1. Grey hair has crept in, and no oils can cure it,
At dawn, night combs it out strand by strand.

2. I see two streaks of displeasure surround the youth
When the covering locks begin their assault.

3. For every man there is effort with his greying and dyeing,
Whether it be painful drudgery or hated obligation.

4. He measures out the blackening but if his greying appears
Its patches cannot be concealed.

5. My brother was fortunate with his blackening greys,
The talk of reasonable people, raving nonsense.

6. A cunning adulterer seeking forbidden game,
A shameless lover mixing with ignorance.

7. He deceives women about boys with his lies,
But between the color of lies and truth, no confusion.

8. Neither the artifice of blackening brings him pride,
Nor does the fraud of dyeing spare him humiliation.

9. I have lost with him a worker whose appointed lot
Is hard duties along with old age’s constraints.

10. When I meet beautiful women, scarce is my patience
As the outspread mats become too confining.

11. Scarce is my patience with my greying, pleased with my nature,
For they are assemblies and hearts have partitions.

12. My patience ran out as my greying provoked laughter,
As skill provoked wonderment in the troupe.

13. They denied fate’s command, without rebuke,
Though they were the defiant, disdainful ones.

14. Rebuke may come from them, and passion,
To give me my just due though they rage.

15. Leave sinful gatherings and singing girls for company,
For your comrades today are old men with beards.

16. Your involvement with talk of temptation, for one
Grey-haired, is gross ignorance and transgression.

17. After portions came further portions, thus
The nights’ moments pass, allocating shares.

18. Every person has met weariness from fate,
And will meet from fate what opposes him.

19. Let forty years of excess be enough advice for a man,
Even if his extensive greying does not counsel him.

20. How can a man pride himself when grey hair envelops him,
And with greying he lacks beauty, rather evokes hatred.

21. What excuse has a grey-haired one whose lamp is exposed
If he has fallen into sin and transgression?

22. I see money has become pasture for the generous,
While such pasture for the miser is a prison.

23. Any praise not addressed to Ibn Sa’id
Or his father Sa’id is futile.

24. Every ally of Sa’id is an ally of his,
And every enemy of Sa’id is debased.

25. Bearing the burdens of al-Muwaffaq loyally,
However many troubles he faces from him.

26. He is the writer, the draftsman, the guide
Through whom hardships upon us were relieved.

27. His pen in peace suffices, and at times
It turns to a spear when battlefields flare up.

28. Now he pours out land taxes for him, another time,
Blood flows for him from it in streams.

29. He skims the bee honey for the compliant one
And for the transgressor, however much the combs fill up.

30. As for Abu ‘Isa, his opinion shines
With truth, while other views are blurred darkness.

31. When his father is absent he has an adept stand-in;
When entrusted with command, an able governor.

32. A wise and learned man whose gentleness inundates people
When the ignorance of some crosses into excess.

33. He is feared by his enemy,
As al-Qitada feared the Kharijites.

34. Sweet upon mouths, bitter is its taste,
When throats yearn for it ardently.

35. Once tasted, no taster spits it out,
And it is difficult to gullet down, undiluted.

36. Weak against the weak man, and yet
He is firmer than any foe with the times.

37. His father’s deputies take his place so he lacks nothing,
Measuring his affairs without excess or scanting.

38. From him he has an opinion for every dilemma,
Dictating the course when ways are straitened.

39. When his writings come in succession with deliberating,
Successes come to him in steady streams.

40. When the sums of you Banu Makhlad are counted,
The hands of calculators cannot compute them.

41. You are people, the crown of Qahtan among whom,
And your abode is the abode of settled encampment.

42. Right-guided blessed leaders, you have always
Had lineage in the tribe’s nobility.

43. As for your valley, soldiers have filled it,
Having provisions, honor, and fine steeds.

44. It has dwellings in which spears were planted long ago
And high above, cooking pots bubble.

45. You see every cistern stagnant as if
When it flows, it is a bursting stallion.

46. It has camels for pious endowment, subsisting on
Pastures not on fodder.

47. Protected by sorcerers, its people,
Who, when truth is absent, weave their spells.

48. Captives whose flesh cannot be ransomed by guests,
Milk which flows from their udders copiously for them.

49. When their milk flows after their blood,
Their ever-gashing swords refuse that breach.

50. Every day it has in the herd an old she-camel
That grows fat as an ear droops over its eye.

51. When people aim for your pursuits, your ancestors hinder them,
Worthless ancestors or revered ancestors.

52. You have from your endeavors necklaces of gems,
My endeavors for Abu ‘Isa are the settings.

53. A youth whose palms were created by nature for generosity,
So they were set free when ties were loosened.

54. We found Abu ‘Isa al-‘Ala ibn Sa’id
A glittering elegant spring without swampy pools.

55. When our vessels are placed in his courtyard,
The difficult years are lifted from us.

56. The works of a blended art have called me to
The benefits of his hands and standing.

57. The access of Abu ‘Isa is near, and whoever desires
The access of Abu ‘Isa, his courtyard adjoins it.

58. It has transcended those who rise high, and was generous with his sword,
So it leaned away while beneficence clings to it.

59. It is the tallest palm tree, out of reach of hands,
Though what falls from it on the ground is plucked.

60. I was amazed that when the hand of al-‘Ala relaxes,
The complainant, how can he despair utterly?

61. Through him we are safe from the king’s wrath, for he has not
Been like the pouring rain to us while God is angry.

62. And aiding a people I had neglected to aid,
Though hands stretch out to you in need.

63. A hand seeking familiarity, another secretly,
When tents pitch with people's fantasies.

64. So I said to her, turn away from me in disgrace,
For you will not look upon the brilliant radiance.

65. Do you not know that al-‘Ala is guided
When the wandering camels of the empty quarter go astray?

66. And that my fortune with his like is not lost
Nor is his fortune lost from praise like mine?

67. He plans for me and God before him
Will make fruitful for me what the buds have fruited.

68. And whoever bears the delay of trees in bearing,
Will provide him with fertility though the year is dry.

69. He will rain upon my branches and I will thrive,
And for the despairing, in my leaves, handholds.

70. I am not, though remoteness came between us,
With any resentment; his gifts mediate between us.

71. Gifts that visit the outstretched hand, and if
The Pleiades became the lowest of his houses.

72. So I have shown only patience and forbearance,
Even if hardship of livelihood oppresses me.

73. When it appears that I am humble in prohibition,
It becomes clear that I am silent in generosity.

74. Observe him with hands extended in his favor,
For it is God's hand that he extends.

75. Thoughts of praise came about him as if
Conditions were set upon them by rhyming.

76. And poetry was inspired until it was as if
Female singers responded, vying.

77. No rain increased in the breeze of his qualities with praise,
But only the musk was stirred by the air.

78. So say, O praiser, al-‘Ala ibn Sa’id,
Even if his enviers’ rage against him grows.

79. You have spoken truth, eloquence assisted him,
While among people one errs even with guidance.

80. It is no wonder that speech obeyed you,
For the one you have glorified is an ocean overflowing.

81. You adorned the ocean with pearls and its pearls
Are ready, so the oyster beds were not far for you.

82. You strung for him there a necklace to adorn him,
And crafted for him the best ever crafted by a stringer.

83. You did not bargain for payment, so your reward is due,
And most obligatory reward is for one who does not stipulate.

84. So trust in what you hope for and feel safe from what
You fear; the missed targets have avoided you.