1. My imagination roamed, but did not roam from reminiscing about you.
So it was the noblest phantom that came visiting generously,

2. A barefoot phantom that delighted and gifted me,
With tender narcissus and ripe apples.

3. Two eyes that flanked cheeks that were created
Only for misery that the deceived sees as joy.

4. How often it pained me, and gifted me its beauties,
Of fruits and fragrant herbs of all varieties.

5. It pelted me with fruits of Eden and dangling grapes,
And apple trees that the gentle wind softly shakes.

6. And fresh figs from flourishing trees it pursues,
A heart bidding farewell remembers in wistfulness.

7. I wandered captivated by fragrant plants and fruits,
That refuse plucking even when imagined plucked.

8. May God banish your guest that came from the abode of illusions,
Blinding the heart with its strongest of spells.

9. It is the departure whose aftermath is but form without essence,
Although souls may find in it a taste of pleasant living.

10. My eyes find solace in my nights because of it,
As it pours upon them sincerity with the purest water.

11. No good in delight for the eye followed by tears
That flow down the cheeks in torrents.

12. I am astonished at fake ecstasy that led its visitor astray,
When tears are false and the self remains desiccated.

13. The essence of love is more calamitous than its semblance,
As you know, and the worst of disease is that which is latent.

14. What our loved ones instilled in our youth after repentance,
Is silence at times, and clamor at others.

15. Sometimes a pigeon, and other times a silent abode,
Unless it restores the soul with loud laments.

16. Or a knocker in the stillness of slumber that knocks us,
Or a flash of lightning that consoles the heart in the darkness.

17. Or the moan of the Prophet's love that does not cease
To rouse for the infatuated, passions and desires.

18. Each igniting for us a yearning that reminds us
Of intimacy, so they grant us multitudes of sorrows.

19. Do not be surprised at what sustenance my brother Huj receives,
A share that surpasses the share of the judicious.

20. The Creator clothes the wise with no garb,
And the beasts with furs and wool.

21. I have always known the feeble live humbly,
And never overburden themselves.

22. And I have known the prudent to be frugal,
Observing patience when deprived.

23. Just like these cattle that are sufficiently grazed,
Never bargaining for more fodder.

24. It suffices my feeble brother what the Almighty apportions him,
He whose judgment you see no injustice.

25. And I said to the mongrel made arrogant by fortune:
You and the black dogs are not equal hosts.

26. Ignorance has deluded you into pride at the grace
That lengthened your step ahead of far superior horses.

27. Leave off your rhyming which suffices you, for it
When praising Ahmad provides ample returns.

28. So praise poetry thereby, a praise that benefits you,
And suppresses the envious and vituperative.

29. Abu Ja'far al-Ta'i became a place of refuge,
And a sanctuary for one who aspires and fears.

30. An old man in despair, whose tribe and family
And Hatem's generosity have perished.

31. They were pioneers who ascended the ranks,
Imbued with the spirit of life, and became exemplars.

32. They looked after the quartets with pastures,
Always and for one seeking refuge, shelters.

33. Successive honesty made the kingdom lasting for them
With one like Ahmad deciding the caliphate.

34. Dazzling white, he does not cease to be confined
To praise, accustomed to wealth, and its means depleted.

35. Facilitating avenues of profit for its seeker,
For his glory, and God's religion protected.

36. His times are livelihood overflowing with bounty,
Though sometimes his abundance diminishes.

37. As if he and the entourages circling him
Are God's structures with the pilgrims circumambulating.

38. I singled him out with my hopes and grew exclusive to him,
While others persisted upon idols unmoving.

39. They invoke one who does not answer the imploring,
Even if they plead and lament repeatedly.

40. I recognized the essence of immaculate ruby through him,
When I found people to be various impurities.

41. He sacrifices when the flatterer is humiliated by his flattery,
Like musk whose scent is not marred by what it exudes.

