1. After the bloom of youth has passed in vicissitudes,
I seek the charm of love from coquettes.

2. The whiteness of my hair was an ill-omened spectre
To every white-skinned beauty and straight-haired maiden.

3. No sooner had I finished tracing the abode's outline
Than my tears flowed and my companion blamed me more.

4. We stood still but neither did the ruins respond
Nor did the excuse avail with the addressed yearner.

5. The tribulations of love intensified and prolonged
As the insistence of a displeased, reproachful lover.

6. When I said I had given up passionate love,
An oppressive apparition of an estranged beloved returned it.

7. He is generous though the intimate ones stinted my fervor in him
And he comes near though the lands of sweethearts were distant.

8. Dreams of sleep show me you while between us
Lie vast tracts exhausting the efforts of riders.

9. We were graced with a garden watered bountifully
From the Exalted in Might after the drought's tribulation.

10. He set aright the crooked path of religion
And cultivated the mischief of the hostile troublemaker.

11. The brother of resolve managed affairs and
His insight refined them through the turns of tribulations.

12. Al-Mu'tasim of resolute purpose takes his view
To the exemplary ways of experienced tests.

13. The verses of the Book give him preference and
The heritage of conquest from the family of the victor comes to him.

14. The secrets of hearts turned to him and hearts
Inclined to him out of loving and desiring.

15. With his justice he returned shadows
Of a wrongdoing people making unjust demands.

16. The Imam of guidance - his justice encompassed all creation
So every devout worshipper was safe with him.

17. After God, he protected a group of souls
Who faced a compulsory death.

18. He denounced those who slipped in fateful events
When he saw the actions of men who lacked foresight.

19. He ignored pardoning them though another
Would have rebuked with blame, if not punished.

20. You granted the most prized souls to a company
Who deemed them the utmost pleasures and gifts.

21. Had you not opposed it, the caliphate would have been seized
By the ambitions of the misguided from every side.

22. Then the most remote would have claimed it and
The hopes of the false assumptions would have aspired to it.

23. An age when people plunged into the night of strife
With regions overwhelmed by shadows of darkness.

24. The Abbasids called you so the response came swiftly
From one in control, a victor over the kingdom.

25. They roused you for the momentous affair but you were not
Weak in it, like one making feeble strikes.

26. You did not stop until the East willingly submitted
And the lofty heights of the West bowed in humility.

27. Armies filled the land until they left it
With no escape for anyone fleeing.

28. They extended behind the Taurus mountains boldly
As ascendants saw them in daytime.

29. They shook Dvin from every side
While it had been tranquil and stable.

30. The yellow one despaired until death glanced
At him among the reeds and boats.

31. You were lenient after he neared destruction
Turning away from the truth, an apostate.

32. You brought him until his guidance was clear
And he sufficed with books instead of scrolls.

33. With your gentle attention, he continues to guarantee
For us the obedience of the disobedient and the peace of the combatant.

34. After your patronage, his lies turned to a sword
And a sharp spear against your enemy.

35. You remained Commander of the Faithful, hoped
For forgiving sins and fulfilling wishes.

36. You have filled Abdallah - so haughty
Of noble traits, taxing in levies -

37. With your likeness in all matters and you will not see
Your likeness unless combining all virtues.

38. I have hopes for his success and desire his attainment
While the hopeful aspirant - his call is not unanswered.