1. Reveal your face from behind its veil,
For no sword can cut when sheathed in its scabbard,

2. And no lion is dreaded for its roar
When hidden away in the jungle.

3. The star gives no guidance on the path
Unless it emerges from behind its veil.

4. And honey would have no distinct taste
If not sampled apart from its wax.

5. When your light appears, nothing can stop
The throngs that flock to bask in its glow.

6. The full moon minds not the thin clouds
That dim its brilliance as on it goes.

7. Rise up unbidden, as the blade leaps forth
When the swordsman draws it from its sheath.

8. The blind know not the lightning’s charge
Till thunder claps from within the clouds.

9. How often in a day, with resolve, one gains
What yesterday he counted not in his sums.

10. When the knight’s steed is his messenger,
Victory is his, of that there are no doubts.

11. Do not let the enemy bands remain,
Rely on what the Prophet relied on against their mobs.

12. Say not the youth is too weak,
Can any but flies wound the lion cub?

13. Storm their fortress with one
That would tear down mountains from their roots.

14. For when it sees you advance,
Its walls will quake and trembling, fall.

15. If you do not teach time a lesson in constancy,
It will school you in the ways of change.

16. Defer to them a resolute decision,
One that makes the night glow like day.

17. A king’s resolve before which time bows
And kings prostrate themselves at his door.

18. Events quake in fear of his intent
And tribulations cower from his address.

19. He has lifted the veil from his noble presence,
And made awe itself his veil.

20. When he examines a matter with wisdom’s eye,
He sees the faults and flaws within decisions.

21. If he deliberates over a complex issue,
Truth aids him above all seeking answers.

22. His days fall in line with his judgment,
As words comply with grammatical rules.

23. He is not deterred by the warnings of fate
Nor troubled by separation’s crow.

24. He sees not in the stars a barrier
To steady resolve or steps reversed mid-stride.

25. One can read in his prudent mind
What the divine pen has writ.

26. His days shine with his light
As though smiling free of all concerns.

27. Seekers of praise and drink divert him
From fulfilling hopes and sipping cups.

28. What fame has journeyed, spreading,
Except to pitch its tent at his door?

29. When his wealth takes refuge in his palm,
Generosity brings it to him, though it escapes his grasp.

30. And if time makes all vaunt themselves,
You would think it divests itself of its robes for him.

31. O king! Who sees his foe draw near
Like an appointed time in its approach.

32. Do not give freely to the ungrateful,
For it leads only to his arrogance.

33. Yet rain is pleaded for despite its fury
And only disliked when pouring down unrestrained.

34. So march with resolve fitting your stature,
The kind that combines wisdom’s perspectives.

35. It hands over the souls of the foe to ruin
And restores matters to their rightful lords.

36. Until each lord of estate proclaims:
Truth has returned to its proper place!

37. God has lifted affliction from them,
So they set to work seeking it from you.

38. They look to your kingdom with betrayer’s eye,
Emboldened by the hopes your clemency imparts.

39. If you do not sever their limbs with your blade,
You will not cut off their hopes and means.

40. Do not accept their excuse, for their Lord
Has intended misrepresentation in His Book.

41. The repentance of one who desists after his sin,
And the repentance of the betrayer under punishment.

42. Had they feared requital befitting their sin,
They would not have ventured to commit it.

43. So sever the cords of their resolve with a sword
That has reached the pinnacle of flawless selection.

44. To its blade ants on a surface are
Like the humming of flies in the air.

45. Death itself pleads excuses before it
And lives shorten despite its reproach.

46. A seasoned warrior - when souls are demanded, foundations shake
Yet his spearing of prey continues unabated.

47. In his graying years he grants them multiples of what
His blade let them taste in his youth.

48. O king! Before whom time makes excuses
And days attend in service at his stirrups.

49. My goading was no insult to you,
Nor did my words contravene etiquette.

50. No flaw in the sword is blamed when it's unsheathed,
Not even the tremor of drawing hands as it's unleashed.

51. Your name is renowned and my verse circulates,
Both have wandered far in their estrangement.

52. A beautiful name - only the verse adorning it
Adds to its beauty when recited together.

53. Like a pearl whose beauty is not displayed
Till threaded on a string, passing through each loop.