42. How many milkers of the teat of life passed by them
As they oozed misery and destitution.

43. If not for Abu Ja'far al-Ta’i they would not have been granted
Except horns of meagre worldly goods and shadows.

44. Easy natured, he did not mix his rule
With violence, though adamant with petitioners.

45. When calamities do not burden compulsively,
They give along with the burden, latitude.

46. We know no other man who fulfills promise and threat
Except in wishful thinking and pretense.

47. He avoids his enemies and wealth,
So he does not wastefully destroy either ability permits.

48. Is preventing waste not wasteful squandering
Of honors, though it is his right?

49. Whenever a people incline with goodness his way,
He rewards them before any praise, generously.

50. And when others transgress, he forgives,
Never depriving them, even if pens bleed.

51. They feared a fire that is endless,
So the gardens were brought near and annexed.

52. But he pursues only to deter further dissenters,
If waywardness lures them to defection.

53. Opportunities have means not known
To the ignorant, even if expert deceivers.

54. What seems loss in a brief period,
When its affliction subsides, goals are attained.

55. Without hesitation or regret for the past,
So let the horseman await returning pursuits.

56. To whom can one flee from steeds that roam
With greyhounds seeking prey to mangle?

57. They trampled grey-haired mighty lions,
Though in their manes the stumbling still rumbles.

58. And they said: “Taste your hell, for your tormentor
Still degrades elders and mocks adolescence.”

59. How can one escape when the night descends,
Though close to daybreak however imminent?

60. How can safety be found when a brother seeks you,
Like darkness when it casts its veil?

61. As if every soul is linked to him when sought,
Tied with a bond, destine to be crucial.

62. So seek his satisfaction, and be certain
That his wrath has no protection, when it stirs.

63. Meet Ibn Hareen, not as an offender,
Harsh and severe upon the hopeful penitent.

64. But as a master of wisdom and restraint combined,
Never readily unleashed except with certainty.

65. He determinedly ponders while hasty,
And when intending punishment, readily pardons.

66. He manages a self that is tolerant of indignation,
That worldly afflictions have accustomed to forebearance.

67. Inattentive when excused, though you imagine him
Examining the flaws of people in discernment.

68. You will find him gently drawing a veil over flaws,
And when darkness falls, a illuminator of the unseen.

69. When he contemplates, his footsteps are followed precisely,
Not like one trailing steps lost and confused.

70. His insight hits the mark if applied;
Even animals, he would excel as a diviner.

71. You would think him, wary of sin on an unruly day,
Cautious, wearing a coat of linen, undeterred.

72. He is not bothered by sly winks, and yours of compassion
Towards him, you will find from him kind overtures.

73. He sways pliantly when a wind blows,
But not when the gales blast tumultuously.

74. He does not abandon truth aggrieved by insults,
Nor exceed truth and become insolent.

75. How often he prepared good fortunes for a people,
And how often they prepared bite and kicks!

76. He brought them close through pardoning their disobedience,
And followed pardon with favors and kind grace.

77. When scribes bled, it was not in his habit
To deprive them, even if they grew bold.

78. They came fearful of unending fire,
So the gardens were brought near with annexation.

79. But he pursues only to deter further dissenters,
If waywardness lures them to defection.

80. And a guide said: “We found his manners
Like honey in taste, and fragrant as musk.”

81. “Manners that taught us how to praise him
And softened us, for we had been unrefined.”

82. “How often we began and renewed, but gave abundantly,
Yet we could not deplete the ocean.”

83. “An ocean of virtue that does not meet
The thirsty, or one traversing deserts for wells.”

84. “Its meanings were complete for an equitable man
Who deliberated the conditions for long.”

85. “One who views all that perishes as the same,
Whether it tasted or was chaste.”

86. “Your tribulation tests him like a steadfast mountain
Against winds blowing, firm without shaking.”

87. “He is not alarmed whether the gales grow violent for him,
Nor tempted when its squalls subside.”

88. “A dignified heart rests in his breast,
Cautious for God, resistant to diversion.”

89. “No blemish in him but the freeing of slaves,
Which he reciprocates, even if it diminishes wealth.”

90. “How many have wanted distinction and ancestry,
Yet distinction and ancestry procured their ruin.”

91. “O you of high distinction who established his foundations
Upon lowliness, and transcended the stars in rank.”

92. “By God, your worth has surpassed
What you have been entrusted, by multiples.”

93. “No hand of fortune has flung at you an errant strike,
Never granting excess upon you.”

94. “People have not seen any matter with you as its authority,
Appearing as a burden changed into ease.”

95. “So be content in lasting comfort,
Until time bids you farewell in succession.”

96. “You who were a protector in your era
Of marketplaces, have by day become just.”

