1. I saw you now, more radiant than lightning,
Or a flaming torch ablaze from fire’s strike,

2. Appearing between nothing but barren sands
Among the cracked, parched, empty dunes.

3. He asked about the valley and left no water;
Its agate pools were filled from its long brim.

4. He warned me of the scheming love that lurks
In my bed at night with piercing pangs.

5. A hostile, raging love whose bitter sting
Was brought by love to where a friend once lived.

6. I don’t blame the confused for their reproach,
Nor fault the Maker, the All-Seeing, All-Wise.

7. I asked about my money, but have no wealth,
Save scraps that law and rights to me allot,

8. Due payments for dependents that are paid
By bits and pieces from time to time.

9. If only the oppressor feared my prayers,
That guard me from the stone thrower’s sharp shots,

10. Which removed the minister of evil from his rule
To a distant, elevated, awful place!

11. A tyrant who would cruelly impose
Upon the people the injustices of greed.

12. But in God’s trustee I have found justice,
If my opponent strays off the right path.

13. And my trust in God, whom He has aided
With a firm, unbreakable, covenanted bond.

14. You see the reins of rule held by one who judges
With balance, gentle to the suffering.

15. I swore by the black stone, the Ancient House,
The running between Safa and Marwa's mounts,

16. Their riders chanting God's praises from each valley,
No vain talk nor sin reported of them.

17. We found you when you sought us out
With a tender, compassionate governance,

18. You gathered Bani Ja'far, divided by wrongs,
With righteousness when they were split by sins.

19. You brought them yesterday the justice
You always have, being just to all.

20. You do not neglect duties to a loved one,
So how could you forget the rights of a sibling?

21. The world yielded to you what it once refused,
And peace what was once broken and split.

22. The Shia, nobles now fallen into disgrace,
Have bowed to peace after their breach.

23. The honor of the Safavids lies abandoned,
Pawned to one of the necklaces of necks.

24. And the traitor of Basra, whom we fear
No refuge can be found in such straits,

25. Seeks to flee if he sees an escape
From his plight by any means or road.

26. Yet your beloved continues to be watered
By the rivers of plenty and barren steeps.

27. We have not known, since first seeing him,
Any new conquest or pleasant time,

28. He went out overlooking the meeting place
Of the Tigris, facing it with bright face.

29. Gazing at the sun as its light appears
At dawn, like the sunrise when day breaks.

30. I have not seen a palace as beautiful
As it appears to all who look upon it.

31. This one prominently displayed its beauty,
While the other raced to catch up behind.

32. Both are an early dawn whose clouds
Were folded behind it with heavy rain.

33. Water does not give me delight,
So give me the surah of that sweet draft,

34. It suffices that you soften its sharpness
With gentle tones played over it smoothly.

35. I have resolved not to drink it mixed,
Unless it is mixed with a clear, pure drink.