1. Greetings of Allah unto you, O domes
Are your hearts struck or is it the soil?

2. What share does an inhabitant of your people have
Will he attain goodness or be stricken?

3. I stood at the side of the valley, so it inclined
To echo my yearning - the riders passed by

4. I spoke to the abode but it did not answer me
Not every discourse elicits a response

5. An abode where I had a shining moon
It disappeared and the clouds were its veil

6. It has lips - for its beholder a drink
But the lot of its seeker is a mirage

7. In it is a gaze from my heart - blackened
And a palm tinted with my blood

8. I complained of torment, so it turned away indifferent
That indifference itself was the torment

9. If the plight of a complainer does not trouble you
Then neither complaining nor reproach will benefit

10. What I never expected came to pass and many a matter
I expected to happen but the calculations were false

11. I associated with people - how many a foe
Wore on him the garb of friendship as clothing

12. How many a companion who amassed wealth
Dragging along spoils and war booty

13. And how many a man I called but did not answer
And others call him, and he answers not

14. We see some faulting the traits of others
Yet no fault-finder but has faults

15. They blame the prince for excessive generosity
As if the rain clouds were blamed for the rain

16. Why would one who does not fear death
Fear the giving of gifts?

17. The virtues of glory are a chain, linked
As the beads are strung on a spear's tassel

18. A pillar in the clan of Qais, eminent
Before whom the stout of Yemen bow

19. He occupies the land's expanse, and is the head
To whom necks and shoulders bow

20. You see on his face the mark of glory
Like a title making clear the content of a book

21. He presents himself unveiled, yet
His awe itself veils him

22. For every evil, each door is open to him
Yet no door is open to virtues for him

23. He assumed authority, which is a sword
In the grip of one who freely strikes

24. He came with the name Al-Basheer, bringing us good tidings
And in him is lineage to his namesake

25. If the nights have toyed with him
Behold, their day of drinking has arrived

26. The sun may be shrouded by clouds
But cannot be eclipsed by clouds

27. Mountains are prideful of his reign
Upon them are his generosity's hills

28. In them the deer and lions roam
And the sheep and wolves graze

29. In his clan of helpers are lions
Faced with their onslaught, forests quake

30. Shame turns their faces pale
Not war paint turns their faces pale

31. They stand looking to a dear one
For the onlooker, joy and anxiety mingle

32. He encompasses two halves of nobility - one
His inheritance, the other his own making

33. Open-handed in hardship and ease
At his arrival, those courtyards are straitened

34. From him is reward brought unasked
Yes, and from Allah is his reward

35. A youth hoped to please and feared to displease
Feared his wrath and punishment

36. In his rule is sound judgment
In his deeds, correct opinion

37. He sees the rights companions have over him
Until he sees the rights of destiny - no companionship then

38. And looks upon his enviers with accepting eyes
They harbored rancor, while he was forbearing

39. He won the lead from afar off
Horses of purebred stock fall short of him

40. So I said to one who would compete with him: Gently!
You will overtake him once the raven turns white