1. Whenever lightning flashed or a wilderness mirage loomed,
A resolute runner sped on, neither weeping nor hesitating.

2. Yearning is but anguish after anguish,
And a flood from the depths, chased by another flood.

3. So do not recall the days of accord, for they
Are past, and we did not sense their passing in that age.

4. God watered a people whose affection
Was naught but fancy and memories.

5. Their loyalty was the return of their whiteness,
As the vicissitudes of time were treacherous with them.

6. Is life anything but sorrow doubled
By the intimacy of bliss or time aided by fate?

7. It has neither union for one who seeks to reunite
Nor patience for one who bears patiently.

8. When the deterrer deterred me, passion defied him.
When he forbade her, she cried out to the sleepless; estrangement defied her.

9. And the day she turned to bid farewell and entrusted me
With eyes whose glance was bound by sorcery,

10. I imagined her bending her tired lids
In the weariness of sleep or the intoxication of wine.

11. By your life, the world suffers no lack of splendor
While the opening remains, and the Ottomans and the rain.

12. A youth around whom time forever circles
With white banners and green courtyards.

13. He illuminated the horizons for us and his sights unveiled
What dawn itself does not reveal.

14. With a face that is the shining full moon, he dispelled gloom.
His qualities are the bright stars.

15. A cloud of benevolence that does not disappear in life
And a fiery warrior whose arrow never misses its mark.

16. The guardian of a kingdom whose preparedness
Is ever white swords and brown steeds.

17. The Abbasids guard against the tyranny of his might
Any insurgent mob or sudden incident.

18. He dwells with them wherever there is loyalty and piety
And goes out to them wherever there is sufficiency and victory.

19. He considers it treason if a hand reaches for them
And a burden if a chest deceives them.

20. He is humble despite his glory, for if arrogance
Was not his equal, then supremacy is his.

21. A man of piety who does not accept the times’ stains
When praise does not prove it nor reward.

22. You ransom men whose remoteness has barred their gifts,
So neither a fifth nor tenth of their generosity reaches you.

23. Their dispositions have faulted and their palms tightened,
So their benevolence is evil and their favors denied.

24. The abundance of provision distracts you from them
While their concern is that subsistence may flee.

25. Had they competed in noble deeds,
Trinkets would be theirs and abundance yours.

26. The survival of efforts is that survival be extended to you
And the life of glories that your life be prolonged.

27. Indeed the day of the river was a day of great feats
With blessings that flowed, and the river flowed through them.

28. You crossed over as a passerby, and its waves clashed
When the sea roared over it.

29. The pillars of the bridge collapsed and its foundations crumbled,
Yet the bridge did not oppress.

30. It bore forbearance like sanctity and resolve
Like consent and a destiny none can equal.

31. Were it not for God's defense of you and His favor upon you
And abundant grace from His gifts,

32. The world would have darkened, its beauty collapsed,
And the green leaves fallen from its branches.

33. When I saw the situation dire, its way narrow,
Evil magnified, and the matter grave,

34. You remained steadfast. Perplexity did not seize you in its confusion,
Nor confusion direct your course in its turmoil.

35. That horror was but an illusion
Whose shining moon rose from beneath its darkness.

36. If we forget God's blessings upon us through you, we lose merit.
If we thank Him, gratitude becomes obligatory.

37. I see you with the eye of one dressed in riches
And well-being, which poetry enumerates.

38. I am pleased by my poverty unto you, though poverty
Would not please me, were it not for your love of the poor.

39. By God, no hands you extended to me acted treacherously.
Ingratitude does not deny their good deeds.

40. I have no excuse to reject a blessing from you,
For even if I had an excuse, it would not be proper.