1. My bliss is happiness in the grove of happiness, whether absent or present,
And my succor is in the pursuit of fortune, whether I penetrate or soar aloft.

2. All that we hope for and aspire to
Is predetermined by the compulsions of destiny.

3. So neither does my striving bring its far goal any nearer,
Nor does my lingering delay the imminence of its advent.

4. Why, then, should I weary myself with communications that deceive and exile me,
With expectations that entrap and banish me?

5. The dogs awake, and yet no merit accrues to them
Save that which appears in their contrast with swine.

6. When you look closely into the secrets of things, you find
A merit that shines even on the blind vis-à-vis the one-eyed.

7. I said to the vile slanderer, "Her trade is despicable:
Squat, if you wish, or fly away, if you prefer!"

8. I made ready my father Abu Nasr's affection and support
Against the caprices of Time, both fang and claw.

9. Each day, as it lengthens, I return
To the beneficence of an oft-repeated ritual.

10. Refined, his universal charm inundates all people,
While, immersed, they flow and surge like billows.

11. The kings of Soghdia contested his inheritance,
Trembling in awe of a prowess both ancient and extolled.

12. At every valiant warrior his origin made fall
The posts of prudent governance through shrewd generalship.

13. Hesitating, amid their long-standing sagacity,
Like a buyer whose eye had never looked on light.

14. O Hamd, nothing was in Hamd ibn Muntasir
Save what is found in you of merit and bounty.

15. Why, then, do some claim his station is not sublime,
And his aspiration falls short of the heights?

16. When you demolished the edifices of munificence
Where the rainclouds of your bursting beneficence pelted down.

17. Neither has your share of the sublime been deficient,
Nor your striving for efficacy been vainglorious.

18. Though you increase the quantity of your donations,
They are trifling next to my remoteness and exile.

19. When inspiration guides them, slender poems
Excel dinars and drachmas in value.

20. No benefactor has memorialized his benevolence in gratitude,
However much he was praised for it.

21. Indeed, it is lightning: if it strikes a tent,
It scorches the desolate abodes or homes.

22. Through its intensity, days arouse it,
Now with the melody of the lutes, now the pipes.

23. And it can inspire intimacy, although passion
Previously shunned the company of humankind.

24. When it appears to the beholders' eyes, say
It is pearls strewn on the sand's surface.

25. The pearls oysters bring forth are not more lustrous
Than pearls kept safe in necklaces.

26. The phantom of probing does not lead me
To the anguish of passions set aflame.

27. With a blush on the cheeks of the white women
And languor in the eyes of the houri.