1. Four virtues adorn the four steadfast ones,
Each a fine-hewed pillar, straight and true.

2. Salma of Sulaiman, Amrah of Amir,
Hind of Bani Hind, and Su’da of Bani Sa’d.

3. Homes where eyes once miserly now weep,
Where grief now presses each barren waste.

4. Askwered are the breasts of generous men,
By that easy hill, that solitary flag.

5. Do not ask me of a love whose taste is woe,
For none may know such love but the distraught.

6. I make my way to Jurash's tribe, astride
A racing camel, swift yet dignified.

7. Before me ride the lances of Hafs,
Men of war, their origin unknown, their fame denied.

8. Who doubts their noble deeds, their courage bold?
Who questions that eloquence dwells in Nejd?

9. To their courts I guide my mount's slowed pace,
Their guest am I, and freely they provide.

10. To Hafs' sword, still sheathed yet poised to strike,
A thousand blades stand ready at his side.

11. No door has scorned me, no hound given alarm,
No need for intercession from those far and wide.

12. No shameful begging do I do,
No thought unnerves me, no rebuff wounds my pride.

13. To him a promise made yet unfulfilled
Is deepest shame, should gifts not swift precede

14. His clouds would rain, though lightning's flash nowhere,
His liberal hand would sow though thunder left its seat.

15. A herd of steeds, their hooves still red from war,
Their claws like lions rending wounded prey.

16. Among them Ja’ad, face and garment white as dew,
Yet no coward to be scared by lions at play.

17. While Khorasan festers, ulcerous with revolt,
Its limbs decaying, a mangy hide its robe

18. Its rabble bare their throats to Arabia's wolves
That freemen not be sold in slaves' cheap road.

19. Nights when glory slept in unrightful bed
And fools like giants held the age's reins

20. Not in error did they drag honor through mire
But knowingly they sought to slit Faith's veins

21. Their swords were poison and their arrows death
Far sweeter than honeyed wine thy vengeance instead

22. You bound in one all Qahtan's seed, Adnan's line
And none a seam could find where two were wed

23. Through you the tribes were joined by love's own thread
As perfect as a necklace, pearls inset

24. Among Tamim you were Ahnaf, noble soul
And champion of Azd's honored ranks

25. Father you were to Judham's mighty kings
When oaths were sworn and ties of kinship knit

26. Though darkness reigned, still your star blazed ahead
Bright guide and harbinger of fortune's winds

27. Does not the lion lead the wedding feast?
Pride of place is his when all lions meet

28. Nearby they wait, your army poised to march
Secure within your favor, by your wisdom led

29. Jaifakh's weak spirit strengthened against fate
While proud Nejd in direst need your valor fed

30. You viewed men's wars as but a childish game
Though lofty their tales and earnest their creed

31. Sweet balm, those battles you began!
Cool comfort for fevered minds their memory

32. You raised high the eye downcast in defeat
And planted glory where once shame held the field

33. A man whose soul and deeds are storms unleashed
Though him they weary, he shall not concede

34. We're bound by blood, by worldly chains
Needless for us affection's seeds to sow

35. He saw your fathers treat his sires as kin
Those ties demand he shelter you, their heirs in woe

36. How fine your righteous way, while I'm alive
How sweet your words and thoughts, when I am dead

37. I had no need of wealth your hands could give
Nor Hafs of my slim poetry's sparse thread

38. But kindness he saw like necklaces of pearls
And so for them a fitting bracelet forged instead

39. I lost no bounty that was in his hands
Nor did he lack what poetry was mine to spread

40. How many hearts were softened by that praise
That brought green life to glory's barren bed!

41. A garland of pure deeds I weave for him
With melodious verse that shall long outlast my breath