1. Eyes that behold the beauty of loved ones grow dim,
Wondrously in their lifetimes, how they grow bleary.

2. An eye left with no light from her lover’s face -
I marveled, after him, how it could sleep.

3. I have an eyelid that has forgotten how to close,
And the passage of sleeplessness has taught it to be wakeful.

4. It keeps watch on the traveling stars as though
The King Muhammad were imagined in their forms.

5. It seeks him among the stars because
His rank is above the celestial spheres.

6. A king - if the wind emulated his generosity
It would never hesitate a moment in its blowing.

7. Dispersing gathered wealth while he gathers
Scattered praise - divided while he unites.

8. He never deferred excuses from a questioner,
Never told the visitors, “Your appointment is tomorrow.”

9. Death feared him, though it was mightier.
Thus the sharp, tempered sword is blunted by the cold.

10. So hail to the king whose generosity has freed
Remembrance of him, though each dweller in his court is shackled.

11. Truly you were a plague to enemies and
A scourge - through you some are wretched and some blissful.

12. How often your palm, in assemblies of nobles, built up
Edifices, while the cheeks of nobles crumbled in ruin.

13. And how often your right hand unleashed against the foe
Clouds of vengeance, thunderous with deadly lightnings.

14. When his mount lagged under its burden, he spurred it on -
A steed, fierce and stripped down for war unfettered.

15. Then the lance wove what the sword had scattered,
And the blade scattered what the spear had neatly woven.

16. Its scattering was paired by your sword’s weaving,
While its weaving was paired by your spear’s scattering.

17. And in the battleground of excellence, how many stands you took
Against the disputants - some left perplexed, and some confounded.

18. No sign remained of the emblems of pride
That you did not manifest and make obvious.

19. God’s peace be upon you - it lasts forever
Like your generosity, even after you are gone it lasts.

20. If beneficence immortalized the glorious before you
You through your goodness would have been immortalized.