1. If you knew of a promise, however trivial,
To let me sleep one night or make me drowsy,

2. I would tend flocks till, when they left me,
I tended the stars at nightfall.

3. We passed by the abode, now empty,
And wept for its vestiges and graven marks,

4. And asked of its pastures, turning away
Sickened, nor asked of a wise man.

5. The meadow of youth lies broken,
Its zephyr is now but poisonous fumes;

6. A flame in parting was entrusted in the core
Of my heart with a burning, searing grief.

7. Cares arouse what they harbored of themselves-
Ascents-and they arouse cares.

8. Deluded, foolish soul! Truly, you were only
A fool in the days you were ignorant.

9. A subtlety in life called majesty
As the vicious is named virtuous.

10. You claimed that I was forebearing, and I see
Myself before that forebearance patient.

11. One who saw lightning stride silent
Across the plateau of Najd and its sand hills,

12. One Joseph, one Muhammad, one vigilant
With the outcast vile, compassionate, tender,

13. Who gave drink to Tay, to Kalb, to Dowd,
To Na and Qais and Wail and Temim,

14. None attains glory, especially of youths
Unless his help embraces all.

15. From his right hand blows issued
Which it was not theirs to be clouds,

16. Clothing Najd in the skilled work, not coarse
Filigree nor embroidered gowns;

17. Who spared his rest in wars
When toward the clouds their temper was mean:

18. We enjoyed him not so much as when he shook
And his palm sweated and he honored tents;

19. He turned Jesus,-and Jesus unto God-
So he became as fragments of potsherds;

20. The most entitled of men to settle the debt
Then, towering over it, lasting;

21. His soul spoke not of Mecca till his steeds
And archers pierced the cave and Raqim;

22. The sanctuary after the Din was intact
Left not for unbelief or misguidance inviolate;

23. When he pardoned the place of Iblis the accursed
With horses he made the place of Abraham sublime;

24. He broke idolatry with a breaking that reminded him
In the darkness of night of Zamzam and the rubble;

25. So the grace of the Giver overflowed till the swords
From his bounty were patterned.

26. We made trial of Abu Sa'id recent
And made trial of Abu Sa'id of old,

27. And we knew him barren and fertile
And knew him friendly and ungracious

28. So we knew that only by the rending of selves
Is one named generous made generous

29. Seeking glory leaves one confused
And with cares that fracture the mind;

30. You see him sound yet fractured
And see him well yet ill

31. You find glory in the wilderness like
Scattered clouds and receive it by him patterned

32. The sublime cloaked him so he counts not misery
Misery nor comfort comfort

33. The dew of bounty shows generosity solitary
In most places blamed

34. Whenever I visited him I found by him
A pedigree decayed and lasting glory

35. Most deserving are men seen destitute;
Never can he be seen wronged

36. Every state you meet him in, only
He cannot be met in a state condemned

37. And if the encounter of death was inclining
To vile infidelity, it bolted disordered

38. In the fray and fires, you'd think the atmosphere
Gloomy from both care and smoke

39. The withers of chargers anointed with wars
Soaked the raiment of valor with blood and pus

40. In stratagems the war there chewed them
And it chewed the shoulders' bone

41. You rose in it by the authority of God when
You made the swords disputing you adversaries

42. God opened victory in the banner for you
On Monday an opening sublime

43. The south wind besieged it, and the falcon's prey
Shall not be underestimated till it swoops down;

44. In a punishment flogged that had in it
The freshness of meadow for clouds a boon friend

45. Its roughness was softened so it was pliant
And its wind subsided so it was gentle

46. God's blessing upon you-I ask not God
For blessings other than it should endure

47. Had I done so I would be like one asking Him
Standing to stand