1. My youth has passed, though once it was desired,
And kinship sprang between it and my forebears;

2. My hair turned white, my strength began to fail me,
My heart—ay, my beloved—lost its dark locks.

3. Indeed it served to guide me to renewal
When once the withered branch begins to bloom anew.

4. 'Twas time itself that clothed me in rich raiment,
Then came and stripped its gift and left me bare;

5. It singled me out among my peers with honor,
Then stained my cloak, whose embroidery knew no end,

6. Or else consumed my flesh but shunned the bones—
A wind-blown stack, its stalks gaunt, dry.

7. When white hair laughed, I wept to see it laugh,
Until tears flowed in streams like racing steeds;

8. Its down, when it appeared, caused me such anguish,
I wet my cheeks for want of touching it.

9. If it evades my side, avoids contact,
As if fearing a book, made impure by touch,

10. Still I have seen it, and it's seen me too—
No curtain comes between us, dense or dark.

11. O watcher over me, sleep now; for fate
Has roused me with events I hoped to see.

12. Gray hair has granted me security
From accusation—he whom time lets slumber sees no dreams.

13. My age-mate blames me for the loss of youth
On that sad day its parting pangs began;

14. The day it left me like a bosom friend
Whose company, when gone, cannot be blamed.

15. Few feel the sorrow for a boon companion
That his bereavement and regret evoke.

16. Longing for youth's exuberant sprigs, which fade
And turn to withered sticks when they mature;

17. Each bough seems beautiful when newly sprung,
Though fate decrees its withering once full grown.

18. The best of days for men are first ones, though
In good and evil, there are consequences.

19. I said to aloeswood once dried and shrunk:
"Does anything surprise you now?" It said:

20. "I'm shocked by Time, its changing guises strange;
How bravely opposites can it embrace!"

21. Do not be shocked at Time if wonders rise
Inexhaustibly, nor ever cease.

22. So endless are the marvels Time creates—
Or cures—as long as men on earth abide.

23. How many monstrous acts has it let pass
Whereby the one of reason is misled!

24. It makes the lion prey for foxes, transforms
The noble falcon into carrion.

25. You there—if crippled, you're not truly maimed
Until your spirit, not your flesh, is harmed.

26. Indeed, O vile one censuring the vile,
Enough! Reproach yourself and have done with it!

27. Think not the humble, rotten stake contemptible;
It may prove useful fashioned into spear.

28. The mighty are brought low when friends betray,
Cut off from those who gave their power to them.

29. The arrow with no feathers, loosened string
Can not be rightly aimed or shot, and so

30. Things weak made strong when bound as one; the trunk
That loses bark and branches falls apart;

31. Hope not the wanton man will cease his ways
Though daily he is plunged in new remorse.

32. But hope when man sees error, makes amends—
Repentance ever comes to mortal men.

33. Seek your reward from the upright, not those
Who hoard small trifles, scraps they find and keep.

34. I welcome excuses from the virtuous man
When asking him brings hardship, causes pain.

35. Does not the date tree's ripe fruit satisfy
When clouds have left the land no drop of rain?

36. I do not covet presents from a miser,
Begrudgingly bestowed or seized by force.

37. The poet who seeks payment with lampoons
When his eulogies no benefit afford

38. Wins sufficient vengeance on his slanderer
When incompetent tenors sing his praises.

39. Eulogies, for greedy lords, do nicely turn
To subtle slanders when they cheat the bard.

40. My father Abū Aḥmad, God sustain him,
Is nobly generous, and rightly lauded.

41. How could sincere praise fail to find the tongues
Of people fortunate to have such a father?

42. His bounty is a meadow open to all seekers,
Whether clutching hopefully or pushed by want.

43. He sways between munificence and caution, trembling
Like one love-smitten, senseless with desire.

44. The people always crave caprice, but only
Wisdom affords ascent to higher things.

45. His court receives both beggars and the thankful,
Petitioners despairing or hoping for favor.

46. Some come to fawn on him and seek his riches,
While others fear and ask only his protection.

47. The destitute he clothes in stately bearing,
Till honored they depart, no longer spurring their mares jaded,

48. Or sheltering victims from abuse, till safe and smug they stand there,
While once all refuge seemed impossible to find.

49. He makes men thank their fate; his gifts astound us,
Free of defect, unsullied, pure of taint.

50. Mounted on Time's sure wheel his house turns smoothly;
Authority and wisdom steer the spin.

51. His greatness, like the heavens, ever rises
Despite the ebb and flow of earthly chance.

52. A leader riding to sublime ambitions,
No debatable act will bring him down.

53. His reasoning's enough; his wisdom's perfected
By long experience walking on its path.

54. To him, fear of God is sole discomfort;
Pleasing the Lord is all his labor's fruit.

55. His valor is unmatched; its piercing radiance
Outshines the common steel of duller minds.

56. Alone, eccentric, he is self-exiled
In his distinction, and his solitude prolongs.

57. Reveal him as he is, no ordinary man
Of pedigree to brag about, obscure the obvious.

58. Does dawn illume the sky with lamps when day breaks
And its incandescence pours out freely everywhere?

59. He is unmatched, a class apart from others,
Like Zuhayr, Muṣ'ab, Ḥusayn, and Ṭāhir too.

60. Or like 'Abdullāh, honorable and brilliant,
Whose towering heights bring him still closer to the heavens.

61. Like an Indian sword both strong and sharp yet elegant,
Unlike a common blade for cleaving meat.

62. Like rain in liberality, munificence, and plenty
Unlike the clouds, which empty to reveal their gold.

63. Like the moon in beauty, splendor, loftiness,
Unlike its image in a well or pool on earth.

64. Like Time in benefit and harm, discernment too,
Unlike caprice, which cannot be relied upon.

65. Any who compare with him I have described here
Fall short of his superlative degree.

66. Take this, Emir, a necklace I have strung
With pearls that gain more beauty being pierced.

67. But finest jewelry is worthy, eloquent speech,
That's memorized and written down in books.

68. It will attest the special gifts God gave you,
His chosen one, His handpicked intimate.

69. Time hoards you from events lest you be lost,
His treasured one, His trusted confidante.