1. My companion says, while the mat is carrying us, it challenges
And taunts, having smelled the scent of high meadows in Najd.

2. Don't you ever spur the caravan every hour
And drive it into peril in the desert wilderness?

3. I said, "Leave me be. I am not the one for your fathers."
For with the goblet, splinters become exposed from the firestick.

4. Were it not for the sun's movement every hour,
It would not have transferred from the mansion of misfortune to fortune.

5. Had Maryam not shaken the palm trunk, she would not have tasted
The sweet, ripened dates, the fruit of delight.

6. Likewise Moses, Allah made water gush for him
After hitting a solid rock with his staff.

7. The Indian sword in its sheath has no merit
Nor praised virtue unless separated from its scabbard.

8. The arrow one day will be of no use in the quiver
Unless it penetrates into every knot-hole of the shield.

9. The chest and back of al-Samhari are equal
When his star does not rise in the darkness of his liver.

10. Truly, were it not for their running, the freed horses
Would not have been branded on their shoulders.

11. Had the formidable lion befriended its den,
It would have died obscured in it, despite its boldness.

12. And had the sons of Shadi not answered her behests,
They would not have ruled from the land of Qaush to India.

13. Nor would each of them have been in kingdoms,
Appearing like Alexander the wall builder.

14. So come on, persist in the inability and pretend incapacity,
And I will plunge into the water of indolence deliberately.

15. I have no wealth, so none prefers my company,
Nor status, so none fears me as an adversary.

16. I have an eloquence. Either I let its deceit flow
Or every person of merit returns from his limit.

17. I will push way the clouds in the breasts of glasses with my palm
And slap my cheek with the jest of my hand, seriously.

18. I will shake my sleeve in the faces of companions
Who deter me from the ways of propriety concerning you.

19. And I will string together poetry like necklaces in eloquence,
Where each verse appears to be the centerpiece of the necklace.

20. And I will dress it in blinding glory through belonging
To the glory of Ma`n – what glory from you, O Lord of glory!

21. To a palm tree laden with favors its branches
Bear fruit near and far.

22. It chose the firmly established scholars, and all of them
Recite from its knowledge and make litanies to it.

23. The fawns gather to it from every place,
So those seeking knowledge with it and newcomers.

24. It is humble about what it deserves. Yet it
Is most sublime in worth, mention, and vigor.

25. So how many blessings it gifted and how many days it guided!
Blessed is the one who guides and the one who glorifies, a leader.

26. Though I intend to praise another, I will be
Farther than all of Allah's creation from propriety.

27. It has a family. If it calls them to a skirmish,
They answer it with white-bladed swords and sturdy spears.

28. They are like the full moons in their splendor
And on the battlefield more ferocious than lions.

29. When the fires of turmoil rage, they plunge into the fray
Against every intertwined coat of mail, rending chests.

30. Firmness – and the spear points shedding blood –
And the white swords have lethal strikes against the armored coats.

31. Indeed, Ma`n ibn al-Muhassin always
Possessed favors as precious pearls in deserts and meadows.

32. He has a desire for praise without attaining conceit,
Yet for blame he does not weary, being ascetic.

33. Were it not for him, virtue in Syria would be lost
And the worth of the cultured considered lower than monkeys.

34. Or show me a superior if with him
Ma`n does not one day even have a hand, let alone me.

35. Labid is a foolish poet if he recites poetry as a rawi,
More insignificant even than a slave.

36. His chest encompasses what is in his library’s treasuries
Even if they are books beyond count.

37. It includes the finest virgin meanings and helps them,
So they charm their female reciters with prosperous living.

38. His conduct among people is the best conduct,
Fall short of his stature even the conduct of al-Mahdi.

39. My grandfather was asleep before visiting him.
Since I came to him, I have been wakeful and serious.

40. His hands made me forget Damascus and its inhabitants
Even though its beauty resembles the eternal Garden.

41. What is surprising? Rather, I have been diverted by his company
And kindness from my brothers, loved ones, and friends.

42. The inverse of his name – there is no inverse to his body.
A retort to one who fulfills a promise with the cash at hand.

43. If he frowns among a people and his frown is stern,
His frown is never with a sullen face and without vigor.

44. His gifts are for those hoping with nostalgia while he
Is neither miserly when he gives nor stingy.

45. He sees with sound opinion in the day all that
Comes tomorrow, whether settled or knotted.

46. Undertaking the burdens of authority, he was never
Languid, enfeebled, or frail in his strength.

47. When the lip of jest parts, his seriousness scowls.
What jest and what seriousness you have!

48. Bestowing on his readers and the chaste among them
With two spreading springs of voice and stream.

49. So Allah granted him everlasting good fortune,
Despite the hostility of enemies and those of envy.

50. His days have not ceased to stretch out,
Built with might and fortune.