1. He remembered sorrowfully, though whence came memory to him,
And his lash-fringed eyes overflowed with copious tears.

2. A heart consumed with ardour for the beloved,
To a body whose veins course with fervent blood.

3. How often tears flow unchecked to their end,
No eye sheds a tear, no lash is wet.

4. I was, and she was, and youth was sweet madness,
Intoxicated with the wine of childhood or innocence.

5. She hinted with a glance and was silent; I was not
On my guard against the silence of hints.

6. A phantom came from Thamia and welcome!
Welcome the route of a phantom from Thamia!

7. It made towards an absence and a gracefulness
That carried us on outstretched arms to Bosra.

8. Truly there was on the day of al-Thaniya a sight
And hearing that warned of great violence,

9. As my father wheeled his steed aside
To defend the monastery of Muran or Maghara.

10. So for him after a blow comes a stab,
And brave dead by al-Thaniya’s side or prisoners;

11. Horsemen prone from assault and alone,
And horses with hamstrung legs.

12. I saw charms gathered together
And sent as a gift to the moon-faced one.

13. Laden with what, were Adam himself to bear
The chains therefrom, Caesar and Chosroes might envy.

14. Blessed the rope of peace, now that
The fortunes of war come in succession.

15. When it nears Iraq’s land, its Amir
Will bring the believers the good tidings.

16. When do we deny the excellence of my father, we admit
The gifts that equal the poor with the wealthy?

17. In copious rain that satisfies is no defect
Save that it enriches him even more than it enriches.

18. When first of Nile’s flood he grants, he does not neglect
To continue largesse or grant the last.