1. A specter of the one I love brought me pain
As it folded the hems of the night together

2. Greetings to him, if only a scent would waft
And let him taste in a dream some flavor

3. In my quest for fantasy I slept well
Seeking an illusion of bliss

4. So wonder at a youth who claims
To see and argue with an opponent

5. Content with the unreal shadows
As truth, obeying delusion

6. So leave arguing and listen to
The words of the specter, if you have any wisdom

7. A soul came to a soul, while a form
Meets a body, another form

8. Fate has set for me from it torments
Almost making me melt into tears

9. So I began gently in my ritual
Its saliva generously and forbearance

10. And I became drunk when I sipped
One night - Oh friend of darkness!

11. I revived my soul when I smelled
His cheeks, and the breath smelled them

12. And I committed a sin when I sipped
His saliva and drank iniquity

13. And I reached the utmost of my purpose
When he came near and I was tempted by what -

14. Then I woke up and the clothing of chastity
Covered my body with sickness

15. My body is singled out for deprivation
So let them ask about it on Resurrection

16. Oh radiant full moon, I complain to you
Of what has worried and saddened me

17. Worry for my distance from you
Has covered and saddened my heart

18. Be gentle with a passionate lover
Whom separation has unjustly afflicted

19. He almost killed himself
Fearing loss, worried and anxious

20. Death drew near him when
A flame resided in him, and eagerness

21. And I feared for the life of your love
From fading, so grant me your mercy

22. And my heart's share of seeing you
Is plenty, for it I'd sacrifice an arrow

23. I swear by the sickness of the eyelid
Which has conferred to my body from it a portion

24. By the safety of glances from
A sorcery the youth called sickness

25. Enough - Oh saliva of the beloved!
I see you forbidden and intense

26. Why, Oh my weary heart
Struck by the arrows of glances

27. Why didn't you wake from passion
And reconsider your resolve in it?

28. And be patient with one who doesn't
Obey what you wish, forbiddance and forbearance

29. If you are in humiliation, take refuge
In the mighty, honored ruler of Egypt

30. A king of noble lineage
So speak of him, step by step

31. Seek his protection, you will sing if
You part from father and mother in him

32. For time has obscured the luminous
And revealed the beautiful to the blind

33. Oh exalted master, who surpasses
Kings in brilliance and forbearance

34. You have adorned the necks of people
With necklaces of kindness and bounty

35. And you have broken the necks
Of the tyrants, the great sinners

36. And you have eradicated the problems
Of wickedness from the servants of God

37. Your elevated status - your descent is
Considered an increase in determination

38. You are the one without whom
The hands of justice could not be executed

39. You are the one without whom
The transgressor could not avoid sin

40. You are the one without whom
The lands of God would not be secure

41. You are the one without whom
The houses of God would not be filled with knowledge

42. God has a school which you have established
And in it virtue is marked with a sign

43. Its sight stops the eyes, so they thank
Your resolve, not saying time perfected it

44. The resolve of a man who does not consider
The reward and charity of deeds a burden

45. People have witnessed that the likes of it
Were never seen among Arabs or non-Arabs

46. And the eye of certainty confirms the report -
Leave the talk of assumption rejected!

47. Thus it is uniquely virtuous, never
Tasting the passage of time or orphanhood

48. You have gathered the diverse arts of knowledge,
Verification and investigation, understanding them

49. In it is Islamic law and truth
Containing both practice and knowledge

50. The one with Yusuf-like beauty contains
Beauty - so do not say the full moon is complete!

51. Or have you not seen the reddening
Of his cheek when sorrow overcomes him?

52. The Nile hits his face with envy
With the palm of its wave slapping

53. And with his palm is the water of life - so if you lick it you will be revived from death
And his face is the garden of beauty - so if you see it you will see only bliss

54. Oh spear of his - wonders! It waters enemies with poison
And his sword - wonders! It shatters eggshells, breaking them

55. The crescent of his bow in his hand
Surely has reached for the stars like an arrow

56. Meeting the devils of injustice
Striking them with the stars pelting

57. Oh his arrow! How many
Have you shot down by his good fortune and hit the target?

58. And his shepherd - how often
Has the generosity you curtailed from us seemed bounty?

59. And for the length of my praises
Be just when you judge

60. And look to a learned king
Great in worth, strong and mighty

61. Who combines the highest traits -
Courage, brilliance and forbearance

62. The senses bear witness that he surpasses
Mortals in perception and understanding

63. Attributes of constant generosity that do not
Give life to the wretched with any prevention

64. By God's praise he prefers nothing
Over frivolity and delusion

65. An eye aspiring to the heights
An ear deaf to vileness

66. If I try to conceal his praise
I cannot, like hiding the scent of musk

67. Or if I try to shun visiting him
His splendor returns to me as an opponent

68. Oh master! You have surpassed in the arts of generosity decisively
Shall we be wronged and complain of fate a crime?

69. We send to the sea of your generosity
From our thoughts prose and poetry

70. I have none but you, for I
Have singled out love for you completely

71. The world has become peaceful to me through you
So its war has become conciliation

72. And I felt safe so that I don't
Fear injustice or abuse from others

73. Glory to Him who enumerated all
Existing things, high and knowledgeable!

74. You are the creator of essence
And your origin was from water long ago

75. And my praise has reached you hoping
Either acceptance or otherwise

76. It has become long while being
Deficient in description, reverence and glory

77. Oh honorable master! My meager wares
I have determined receive from you their measure

78. Do not discard them out of hatred
For their faults with assumption rejected!

79. Marwan was permitted by
Al-Mahdi in Baghdad formerly

80. A thousand for every excellent line
Which he dispensed to relieve care

81. While you are higher than him, and
Verse is sweeter than his rhymed prose

82. I avoid complication, digression
And ambiguous terms,

83. So the listener says
The speaker has spoken truly and excellently

84. Grace them with bounty which eternally
Increases in gratitude and growth

85. And grace a month in which
Desires have constantly flowed from you

86. For it is most fitting, because your
Generosity has made the named name heard

87. I have heard praise of you, so he is no longer called deaf
And I have concluded composing my verses

88. And may God protect them from destruction
The horizon relates a garment

89. In which I saw the flowers numbered
And morning has come with its troops

90. So the night has been routed
And the hand of morning stretched out

91. To untie my dark night's saddlebags
Unbuttoning the straps of darkness

92. Star by star
So enjoy the morning, and listen

93. To its call - may your life not lack bounty!
It has sealed praise with meaning

94. So the musk's seal bursts open
So enjoy the morning, and listen

95. To its call - may your life not lack bounty