1. Take from fate a share for me
And seize the chance that comes unforeseen

2. Long life is not what fate decrees
Only joy without sorrow has been

3. So bring to me a virgin bride
Whose purity no eye has seen

4. Her smile makes the wine more sweet
Her light shines through crystal sheen

5. Like suns in the morn she glows
At night she's a lamp serene

6. Drink deep my love while you still can
For in this there is wisdom keen

7. See the sun when day is done
Sets her light in the moon's demesne

8. In the meadows the anemone
Bloomed perfection, beauty supreme

9. Then wept the eyes of the raincloud
When its tender branch did lean

10. The bulbul rose up, a lover true
And from the branch did sing and keen

11. Whenever the nightingale lamented
With flowers the branches he did preen

12. Arise, for I see time itself
Turn kindly though once cruel and mean

13. Its night now gone and dawn appears
Like gentle eve's caressing sheen

14. This one wandered, prideful and vain
But now is tamed, his fires careen

15. His glory and might are revealed
And with Manṣūr he is seen

16. Near at hand is the victory
That from Abu al-Fatḥ is foreseen

17. A king whose sword makes laughter flow
And the enemies' eyes tearful lean

18. With his sword he sheds heads galore
And with his hand guidance serene

19. If his noble will summoned fate
Fate would harken and obey unseen

20. His lands are protected and safe
To people a refuge, a screen

21. When hopes are dashed, in him still
Hope and faith are nurtured and glean

22. With him joy and death coexist
Shadow and light he brings to them

23. Blessed are his fertile lands
There good news makes hearts careen

24. His generosity exceeds even
The generous valley of Muḍar green

25. His glory ascends the heights
Of glory, nearly touching the sheen

26. And all people bow before him
Be they pious or worldly lean

27. The just ruler of the land
Ghāzī bin Urtuq's noble gene

28. A king whose heart is most generous
Who rains mercy without spleen

29. His heart is supple with wisdom
And in war, stone steadfast and keen

30. If we saw the like of you, oh noble one
As rulers in every nation and demesne

31. Our poetry would be twice as great
As the ancients' poems long and lean

32. Pearls of phrase in verse sublime
That shame odes of great length and sheen

33. Consider well, wise one, how in you
Meaning triumphs over form that's terse and lean