1. His glance returned not to the meeting, though his tooth decayed,
If, after you, he tasted blindness, even his age was decayed.

2. Long has the tender youth been your austere disdain,
So every day without you is as an age inordinate.

3. A pliant lover submitted to love when love called him,
Obediently casting himself into passion decrepit.

4. From your union he realized not his wish,
And if he spent his time in passion for you, he wasted his life.

5. He knew no idolatry in his love, nor went against
The religion and ways of love in anything.

6. And if he worshiped an idol in the morn,
He would worship none but your image, no other.

7. When the slanderers mention you frequently,
He listens, straining his ear to them.

8. No blamer saddens him with blame,
Save to console his grief with your memory.

9. Without you, his wings had not been hot,
Nor would anxiety have wasted his body.

10. How many tears he hid in the corner of his eye!
After you he was not faithful to what he hid.

11. Trust not your secrets to his eyes,
Which cannot keep a secret.

12. Eyes that shed tears in abundance,
Yet they are perfidious in revealing your secrets.

13. How many words I detailed in this ode,
While night detailed dawn in its winding sheet!

14. The suspicions of enviers attacked me through it,
When my eyelids were withered and my age decayed.

15. They did not excuse me nor know
That my hand in generosity was a hostage.

16. And if they had considered my praise of the Supported King,
My sins would be changed into good deeds.

17. The Universal King, depository of all merits,
Lavishes his stored bounty liberally on the righteous,

18. Desirous of receiving the tribute of all kings,
He loads the envoys with gifts galore.

19. A king, if the oceans vied with him,
The ocean would be left bereft of its ships.

20. If al-Asma’i came to recite his poetry to him,
He would err in his verse from awe.

21. If a mispronouncer attended to his expression,
He would remove the charm of his utterance.

22. Eloquent in speech without
The affectation of al-Mazini's client.

23. Of the House of Ayyub, whose qualities
Valour linked with generosity.

24. A family whose glory in renown is perfect,
Its deeds all straight and direct.

25. They bought the kingdom by daring and danger
And made souls of foes their price.

26. Now you see the weapon of barren kingdom,
At times their exploits, at others their madness.

27. O king, to whom kings are subjected,
And in their dependence follow his ways.

28. Happy he who gained his love and favour!
It relieved him from chamberlains and treasury.

29. The sincere in his promise in the Book, he whom
The Lord of the Throne ransomed after trying him.

30. You have bestowed on Your servant from Your bounty what
His capacity falls short of bearing any part of it.

31. You have wearied, with thanking, his endeavor
As though You were trying him with blessings.

32. Your bounty has made him familiar so his soul sought
No dwelling nor rest but Yours.

33. Your favour distracted him from his family
And Your shade and land made him forget his home.

34. He declares praise and eulogy openly though
In affection his secret is like his overt.

35. Nothing saddened him but the termination of his term,
And the time he spent under Your shade.

36. So may You never show inconsistency,
Nor remove the sorrow of any envier!

37. And prolong the life of those who envy you so that
They may live in humiliation, a life of misery!