1. How can one go astray with your radiant face as the morning dawn,
And your fragrance permeating the universe like sweet musk?

2. O you whose beauty, when unveiled, keeps all eyes fixed in awe,
You made clear my love for you in unambiguous passion, like water flowing clearly in its stream.

3. So even the censurers, when seeing your beauty, say to me,
“How astounding that your heart does not burst asunder!”

4. You have enriched me with thoughts of you, making me needless of others -
O my captivator! I am the wealthy flatterer.

5. O you who captures the lover's heart - his tears flow
And sleep is totally parted from him.

6. If not for you, I would not have pretended affection with my friends,
And wasted my life's duration on you.

7. I socialized with people who are not my peers,
So I was like an anomalous line randomly appended to a document.

8. Say to him who bears arms while his waist is thinner and more delicate than his hanging sword:
Do not burden your body with weapons and their heaviness - I fear for you from exhaustion.

9. He is a gazelle with flames blazing on his cheeks,
For which the palm trunks sway and are ravaged.

10. You meet him adorned with necklaces and armored,
And you see him gilded and embellished.

11. The Turkish maidens left no beauty to others after their own,
Everything else created pales to their brilliance.

12. Whether they come down or go up, they are shining full moons.
A people who, when they ride steeds, you imagine them

13. Lions with terrifying glances.
Their cheeks are created from the blood of hearts,

14. And their armors are forged from the blood of warriors.
They pulled the bowstring to the ear with stern eyebrows,

15. From under which the arrows of glances are unleashed.
They spread their hair, so that each braid of them

16. Is a twist on which the plaits cascade.
I have among them a young man, who when I flirt with him,

17. His glances nearly speak with magic.
If he wishes, he greets me with expansive manners,

18. Though his eyes belie his unhappiness.
I cannot forget the night he visited me while his companion

19. Showed pleasure but was inwardly enraged and upset.
He arrived displaying coyness on his face,

20. While inwardly his heart held burning fire.
In the evening he would share wine with me, and between us

21. Was a subtle reproach more delicious and refined than the wine.
Until fatigue overtook his eyelids, and my arm was his pillow,

22. While his robe's end was clinging to my elbow.
I embraced him and held him close, as if he was

23. Wrapped and knotted around my arm.
Until the dawn broke through, alarming him -

24. For dawn is the hated blue enemy of lovers.
Thereupon he gestured farewell, kissing my hands

25. While they clung to his robe's end.
O you who kisses my fingers farewell,

26. I yearn to kiss your mouth instead.
Though I accepted the dawn, even as it became

27. For lovers a croaking raven separating them.
And I forgave the sin of time when your magnificent rising sun appeared,

28. O King triumphant and protected!
A star whose orbit is the sphere of fortune, a moon whose sky is the horizon of glory,

29. Of a people who won pride with their efforts,
And the orbit of glory was built for them.

30. A people who, when they wrought havoc, were the frowning universe,
And when they were generous, they were pouring clouds.

31. When the desperate sought help, they rushed forth,
And when the terrified sought refuge, they showed kindness.

32. A King encircled by Kings as if he is
A full moon encircled by the blossoms of stars.

33. A prophet of an era, sent with generosity -
All people believe the message he brought.

34. Good fortune's cloud has shaded him, moving on,
While his clear sign is unconditional generosity.

35. The lofty dome, and the bird around which
The banners of victory flutter.

36. The army spread on all sides around it
To fill every valley and barren plain.

37. So for its wilderness are its armies and steeds,
And for its birds are its falcons and hawks.

38. A King too majestic for vision - so we perceive him
With our hearts, not with sight.

39. When resolved, you say "a watching lion,"
When contemplative, you say "a silent brooding one."

40. Like the sun, but does not disappear,
Like the moon, but is not erased,

41. Like rain, but does not end,
Like a lion, but does not flee,

42. Like a sword, but does not bend,
Like a flood, but does not drown,

43. Like fate, but does not transgress,
Like the sea, but does not perish.

44. Hoping for his benefits while fearing his might,
Like fire that gives you light while burning you.

45. Gentle of fingers when at ease, but they
Are firmer than white swords on the day of woe,

46. A hand that safeguards what fingers have protected,
While the palms gather what they have dispersed.

47. It contains no wealth but what the fingers contain,
As mercury is held in the fingertips.

48. Kings vie for the highest of goals,
One strides ahead while the other takes off in his run,

49. Until when the competing opponent slows, he comes to it
Steadily walking, taking his time.

50. O you who brings honor to the seats of his crown,
And through them brings pride to the Furthest Mosque,

51. Iraq and its people were gratified at your arrival,
While Harrat Raqim and Jawsaq were lonesome without you.

52. The eyes of Sour became radiant images,
And Hima thirsts in anticipation of your approach.

53. A land adorned by its meadows - our clothes are of silk,
And our beds are of unwoven silk fabric.

54. So people beseech the clouds while one in this land
Calls upon God that it will not drown.

55. O you who compares the giants to peas,
Far is the comparison - and where is the pea to the giants?

56. The star Suhail is not mentioned in competing for the heights,
Except it hangs its head in embarrassment to the full moon.

57. How often giants leapt to other giants,
Seeking the impossible - for none can attain what is beyond reach!

58. They did not regain their senses until the snakes of Qanat
Became walls for them, and the blood of horsemen became trenches.

59. They gathered until you extended a hand to them -
They recalled with it the hands of Saba, so they dispersed.

60. The frenzy addled their minds, so they imagined
An unfurling banner in every stirring leaf.

61. You are but one on the day of peace,
Singular and unique - but on the day of woe, a brave warrior.

62. You have shut the door of excuse, along with its distortion,
While your generosity, its door is never closed.

63. My Master, hear from your loyalist a praise
Speaking truly of my devotion for your eminence,

64. I am a lifelong loving servant of your favors,
And none speaks like me falsely in flattery.

65. A servant residing in Iraq whose praises
Sometimes exotify, sometimes orientalize you.

66. So the elders of Bakr envied my speech -
Its complexities exhausted their juniors.

67. Sometimes even the eloquent orator is overwhelmed,
And the unskilled fumbles in confusion.

68. They came accusing me of esoteric language,
For I delved into the obscure, while they orientalized.

69. Theirs is an essential eastern nature,
While ours is Iraq, and eloquence its habit.

70. I did not consider poetry itself a merit,
But I saw virtue in how you spend it.

71. They said you were endowed to praise him,
And I replied, surely the blessed is endowed.

72. Acceptance satisfies me as approval,
For donating affection is generosity.

73. Ever shall your affairs hold fast to fortune -
In the land you forbid some and provide to others.