1. You bid farewell to the ruins and the sands,
And paused at grief, though grief did not dismay you,

2. How many slain lovers lie between those songs -
Like me, pouring tears, wounded by separation.

3. The melodies reveal the secrets of their bosoms,
Though faithful, their bodies are worn and frail.

4. The vigor of youth - what has become of it?
Time betrayed them, but they did not betray.

5. Had I but shed a tear before they left,
I'd not have borne the debt of obligation.

6. They went away, yet still my thoughts do not forget,
For the heart, not the eye or ear, keeps vigil.

7. And perhaps one night, though far, they were near,
Wandering in the gardens of days gone by.

8. I did not ask after them, though they thought I would -
But my heart is the confidant of passion and yearning.

9. The caravan denied me on the day we parted -
My tongue fell silent, and tears spoke eloquently.

10. The ways of love and its traces remain the same,
While people follow customs and traditions.

11. My lively idol, how many false deities
Has love, whose portion is but trials?

12. The lost complain with their eyes, yet follow them -
Like spears from Qais and from Yemen.

13. The fever of your form resembles, when we're apart,
Their spears from Qais and from Yemen.

14. Look how the adornments of my world reveal
A full moon rising on a branch.

15. When morning came, they left a body with no heart,
Eyes with no kohl, how many they deserted!

16. Guide them gently, for intentions are a calamity,
The stumble of the feet and the slip of the hand.

17. You blamed me with the fever's excuses for a time -
This fever sent for me and released my fetters.

18. I see the plump gazelles, and I remember
The past, neither gone from them nor from the eye.

19. The clouds watered their meadows and passed by,
The breeze of night came to them with fluttering hems.

20. And you, oh complainer of youth,
The passionate find no use in complaining.

21. The tents on the meadow suffice me, though not lived in,
Bear with me, they are home to none.

22. He who woos the white eggs will attain
The sweet union of their branches.

23. He whose suit is for the lofty, beautiful gazelles,
Let him be like the sincere Safwan.

24. The frank attainer though times be grim,
And the noble informant though the scene be fair.

25. More radiant and more passionate than the shelter,
Is his appearance to the sleepless lover.

26. The knowledgeable friend guided our efforts
Through the wadis to the fortresses.

27. The open meadow holds none but the healthy,
The sweet springs none but the pure.

28. The brilliant one whose insight is remembered
As if he could grasp the unseen through guesswork.

29. He conceals no treachery in upright faith,
His secrets in well-being like the visible.

30. I don't know if the obstacles he resolves
Are lightning from Yemen or a sword from Yemen.

31. He distracted the ascetics from their homelands,
For every blessing comes from his kindness.

32. In the hardships of fate, he is gentle of spirit,
In narrow nights, generous.

33. He brought forth a sea of gifts,
His horses compensation for ships.

34. If his voice did not stir the clouds, they would not thunder,
Nor would the cheek of lightning flash.

35. O you who are this that we hoped for,
Unfasten the knot of silence about him!

36. He protected the lands, so you need not fear for them,
How could a tender shoot fear the embrace?

37. He shot arrows, but they are not like arrows -
He added his loving care, not mere shooting.

38. He restored to the king the past days of youth,
So he cast off the mask of old age and weakness.

39. He made the guts of the stubborn dance
In fear and dread on hearing "war" and "truce".

40. In it is talk of peace, all of it delightful,
Bringing joy to hearts and cities.

41. I see people as if cloven by fate -
The living in agony like the dead in shrouds.

42. Say what you will, the best speech is the most truthful,
Whether in the page of gentleness or its harsh edge.

43. Hearts scattered in despair that severs
Spirit from body.

44. He steered the times without frivolity or alarm
And led its course without bridle or bit.

45. Many whom you called "friend" falsely
Spoke in ugly tones.

46. You preferred one who was called "the generous friend"-
Not every sword is the sword of Yazan's son.

47. You are a folk whose fingers stayed
Yesterday and today the injustice and cheating.

48. May he enjoy his kingship as a youth, and in maturity
The gray hair, wisdom and experience.

49. None but your views are hoped for in dire times,
None but your hands are trusted.

50. The eyes of your thoughts do not sleep -
How many times have they probed

51. The minds of the suspect!
Fortune and blessings visit its people

52. Like time, with blessings and woes yoked together.
It seeks your support, and if you set your eyes upon it,

53. You would surely stumble upon its beauties.
You attained the farthest reaches effortlessly,

54. Turning back the raging flood time and again.
You excelled in praise, made it sweet, and won it -

55. Above all people, pure of cheating or being cheated.
You see the price of lofty praise as extravagance,

56. Yet only with a price are sumptuous gifts obtained.
How often the voice of the singer pours forth praise

57. Sweeter than the soft cooing Yahya!
Sister of benevolence and dew, you were enough for me -

58. Thought, insight and wisdom.
Without you no world could be lit -

59. In ease or in hardship.
You bring dead hopes back to life,

60. While you kill the turns of fate and ordeals.