1. Now is not the time for me to blame
Or pull back after the sun has set, so I keep going

2. Leaving Hiran behind, returning obedient
Refusing to crawl, I mount the rugged path

3. My body remains supple and my bones still strong
Softened by youth though once hard and stiff

4. Imagination paid a visit when I was young
With warm greetings for my beloved and welcome

5. My happiness brought me joy and favor
I set eyes on the neck and waist of Zainab

6. O you whose heart clings to a charming coquette
You hung up in your youth like old rags

7. Is not the beauty of faith in this world?
This is from the words of the Chosen One

8. Whence does one with snarling lips
One day need the help of a hoary elder?

9. An old rotting body, white hair
Presuming to rival the master, carrier of burdens

10. When his skin was crumpled and the water
Of his youth dried up, he did not touch the feared one

11. Alas for the foolishness of youth
Fallen while an old hawk still flew aloft

12. Since the day my herald appeared, and did not cease
To shelter ruin, for my mind was ruined

13. The noble Arabs were never as sad
As when they left the days of sweetest youth

14. He was a Yemeni lightning that flashed with wishes
Long ago we knew him as the adorned one

15. His sword gleamed at the edge of the clouds
And blazed, lighting up a gilded cloak

16. It was as if the glory of religion and world
Arose from him to cut short the drought, a sharpened blade

17. As if the roar of thunder were the horses of his army
And victory upon their brows, appointed

18. The celestial stars envied his shoes
Making the faraway the nearest upon earth

19. How many times at night did his horses’ bridles shine?
The white swords stars, the blades planets

20. Whether you are determined to depart, you have not ceased
To undermine the honored and covetous

21. God is greatest! And time is most right
To praise you and make you beloved

22. Is not the glory of religion and this world through him
Highest of all in worth and elevated in office?

23. Noblest binder of allegiance in his kingdom
Proudest who attracted kings to love him

24. His writings sealed the gate for Ibn Hilal
Whatever was in line, a foot arranged

25. His hands gathered all glories
Then scattered while Sabah’s hands grabbed

26. When he spoke unselfconsciously, he showed us
Eloquence and grammar in Arabic

27. Praise of him continued sounding, it did not cease
Rising and setting with honor

28. His right hand draws from five oceans
His covenants from the pleasure of the Lord of lords

29. Whenever he stood among the kings in council
They made him the intermediary, arranged in order

30. That only because they saw him, resolute
Most faithful in refusal, noblest father

31. Kings concealed their envoys from access, but his envoy refused
To be barred from the access of kings

32. He built the edifice at Baalbek, and he who built
This edifice, his building will not be ruined

33. O Baalbek, you have conquered East and West
With the best of ruled lands and the West

34. Treat him well in all his states
Robed, crowned, and boot-girt

35. O you who dwell next to him, you have dwelt alongside
An ocean casting forth pearls, thinking them pebbles

36. Fear no harm from floods of misfortune while dwelling beside him
For the torrent has reached a flood

37. Or have not his enviers - woe to them - asked
How much they inquire about the news?

38. This one who routed all the kings
Outdoing describers, exhausting them

39. This one for whom the highest spheres were allotted
God did not allot him other acquirement

40. This one submitted before whom the lions of armies
When they could never find escape from him

41. Would that the one who kissed that form
With a feeble pen flowed and ebbed!

42. If shooting stars had his cast, no eavesdropper
Would find a stolen hearing, rapt and robbed

43. Forgive my curses in what I have said
Excuse me, for deficient I have sinned against you

44. Who can encompass the essence of your lofty description?
Never! That is difficult to attain

45. I have become intoxicated with ardent love in Baalbek
Like one drunk with pleasure in Khaibar long ago

46. And I see the pain in loving our master as sweeter
Than fruits and grapes so fresh and ripe

47. He deserves most excellent preference in rank
Named glorious among honored kings

48. Still opening and victorious whenever
An enemy stirred and youth took up arms