1. The most delightful love is that lingered over;
The sweetest, where lovers at times find fault.

2. After the home of a beloved who rejects me,
When my burning thirst seeks him, there is no comfort.

3. My heart is not altered, though hearts may change,
By a heart whose nature varies, unstable and calm by turns.

4. Fate has decreed that I live far away.
I have suffered the pangs that lovers must suffer.

5. My hair is not white with age; so why is my heart
White, when passion and youth are still strong?

6. I asked Huda for union, yet he, alone, wishes to part.
My enemies rejoice, while my friends lament.

7.
My passion is not for one who loves another,

8. Whom people mourn for, when we're long separated.
He misses the right path, the wise course,

9. And strives perversely in all he arranges.
Yet I have a proud and virtuous soul,

10. Steady in danger, my heart strong and calm.
With one glance I see deep in my companion's heart.

11. Things hidden from one who knows him quite well.
I bear patiently the hate of those who blame me unjustly,

12. Finding no sweetness with one who turns from me.
My pleasures have gone, for youth has fled,

13. I abstain from sweet life; yet life is still good.
Not every sweet thing tempts me,

14. Nor all who seek me are my fond lovers.

15. My ears delight not in virgins' tender voices,
Not the meadows' praise can tempt me to wander far.

16. Ah, Fate has been cruel to one who was harsh!
But still I shield him, hiding his sins in my breast.

17.
One like me should settle in solitude,

18. A place where I need not meet those I wish to avoid.
I will settle in a rough land of barren hills,

19. Where nothing flourishes, and nothing grows.
If I do not defend myself from those who injure me,

20. Who will protect me in misfortune from further harm?
My feet shall not tread the soft meadows,

21. Nor shall I ride there joyfully on a fleet courser.
And the maidens say: “Gently, speak not harshly against them,

22. But praise them in verse however much they slander!”
I said to them: “Gently - they know not my true worth.

23. It is easier for me to dispraise than compose panegyrics.
My dignified soul reveals its noble origin

24. In the graceful manner of one descended from generous stock.
Tell me, maidens, whose evil has made them unjust,

25. With what tongue shall I dispraise, what shall I say?”
I have no tongue but that which sings the praises

26. Of the noble son of Shaheen, so sweet and gentle.
A youth who surpassed the great in merit while still a child,

27. And left the seniors and elders far behind.
The glorious mantle of honor suits him,

28. Dragging behind him the skirts of highest distinction.
Time has handed him the keys of eloquence -

29. As his poems are recited his greatness is proclaimed.
When the most complex questions pose a challenge,

30. His ready wit makes difficult problems fall apart.
His intellect burns so bright, none can match his brilliance.

31. His mind nearly catches fire from glowing thought!
With exquisite verse it is as if he holds a pen,

32. And a royal scribe dictates to him what to write.
When he smiles sweetly, his charm is irresistible,

33. Like lightning flashing from gathering clouds.
Pardon me, for his overflowing merit has drowned me.

34. He is a gazelle whose neck the sun brightly caresses at dusk.
A youth whose father in generosity and nobility

35. Each stands alone, while the branch draws life from the root.
Who can compare with Shaheen or his father Ahmad

36. When they claim the highest merit, unmatched among Arabs?
When their full moon rises in the sky of glory,

37. It illuminates for them both East and West.
I seek refuge from men with envious hearts,

38. Who come as if to be pleased, but only wish to provoke.
When their deeds require me to blame,

39. My dignity, wisdom and courtesy forbid it.
I recognized your true merit, and praised you alone,

40. The meaning and expression both flowing abundantly.
Even if through ignorance I called you an infidel,

41. The verse and rhyme would not permit it.
For whom do fruits reveal the bounty beneath the peel,

42. And the hidden fruits of merit shine forth?
What star of poetry is there but you, whom I face

43. Whenever I turn, and toward whom I make my way?
What runner in the field of verse outstrips the others,

44. As the unbridled pens race and the rhymes fly by?
But these are only flowers. Were you to appear,

45. You would take the place of flowers, which now are hidden.
Witnesses can attest the truth of what I denied -

46. Such denial was empty falsehood, vain babble.
Still I remain the one praising and the praised,

47. Skillfully composing spells of enchantment about you.
The sweet music of glory makes your heart rejoice,

48. Music brought by the one who comes and goes for God.
He strives for Umm Al-Qura (Mecca) with sincere devotion.

49. Say: He seeks only God's pleasure in all he does.
He returns with troops of forgiveness in his train,

50. Adorned with the cubes and draperies of the Kaba.
Thus he was, dwelling so long amidst the clamor -

51. An army of victory escorted him away.
Remain, and remain always, in God's abode!

52. May you and your father dwell with the Almighty in honor!
My jealous rivals remain cast down before me,