1. Tell the men tyranny has gone too far
When will this caged bird take flight?

2. Are these shackles binding his wings?
Have silken threads tied his legs?

3. His patience is fraying, slipping away
As the horizon of freedom stretches on

4. Will heaven's gate open for him?
Will the noble winds lift him high?

5. Will he continue his journey
Eager to soar swiftly skyward?

6. He left his earthly home behind
Though his destiny remains unknown

7. When will he walk the earth unbound
Like the wild horses roaming free?

8. Or must he accept that the lot
Of all men is suitors and crowds?

9. A prisoner in shacks or caged
In palaces called castles?

10. By God! If this life were but
Gardens and light, pure and bright-

11. With shadows for resting in groves
And springs flowing under the trees-

12. Gilded tents or ruby lustrous walls-
All joys found outside of the heavens

13. Are fleeting prizes on earth.
The sky is meant for the birds!

14. It fits them well and they it.
The saddle cinched, reins held fast,

15. A master atop its mighty back.
Freedom is innate in Man-

16. Male and female created equal!
My dark-eyed muses are moons

17. Among the Nile's radiant stars.
They visit me, moonlights aglow,

18. As precious to me as jewels.
No verse can match their glory

19. Nor any sea their depths sublime.
For their sake I befriend the ghosts

20. And in their honor rage with jealousy.
I hope, I wish, I pray-

21. Events will unfold as desired.
See, my friend, how thoughts meander,

22. Feelings flow like water poured.
Your country's fate is resolved

23. As if it were a trivial matter.
Mortals pass, one then the next,

24. Ideas the envoys between.
This imposing edifice

25. Is built on foundations dug deep.
She whom you left behind

26. Has no ally but the Truth.
Justice rose up for her cause,

27. The young and old rallied to her aid.
Seeking from civilization

28. What harms and what benefits.
No path is clear, not one guide Seeing

29. Sees through to the roads ahead.
Your book holds no lies for you,

30. No false pride to repent therein.
You refined it until the lines

31. Were formed in your noble image.
You placed it high, aware

32. The reckoning for writers is hard.
In its breadth is room for doubt

33. And discourse, considerate and wise.
Eloquence flows from your speech,

34. Knowledge pours forth in abundance.
It treads rugged roads with care,

35. Steadfast among all uncertainties.
None reject book or tradition

36. When you speak of them favorably.
We wonder, do you push boundaries?

37. Or confirm doctrine, leaving it be?
Twenty years since you left, yet

38. Such a brief time, like months alone.
Women are weak, yet compassion

39. In the noble soul comes easy.
You forget that you are the full moon,

40. The crescent but an orb in your glow.
Years pass fleeting as moments,

41. Their terms no longer than months.
In life we disagreed, as friends can,

42. Then fondness returned at night's embrace.
Affection healed our hearts

43. Of errors committed in our youth.
Opinions divide our minds, but not

44. Our spirits, which remain entwined.
Tell me, where are you now, friend?

45. And where is your venerable guide?
Where is the Imam? And where

46. Ismail and the luminous council?
Since you entered the earth

47. Only graves and tombstones remain.
The era of brilliant stars

48. Lives on, lighting the passage of time.