97. “Do not let time delude you with its deception,
Or the healthy hide seen as leprous.”

98. “None endured the fetters of fate in an era
Except hoping deliverance from you as recompense.”

99. “None despaired your refuge once promised,
Except you became a deliverer, faithful to every word.”

100. “One who faulted you for excess, I said to him:
“You have always fallen short of virtuous deeds.’

101. “You have become, in shunning excess, discreet,
Inheriting from one who perished in it, absolution.”

102. “The burdens of glorious deeds are unloaded
Through God’s tribulation, so leave mentioning the spared.”

103. “Why do you blame one whom God appointed sovereign?
He has never approved of prodigality.”

104. “He gained until he pardoned the flatterers together,
With largesse that sealed their mouths and filled them.”

105. “If he truly erred through excess,
He has erased it by leaving no wastefulness.”

106. “Welcome a sin that leads to repentance,
And spreading provision and fulfillment among people.”

107. “One who fled you, I said: “Spare yourself your craving,
His awe should not deprive you.”

108. “Ask the prince, and do not let his grandeur
Deprive you, though mighty and high in rank.”

109. “Ask him, though eminent and ascendant in status,
And a boundary for enemies, defiant.”

110. “Do not despair of his flowing munificence,
Even if aloft, towering with loftiness.”

111. “Nothing prevents what he possesses from you
Except what pierces domes and rends them.”

112. “To you I directed my will riding atop a she-camel,
Like wind blustering upon riders blustering.”

113. “I anchored its saddlebags, though created
Lighter than all that tread upon earth, frictionless.”

114. “Turning over the night with an eye not sleeping,
And gurgling pebbles of solace, smooth.”

115. “A ship of the land-ships, sturdy,
Sailing once it takes the lash as its oar.”

116. “It came with auspices of formidable tribulations, trusting
It would meet you as a fortifier of wealth.”

117. “It gifted wondrous presents hoping they would earn
Strangeness you would irrigate with your rivers.”

118. “It weakened itself for you, after meeting
Chastity and dignified composure, desiccated.”

119. “So enclothe it, by the One it seeks sufficiency through,
And if you wish others in the countryside, describe them.”

120. “Clothe a man who before had not gained
Through poetry, containers for people filling.”

121. “Like foliage of Eden from its leaves,
When no foliage existed and no pruners pruning.”

122. “Garment it from the world’s adornment that you garb,
So garb it, O best of those who sufficed.”

123. “And act through it without being commanded, knowingly,
An act that marriage processions of gratitude parade.”

124. “Distract it through your munificence in a time
That has lost all propriety, and deprived you of nothing.”

125. “One whose anger was stirred by my words and saddened,
May God increase his anger and grief.”

126. “And let the vulgar poet beware my composition,
Lest he encounters one who flays vulgarity.”

127. “Let no wise man be ignorant that I am a man who,
When uncouth, was coarse, and if refined, gentle.”

128. To you, my free-flowing imagination came like the wind,
Stirring riders blustering.

129. I anchored its bits, though created lighter
Than all the lightest made to tread earth.

130. It turns the night with an eye sleepless,
And mouth foaming with pebbles of solace.

131. A sturdy land-ship sailing once taking
The lash as oar, rowing briskly.

132. It came heralding formidable tribulations, trusting
It will meet you as fortifier of wealth.

133. It gifted wondrous presents, hopeful to reap
The strangest you would irrigate with your rivers.

134. It weakened before you, after experiencing
Chastity and dignified reserve, desiccated.

135. So enrobe it, by the One it seeks bounty from,
Or describe another, if you prefer attributes.

136. Robe a man who before had no gain
From verse, seeking containers from people to fill.

137. Like foliage of Eden from its leaves,
When no foliage existed, or pruners pruning.

138. Robe it from the adornments of the world you don,
So robe it, O finest of those who sufficed!

139. Act through it without orders, perceptively,
An act marriage processions of gratitude parade.

140. Occupy it through your bounty in a time
Losing all propriety, depriving you naught.

141. One angered by my saying, discontent,
May God increase his anger and discontent!

142. Let the conceited poet beware my style,
Lest he meets one who shreds pretentiousness.

143. No wise man feigns ignorance, I am one
Who if uncouth, was coarse, and if refined, gentle.