1. He came as a visitor, weak and unafraid of censure,
And the light of the horizon's brilliance progressed in stages,

2. He was generous with imaginings which, had I aimed them at him
Would have made the stingiest cling to reconciliation.

3. A beloved, if the full moon gained possession
Of the radiance of his beauty, it would remain perfect.

4. Graceful as the lines of tattoos, he did not bend,
And nothing swayed him unless the heart inclined.

5. With glances he moves the wings of passion.
When the braids above them were stirred.

6. I spend the night giving him a drink of wine
That makes the darkness recede from his teeth in rays.

7. When dawn rose from his palm, some of the joy
That was hidden before appeared to us.

8. Until the cloak of youth was stripped at dusk
And its flowers faded, all but a few.

9. Dishevelled, the redness of dawn poured over him
As if the light of morning had continued unbroken.

10. He glorified his Master and cried “God is great” when he saw
The blackness of night retreat and depart.

11. He stood with his tribe about him as though he
And they were Kisra marching with the tribes.

12. He walked proudly robed on the meadows
His robes like a garden that was still flowering.

13. We went to a spacious grove with a sky
That showed you shining full moons.

14. To a dwelling where the halting-places of company
Had made it more lovely than any halting-place.

15. He told of a meadow whose innards were cracked
By the fire of sorrow as though he complained to nightingales.

16. In it he lavishes hidden beauty on one who deserves it
While with others, had he done so, he would not have been so open-handed.

17. You can see his walls like lovers after estrangement
Shedding copious tears at dawn.

18. The star of guidance and the unique pearl
Among the Pleiades raised him high.

19. How his ideas have plumbed the darkness of night
To irrigate gardens that learning has watered with new and plentiful rain;

20. Gardens the hot wind has not withered
As plots turned to gardens in the spring.

21. Brides whom he met in the train of his cloak –
When glimpsed what they hid I said, “Bashful!”

22. They answer you though silent
And who ever saw mutes answer questions?

23. Rarities of thought have confirmed for later times
Beauties of recollection that rival early achievements.