1. Do covenants and songs make you cry,
As the loves did before them make you sigh?

2. I stopped at them and made my eyes rain,
As remembrance pierced me with its pain.

3. So their clouds poured down gently blown,
Sighs like showers pelted from my groan.

4. With them I put off a troop of my tears,
For my remembrance, time never wears.

5. I will not cease to blame the loss of my patience,
To the confidant till we gain equivalence.

6. You've not seen tears plead for help like mine,
Nor sighs from a breast that mourn and pine,

7. Aiding a lover whom no aid attends,
Or saving a Muslim shame openly pretends.

8. They gave me aid against desolation, when
They helped me, then left me alone again.

9. I missed them both; they failed me and barred
Me there from my dear fold they once guarded.

10. Shall I not water a Gazelle's abode with my tear,
If I sucked its spittle to quench my fire?

11. Yes, especially when my love lies cured
By shedding my tears for all I've endured.

12. A time-honored right rule has paid my due,
Weeping at the absence of song and lover true,

13. And healed with yearning his love-sick heart
Bared, so why blame him whose robe was part?

14. But no return for what is fulfilled,
For consciousness of transient days wasted and killed.

15. Now in this time and at its end,
Worldly affairs have called me from friend.

16. I'm done with youth and passion's call
To does and the streaming horses' stall.

17. A critic saw me as the base and vile,
Said I'm diminished by loves beguile.

18. I was patient with her and said free-spoken,
“To you I belong, by God a token.”

19. My downcast eyes have no cause for shame,
To devalue a Yemeni sword's claim.

20. If you look closely, you find it's not
Scabbards that lofty blades are fraught.

21. Who asks the source of my pride, for I'm proud
Of my literature which mocks the crowd.

22. We poets trace to the writers' tribe
A lineage, by time and world imbibed.

23. Though they have the utmost merit and skill,
More eloquent tongues and hands to fulfill;

24. Our father in our lineage is their father,
Mercury, celestial orb in its weather.

25. A scholar who only scholars bred,
Wise of heart and sharp of head,

26. Full, if of meanings he grew aware,
And excellent, if he speaks his care.

27. O writers, have mercy on us, don't dictate
What an era's injustice might relate.

28. If you don't and you're harsh to us,
Despite enriching you as we were thus;

29. Then Father Abu Al Husain, Brother of the Lofty Signs,
Is a doctor who alone can heal my lines.

30. A doctor who healed me of many a sickness,
His medicine never harsh or quickness.

31. Can mere thanks satisfy when it couldn't avail,
Since to his hands I cannot prevail?

32. Yes, the lad is generous, complete,
And in generosity, meanings deplete.

33. Abu Al Husayn gives freely and feels no dearth,
Unlike we feel competing for worth.

34. Tomorrow he will freely give any praise,
Without owning it he'll amaze.

35. But his ambition lifted him so high,
His feet went above the throne on high.

36. He eases others though heaviness prevails,
And always helps when one fails.

37. You've not seen one who seeks less fame,
Rewarded more than one who's too tame.

38. When the steed sleeps and claims no prize,
Fame comes galloping bringing highs.

39. I count the merits of Ahmad ibn Yahya's son,
Generosities like towering dunes.

40. He brought security, though it was my request,
So his guarantee was the real test.

41. The changing of my states has secured me,
So his safety was the best safety.

42. But he ransomed life from death's pull,
With a munificence that pierced and lulled.

43. I burdened time with him, so he could
Acquit my right with care and good.

44. The writers' youth, noble and knowing,
Truthful, sure, and status showing.

45. I thanked his hand though it showed me,
His hand left me lacking, it was plain to see.

46. He gave me and I praised, but didn't equal him,
Until he showered me beyond the brim.

47. He was righteous to me like a hating foe,
But a friend wronged me, even in show.

48. If he weren't a noble man,
I'd have said my praise made him vain.

49. If I weren't a man of integrity, too,
I'd have met his favor with hate undue.

50. If one grows angry when given favor,
I'd grow angry, my state exposed as color.

51. I'm not angry at one who came to grace me,
My pride in him like steeds race me.

52. Nor am I envious of one who set the enviers,
To slander me while he stayed staunch, nary stirs.

53. I swear from now he's matchless among all,
If only God would give him a comrade's call.

54. If only God forgives my raging,
For raging can suit those love engaging.

55. Muhammad, O son of Ahmad, O son of Yahya,
Brother of munificence and graces of joy!

56. You've taken my gratitude as pledge,
Based on your custom, not contingent edge.

57. You captured me, ruled my slavery,
With your kindness, not dependent mastery.

58. A free man unfettered, unconfined, is only
A prisoner in your favors, bowing lowly.

59. A captive slave in others' hands can only be,
Free from what you possess, captivity.

60. You remain eternal by what you've built,
I see it lasting until it wilts or fades.