1. Passion brought a youth to his ruin, led by desire,
It clothed him in the garb of sickness, his neck bent by yearning.

2. It exhausted my patience with its raids, yet no sooner
Had it gone than my restful sleep became plunder to it.

3. It asked the way to the abode of those I love - did it rise
With the water from my teardrops, copiously poured?

4. It traced letters from their procession, so it seems
The short line appears inscribed on the page of exaltation.

5. Their mounts have made the far desert their own through them
And its expanses are perfumed with musk and ambergris.

6. Like standards of perfume they carried, their orbits
Were made to be censers revolving in space.

7. By it the expanse of Bayda glistens, so you deem it
Foam floating on a mirage that has spread its dust.

8. Greet them, greet them kindly with carnelian, though
They left my eyelids filled and amply provided.

9. No greeting except what the lighting justifies
And a breeze from the zephyr of morning validates.

10. The night dons its blackest of robes and its stars wane,
So dawn wraps itself in it, thickly layered.

11. I stay up while the shooting stars' eyes grow tired
And the lightning in the clouds' belly flashes pale.

12. How many dear ones made intractable, whom gentleness
Will not make pliant after they hardened?

13. Remove the sleep from their lassitude and steady
For them the cord of resolve to climb upward.

14. Cast the stirrups of guidance and reject the surplus
Of passion you have too lightly dismissed.

15. Throw down your staff in the protected realm you chose
For its origin - a sea whose ways are deposited.

16. The protected realm of the Prophet, secured, pure,
Of commendable traits, virtues for high ones.

17. Of the clay of glory - and the honor inherent
In it a spring of sanctity poured forth.

18. A light of truth giving clear guidance to one of reason
Bringing the dawn of certainty that dispels doubt.

19. It clarified for the veiled denier, so the path
Of truths appeared to him in the night of mystic journey.

20. Its lightning flashed and he found a twisting ascent
Scattered with flowers, guiding the sense of smell.

21. He was granted exclusivity until he attained a rank
Above which he traversed heavens and barriers.

22. A guide with proofs that keep his envious enemies
Restless, their entrails churned into confusion.

23. If it were not for clear verses they would have silenced
Those who spin verses of poetry or make speeches.

24. The foundations of polytheism tottered and withdrew in shame
While the persona and foot of one exalted sank.

25. Until you left no basis for polytheism standing
Except that you severed its spring and west.

26. O best one hoped for by those seeking refuge when
All people are hostage to what they reaped.

27. The God of the Throne prayed upon you whenever
A Pleiad rose above the cup and bent its wrist.

28. And may your grandson ‒ the guardian of this faith ‒ endure;
He by whom you rise to the peaks of pride if linked.

29. He became the Caliph between the two risers, his name
Is sweet upon tongues, deliciously flavored.

30. It spreads like the rare musk when passed
Among the youths of the land, snatched up.

31. Through you the attributes of exaltation were ennobled,
Sufficiently honored that you are called by its name.

32. If one vaunting himself competes with you
He turns back humiliated and miserable.

33. And none contend with you in the race course of generosity
Except they return upon their heels inverted.

34. When you rose above the hand of glory people saw
In you a singular banner erected tall.

35. Until you proposed extemporaneously and a kingdom opened
Whose ambassador had been resistant and aloof.

36. What has passed belongs to the signs of his beginnings
While multiples of its weakness were expected.

37. It loans approval to you when approval
Turns to praise you, should you bestow it.

38. And who clings to your reins - how can
The turns of time overcome him, conquer or conquer him?

39. Those are the qualities that left no glory
Except that they secured its height as theirs.

40. And your son al-Maʾmūn, follower of the tracks
Of your glory – none ever came close.

41. He is the one who adorned the path of power in all its aspects
And he is the one who was chosen by the exalted.

42. Your kingdom continues, bound to eternity,
Dragging its train withdrawn upon realms.