1. I slept, but the night of the stranger did not slumber,
And he who does not rest sees no stars don their veils.

2. How can the passionate one sleep amidst the ecstasy of yearning
That afflicts him with torment and guides him with zeal?

3. When we draw near, I'm denied, and if we're apart,
I'm distraught, though there's no excuse for one who finds.

4. My arms become my pillow as I lay prostrate
When I spend the night atop cushions and pillows.

5. I yearn for Baghdad although armies stand between us,
With a longing of one dispossessed, burning with fervor inside.

6. Yet I leave it willingly, obedient though my heart
To it is ardently and earnestly inclined.

7. Oh, will the days I spent with it ever return?
Or does time not flow back to where it began?

8. Yes, perhaps time will revert to what transpired before
And we'll praise what comes not by any design.

9. For the abode of succession, no city compares,
Nor for perfume is there a homestead so fine.

10. We've not replaced it with any other place,
Were it not for the ill-omen of one with dark deeds.

11. I reckon the Commander of the Faithful is like all men,
Curse the insolent enemy who disobeys!

12. Does he not see that rule of the world is his alone,
And that whoever defies him shall not endure?

13. No excuse for one who abandons the path of guidance
When before him shines the beacon’s light through the murk!

14. God has dispelled discord and illuminated blindness
With one who supports faith and the religion upholds.

15. Clement and wise, watching over the flock,
Compassionate to them, caring as a parent would.

16. Their hardships bring ease to his soul,
And reforming their state keeps him wakeful at night.

17. When foes don't seek refuge in his pardon,
And fail to submit to him in meekness and grace,

18. An army sets forth to confront them,
Driving them before it like chasing small game.

19. And if they lie waiting to ambush in stealth,
They find his swords meeting them at their posts.

20. Their treachery does not make God forsake the rest,
For He is the Hunter of those lost from the path.

21. When the resolve of his purpose grows firm,
You see all mankind in awe as one.

22. And the outcomes of all matters he lays bare,
Seeing the unseen as clearly as the present.

23. Are you not the one who ruled the world and contained the sublime
Despite the spite of foe and hater alike?

24. You protected the sanctuary of Islam from those who conspire
And you stood up in its defense, never sitting or waiting.

25. You have met it with gentleness and with severity,
And you have striven for it beyond the supreme struggle.

26. A boy, then prince, then aged caliph,
With resolute ambition, vigorous, magnificent.

27. How many dissenters from religion's brilliance were traitors
To God's blessings, denying them in your presence!

28. You overtook them and ravaged their sacrosanct abodes
With a ferocious army of lengthened columns.

29. You warned them first and offered excuse
To reform crooked ways and what was corrupt.

30. Had you wished, you could have fed the smallest page
Or the lowliest commander doses of demise.

31. Yet its jaws gaped though it watched for your consent,
Not venturing on its own without your approval.

32. For you observe God's will toward those who dwell
In the lands of Muslim and those with whom treaties exist.

33. The Sheikh's son was not protected by building his wall
Atop pillars on Safa nor solid stone foundations.

34. Rather he felt emboldened by the siege against him
As the soul deluded him, not wisely lead.

35. The wise and prudent one sees the sources of what comes to him
Before the streams arrive at their destinations.

36. Our solace in the ceaseless rain was its downpour
Shielding us, defending against hazards and woes,

37. But when his time had passed and emptied were
Our quivers like those of enraged lions bereaved,

38. The clouds of arrows poured forth hailstones upon him
That scattered clusters like twinkling stars colliding.

39. And the hauling of the mangonels rained upon him spears
And fire that blazed like flashes of lightning unleashed.

40. Then death advanced upon him angrily racing forth
With its gates of well-laid snares and cunning devices.

41. For but three days—I counted—you besieged him,
Not sleeping a night, keeping constant vigil.

42. Then you forced him out disgraced and humiliated, on foot,
With the myriad stratagems you had unleashed against him.

43. Had you not returned to pardon him, deaths
Would have galloped to him with all haste.

44. But you gave him sanctuary when he regained his feet,
Though the necks of swords were nearing his collar.

45. And you came to possess his land, his home,
And every ally under his protection and domain.

46. You deemed it permissible, though no judge sanctioned
His killing. But you were the most just of witnesses.

47. By annulling terms of truce that the fool had breached
When he stripped them, though you were the wisest in pacts.

48. So the despicable deed brought him back repentant and ashamed,
While noble clemency garmented you in acclaim.

49. And we reside in the glory of victory while our mounts complain of
Our absence, longing for the plunder taken away.

50. With what bounty and security has the plunge into hardships
Ever afforded elevation of life and station!

51. It is not like easy travel urgently spurred
To swiftly reunite with a dear friend now departed.

52. And I've not seen any poetry praising the sublime
Compose such adornments, had the art not now waned.