1. When our night-companion sent us a drink and laughingly we drank,
we spent the night seeing Pleiades on its ear as earrings.

2. A leg stood for us on the dew
with a candle of a star that doesn't dim or go out.

3. A croaking voice softened its gentle song
and the buzzing mosquito made its eyelids droop.

4. The shaking of the wine no longer left it a hand,
nor did the bending of the drunkard leave it a side.

5. It was bleeding, felled by drunkenness, shaking only
when the belly stopped carrying it and the back took over.

6. They say it's a wineskin with a spout on top -
do they not recognize the spout and the wineskin?

7. We made our sleeves our drinking-companions' robes
and the darkness tailored cloaks for us from its skin.

8. Mouth to mouth it whispered secrets,
bosom pressed close to adoring bosom.

9. With your life revive his cup and eyelids -
the flask was already revived after it dozed off.

10. The darkness has turned to follow its stars
and the army of dawn has lined up against the night.

11. Stars set out for Pleiades as if
they were rings appearing on a hiding hand.

12. Their pursuers passed over their tracks
like the owner of a cloak whose horses were concealed behind him.

13. Capella came leaping high, her bundle slung from a staff,
evading the gaze of Bootes as he trailed behind her.

14. Her sister rushed out from behind
to rip through the seam of the Milky Way.

15. She fears the roar of the lion pouncing,
Leo shredding her to bits in the dark.

16. As if the two Bears who flank the axis
were guarding it, guaranteeing its preservation.

17. One poles his spear, thrusting its blade;
the other, unarmed, has bared his claws in ferocity.

18. As if the watchman of the star moves stealthily,
rustling his feathers under the night.

19. As if the Bier's pallbearers have lost their way
in bewilderment, the shroud fluttering open.

20. As if Suhail, on the horizon,
is leaving friends it will never see again.

21. As if Suhail is a lover glimpsed at times
and at others hidden from view.

22. As if its highest star is a knight who flaunts
two banners he's raised, disdaining to march.

23. As if Al Nesr's vanguards and rearguards clashed
and though they were equally matched, the scales didn't tip.

24. As if its brother, when it flew continually,
came before halfway through the night and seized the second half.

25. As if the White Ostrich's coloring
is the brocade robe of Khusraw, richly embroidered.

26. As if the night's darkness, leaning over,
lies prostrate, drinking up the wine.

27. As if the pillar of dawn is a sovereign Turk
who called out the hour then hid from sight.

28. As if the banner of the sun is Ja'far's glorious mantle
which, seeing battle, doubled in radiance.

29. The shields glimmered white, flashing swords,
deadly spears, and coats of mail woven like baskets.

30. Their steeds came pounding up as if
their ears traced letters for him on their forelocks.

31. There Ja'far encountered one unlike himself,
though formerly she'd been gentle with him.

32. Yet you'd see him in hardship keeping
his resolve like lightning, his attack like snatching.

33. See him in prosperity making his presence
inspiration itself, his words pearls.

34. His gifts come in numbers to match his soldiers,
never decreasing in kind or increasing.

35. An eloquent poet and orator are exhausted by what he gives,
though they exceed bounds and indulge in description.

36. It is fate, yet I do not see it grant,
beyond those it has favored, boons or bounty.

37. When passionate zeal is witnessed, it extends a hand to him
as if it wore a bracelet that dripped his blood.

38. It meets him wrathfully, as if to take vengeance
for the blood his heights have spilled, seeking recompense.

39. His palm distributes generosity and care
even as it has fought off thousands and granted thousands.

40. A hand that initiates generosity along with care
and on the day of battle exudes a noble scent.

41. The kingdoms were not held together before Ja'far
and none denied or knew blessings as he did.

42. They wrangled with him, yet kindness is his essence.
They persisted but did not succeed; they were equitable but not fair.

43. When they were harsh he was gentle, when hasty he was deliberate,
when they were stingy he gave, when treacherous he was faithful.

44. To glory belongs what remains, to generosity what is gained,
to people what is revealed, to God what is hidden.

45. Suspicion surges though bounty overflows
and the sea's tide rises though the sea is calm.

46. If I compared him to a fecund sea,
I'd fear that praising the like of him was an affront.

47. No gifts compare to the least of his boons -
how then could anything match a suit of armor and sword?

48. Master of men's necks, possessor of their love,
so let a people be purified whom he has purified.

49. A youth whom the world drags pridefully along
though at times it strains its glance and at others preens.

50. Calamities ask but half of him for relief
when before him they were barren, bearing no fruit.

51. The sky above its pillars until this day
has not dropped a star upon anyone as righteous or faithful.

52. Though filled with shooting stars, when they rebelled
the enemies of truth launched them like flung pebbles.

53. My friends, mix the wine's cup with his memory,
for you will find no sweeter or purer blend.

54. It dispels sorrow until I see it
exhaling the meadow's breeze as it's sipped.

55. The knots of melodies almost overwhelm it
with opulence, while the air steals its gentleness.

56. Father Time wraps his wing around me for him
while Mother Sun suckles me from behind.

57. No wretched halt where my she-camel kneels,
no tangled knot or jolting litter or saddle girth.

58. The rhymes - their courses are doctrines - weave their threads,
then proceed, though they're dedicated to your glory.

59. My camel rises in the morning with an initial laam,
and if inspiration led I'd place it in front.

60. Yemeni in its tune, Azdi in its articulation,
I arrange it in verse and consolidate in prosody.

61. I direct the steed of poetry only toward you -
in you, for I cannot direct it anywhere but to you.

62. I was no panegyrist but one inspired,
who answers when called and halts when told enough.

63. Abu Ahmad, there were shelters on this earth,
yet I wanted no pillar but you, no cave but you.

64. You whom God did not reveal his sun upon
anyone more righteous or faithful than you.

65. The sun does not cover everything with its rays
more generously than your help and bounty.

66. You took me by the forelock while dire straits loomed,
making my whole life thereafter easy and smooth.

67. When you were ill, breasts were torn with anguish,
ears deafened, eyes blinded, sides rent.

68. My heart, which had been a fiery coal for you,
became ashes; my livelihood, once plentiful, grew scarce.

69. I saw nothing like the union with my loved one
as a cure - but your well-being was the greatest remedy.

70. How could separation from you leave me happy and content
when you left no compassion for my people or care for me?

71. I felt safe with you from frightening fate,
and if you held eternity, you'd secure me from doom.