1. Spring has scattered its treasures of light
From the pockets of the valleys,

2. And clothed the countryside in magnificent robes
That trail over the hills.

3. It is as if the breezes of paradise
Had breathed over the deserts,

4. And the flowers burst open
In a riot of color like locust wings,

5. To carpet the meadows.
The souls are aroused but not

6. Satiated except by the inanimate.
The roses, crimson-lipped,

7. Stain the gardens red.
For them are pitched tents of brocade

8. And pavilions in every valley.
Thorns guard their beauty

9. Lest hands reach out to pluck them.
Before them the nightingale

10. Trills his melody in the wasteland.
He who dares disturb this harmony

11. Will meet with the stab of fate.
Beware the crimson-lipped rose

12. Should it win mastery of my heart,
Wipe with the hem of morn

13. The dream's imprint from my eyes.
Is this the prime of spring

14. Or the radiance of guidance?
Arise to earn a new life

15. From the fruits of your youth.
Be content with your shade or the shade of the palm,

16. Not the shade of men.
Nothing thrives of livelihood

17. Among brothers in hardship,
You are not pleased by softness

18. In one whom you see pliant.
Yet you dislike the barbs

19. Of the tongues of cynics.
Do not covet the pain of a heart

20. Whose time of union has passed.
My soul is ransom for him

21. Who is content in solitude!
None reaps but the excellence

22. Of his council and affection.
Discipline the young colts

23. In the pastures of virtues,
Abundant in noble traits

24. Not in hastening decline.
The trait of the noble steed is bounty,

25. Not what his hand contains.
When the steed sleeps oppressed

26. By the injustice of Time upon the pillow,
Like the eye rejoicing in others

27. While clad in mourning.
Fate's hands are clenched

28. While his hands are open.
Time with the noble upon obstinacy.

29. My Master, there have reached you from
The guardians messages in succession -

30. Their breathings have perfumed you
With the choice words of literature,

31. Bearing traces of your creation
In eloquence and composure.

32. This bond between us
Has appeared, sundering intimacy.

33. It distracts you from memory of a beloved
In passionate love for Ibn Abi Dawad.*

34. * Ibn Abi Dawad was a famous 9th century Arab poet who wrote passionate love poems. This is a reference to the poem distracting the listener from devotion to God.