1. Behold, behold a light like Yemen's lightning flashes
Faltering softly like the tenderness of love

2. As if deterring, forbidding, edging
The passing cloud with saffron

3. It flashed like a sword unsheathed by a hand
To sever the artery of passing clouds

4. The earth's horizons scattered its sequels
And pouring clouds collapsed in defeat

5. For one whose anguish - were it not for hopes -
Would never have tasted death securely

6. It interlocks fingers over ribs
Stirred by a flame kindled in heavens

7. As if it has a bird in its breast
Or a ball on the field of youth

8. If you doubt, the pallor you see
Rising above it like smoke

9. Remembrance excites it and it weeps over
A pasture of Najd's ruins and times

10. Eyelids ready, kohl melted
And erased any trace of red

11. It adhered its innards in yearning and longing
To the soil of crossroads

12. Watering the dunes of fever which
Sway like banana tree branches

13. The dawn breeze acts upon their undulation
As the dawn acts upon slender bamboo

14. Of every fair one like the rising sun
Who shames even the heavenly maidens

15. Heavy bottomed, slender waisted
Waist plaited like braided reins

16. A complaisant slave girl who when she walks
Sways without coquetry or temptation

17. How many horsemen restrained in battle
Were felled from their steeds by steeds

18. And night which denied me sleep until
Eagles and chickens lamented me

19. While visitors shunned me and despaired
Of me as lovers wept and wailed

20. I spent the night in sorrow's shadow
Reclining while night cast spears

21. Till dawn sneaked in and extended
To the darkness’ heart its spear

22. It seemed as the darkness split into a stream
In a garden lit by lamps

23. The morning breeze flowed, drawing the train
Of the chemise along acacia

24. Rustling, it offered us wafts
Of smoke from the roasted coffee bean

25. To the narcissus it says no sleep in a garden
Where there is a cheek, even if dewy

26. The basil shook off its lethargy
Strewing its sprigs like carnelian strings

27. And the flowers blushed and took on
A hue of shyness on the cheeks of beauty

28. The leaves sang joyfully
How wondrous this song and those tunes

29. Melodies not easily understood
Needing no translator or guide

30. Drink the sociable wine in a garden
Sweetly scented, not fevered by sins

31. Anemones opened on those edges
Gowns of purple unfurled

32. The stars cast off their veils
As the sun declared, “Blessed is the Age!”

33. The necklace of hail left us
And the age came with highest rank

34. It resembled a vernal sun
Retreating from the striking flints

35. As if when it rose it revealed
The face of religion in the high heavens

36. A face of a youth who lowers his gaze in shyness
At whose awe mountains tremble and shepherds sigh

37. Steadfast when folly ends through prohibition
Wise, forbearing, and discerning when permitted

38. More learned than any scholar, a father
Nobler than any noble, a son

39. God granted life through him to his father
Who shouldered the burdens of nobility stalwartly

40. And he continued following his guidance
Supporting his words and meanings

41. Of refined character, his company
Suffices over wine for a boon companion

42. In his palm pale as the sun, walking
Head bowed like a slithering snake

43. His saliva an antidote to the ignorance
Of the uncouth, useful for wishes and purposes

44. Listen, my words, Abu Muhammad
The preserver, son of erudition

45. And hear a felicitous ode whose beauty
Is like necklaces on the breasts of maidens

46. O son of one whose death darkened
The East and West but for you

47. You who remains most noble in his art
Highest ranked in prestige and status

48. May God have mercy on him, how many
Assaults on religion he thwarted and undid

49. If he passed from this world as all things must
His legacy remains eternal, never done

50. Spread his history, replete with
Virtue and eloquence’s magic

51. He shepherded the beasts of hearing in transmitting
Between meadows blooming saffron

52. To hear him is more delicious to the mind
Than perfect tunes and rhythmic metres

53. We see none who implement it
Shaking the margins of the eloquent tongue

54. Without exclaiming in wonder at what
He extracts from its folders in reams

55. Damascus is blessed with history
Envied by every storyteller and chronicler

56. Baghdad’s history compared to it
Is a speck beside the Tigris and Euphrates

57. What equals him who compiled it
When the lion cannot match the fox

58. The names willingly submitted to him
And chaos evaporated into calm

59. People only reap good harvests
When the roots of the palm trees are good

60. His father, with no intermediary
He gained, praise God, despite those

61. Who deemed him the furthest from triumph
No stumbling for him, no declining

62. In disgrace to the abysses of humiliation
No days dragged him into what displeased him

63. Rather what He willed for him, two hands extended
Rise with head erect, high and towering

64. For you and glory are twins nursed together
Many are your unled young camels, when

65. The landmarks of knowledge grow unclear and dark
Who shiver in praise like the spear points

66. On day of stabbing, eyes expectant
As if the light from you heralded

67. Was newly emitted from Zubara’s moon
Your reputation on a stair, though you always

68. Wage war over wealth like an unruly band
O you of white hand and resolve

69. Stronger than Indian steel
Vile blame avoids you in favor

70. Crowded with pilgrims from afar
Neither did the leaves sing joyously nor

71. Did roosters crow the call to prayer