under his command,

50. Else, if it disobeyed him, it would be a wonder.
A felicity that has paralyzed the hand of his envier

51. As the hands of Abu Lahab were paralyzed.
Ripe in knowledge, sound opinion and counsel,

52. So for one grown mature how wondrous!
Retiring from every critic, though not

53. From fair praise.
More loyal in keeping promises than the rain clouds

54. Though promises are sometimes marked by deception and lies.
Still inclined where once he was inclined,

55. Praise gathering him while blame splits apart.
Shining, open of forehead, a glorious one

56. Swayed by praise like one drunk with wine.
He looks tenderly on one petitioning him

57. With a father’s affection, kind, humpbacked.
The lightning of his smile, whenever it gleams,

58. Dazzles all who hope unless they lower their gaze.
His door is like an unassailable fortress

59. Never penetrated by the cavalry of the nomads.
Pulpits where he is praised stand full,

60. And word of him spreads amongst the people, fresh and sweet.
Praise of him moves as far as his generosity,

61. Spreading to both distant and near.
Most felicitous one, grant me happiness in a time

62. That has without cause become the enemy of the noble.
And gain praise from the people of merit—have you not

63. Always seen this to be an excellent acquisition?
Gifts of fresh goods and silk garments vanish,

64. While their thanks endure for time without end.
You were rewarded well for them, so whenever

65. They drank from your stream it was a pouring rain.
You replaced their worn clothes though they bared

66. Your spacious courtyard with burdas of velvet.
Still you spread your favors upon those who recorded

67. Your praises in the folds of books.
So here is an offering picked fresh,

68. It has narrated your story in gatherings when glory was traced.
If it had reached the ears of Sari, he would not say,