1. My excuse for turning away from the vicissitudes of this time,
Which has cast me into tribulations.

2. It frowns upon me with its hatred,
Boiling with deep-rooted rancor.

3. Abundant are its misfortunes, numerous its calamities.
Ancient in plots, harsh in afflictions.

4. Stingy to me with the pleasures of youth,
It destroys their freshness with sorrow.

5. It shakes off the flourishing branches,
So they wither though they were verdant twigs.

6. And turns away from it the eyes of the fair,
Who once were adorned in its garb.

7. As if time were a lover,
Who saw me turn away from its dwelling.

8. So it tears apart what I have pieced together
And distances what I hold dear.

9. One eye it tasks with weeping,
While the other brims with tears.

10. I chide my fate but fate is deaf,
Unhearing to the poet's rebuke.

11. At times, when it saddens me, I am harsh with it,
And at others, gentle when it is rough.

12. When the sword of calamities strikes me,
I place endurance before me as a shield.

13. My reason has not failed me, but I see
Its judgement of me as utter ruin.

14. I will complain of time, for it has touched me
With hardship, to al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan.

15. Noble is he, our refuge when we cling to him,
We turn to the citadels of his madness.

16. And if the rain withholds, the clouds
Of his palm bring down showers for us.

17. A youth who loved glory until
He rose while still a morning dew infatuated with it.

18. Scion of great men, seasoned in high deeds,
So treat him and them kindly as is tradition.

19. They established the kingdom firmly
And buttressed its pillars and foundation.

20. Between his fingers lies a voice
That tells of all he has done.

21. When he weeps into his paper,
The gardens laugh with every art.

22. Dew spreads from his script,
Doing to the earth what rain does.

23. He surpassed Iyas in the excellence of his intellect,
And Qus ibn Saeda in eloquence.

24. Upright, his deeds facilitated,
Sagacious, his management penetrating.

25. Many a prisoner by him is freed,
Many a free man by him held in bondage.

26. Had he not opened the way to high endeavors,
The cities would not have fallen to the swords.

27. The inky night reveals calamities
When illuminated by the gleam of armaments.

28. To you I have turned the reins of hope,
O son of hope, for your goodness.

29. I have a service the test will uncover,
So the examiner will praise it.

30. Calligraphy to rival the marvels
Of the weaving of Yemen.

31. And prose like your noble disposition
That wrongdoing has not tainted.

32. I am patient, persisting until
I attain my goal and advise sincerely until

33. I believe I have done right.
Content that I have an ambition

34. To which the stars in heaven might be yoked.
I put aside secret thoughts until

35. To me they are equal, be they or not.
When you wish to choose

36. A counselor and confidante,
You will appoint me to my proper station