1. Jesting while grief has overwhelmed you
And feeling safe though a serpent coils around you

2. Long life has deceived you without gain
And you were pleased that death in its course was slow

3. Be patient, for death comes swiftest
To your fading life, its steeds alighting

4. Now you cannot comprehend what has passed
By power or grasp, neither extending nor clenching

5. Prepare, for your temples herald graying
And behold, on your cheeks it has inscribed lines

6. So you met the writer of fate stealthily
The supreme Pen writing and etching by it

7. Blinded by a sealed book, beware, for this
Is the ship of life, nearing the shore

8. How long it has plowed through turbulent seas
Which you plunged into recklessly

9. Still tossing in its waves
One moment lifted, the next cast down

10. Soon it will toss you into a pit’s depth
Both sides pressing upon you tightly

11. And you know not what awaits you beyond
Meeting God’s pleasure or wrath

12. Strangest is your claim to forbid wrong
When this rebellious passion has blinded reason

13. You neglected the clear truth in ignorance
And your soul disobeyed, claiming fairness

14. Obeying a devil when he calls
Accepting when he misguides and taking when he gives

15. Shunning the Hereafter, though near its term
Scorning the world, though inclined to avarice

16. Granting it love and youth’s exertion
Yet giving only trinkets and rags

17. Lo! You desire its union though it is parted
And hope for nearness though its tribe has marched away

18. You turned from the path of guidance in blindness
And fell into the pit of ruin headlong

19. You have none but the interceding Master
Who bestows favor - every hopeful is given

20. A guide to the Merciful - follow his path
Whoever strays from the guide’s course has erred

21. His love is the condition for acceptance - if
One’s book lacks it, the condition is unmet

22. No act is accepted by God, nor purified
Without it, but falls void and futile

23. By it the truth is lucid, by it falsehood perishes
By it success is hoped for, by it sins are dropped

24. It is the safest refuge, the place to which
The sinner will appeal for intercession tomorrow

25. My soul has been immersed in his love
Which was inscribed in my heart before I knew writing

26. To you, son of the best of creation, I send
My fingers kissing your noble hands

27. Peerless in this age, she came to a peerless one
To unfold her unique wonders

28. And recite the verses of devotion - they are
A trusted pact and solid tie

29. Yours is the renowned nobility, O son of Mohammed
And it suffices you to be grafted to his noble scion

30. To the glory of religion and knowledge combined
Blessed is He who gave, and blessed what He gave

31. Your family, Muhammad’s household
So He made it the greatest house, and honored them the finest tribe

32. I was sent a necklace of jewels, magnificent,
With the Messenger of God its central pearl

33. And I gifted therefrom to Siyadah Ghadah
Stringing from the precious gems a bracelet for her

34. Its setting befits her glory, for if
It were ornate, her diction would find it commonplace

35. And in the good and pure I composed it
So the letter Taa aided it for that reason

36. Peace be upon you for as long as the morning gleams
And the tender branch sways in the orchard