1. Between al-Shaqq and al-Lawwa and al-Ajra'
A blood-red cloud held back by the four winds

2. As if its features guaranteed what
The heart of an aching lover had guaranteed

3. If the clouds' intimations obeyed me
Spring would heal the sickness of those four

4. How good days are, except that, my friend
When gone, they do not return

5. They were all together, then separated
As a notched arrow is split from the bow

6. A stander in estrangement who does not stand
A fareweller without farewell, bids no farewell

7. Behind them the rugged breath, if
Separation is recalled, straightens bent ribs

8. As for the marches, they have become fortresses
For a opinion's marches, like unfolded mountains

9. The governance of Yusuf ibn Muhammad
Put up a wall in that open space

10. It does not make the distant glance shrink away
What was lost has returned, though not lost

11. It is the trust that will not be kept safe
Until the treasurer's honesty is verified

12. The pillars of Islam are in the hands of a resolute one
Who has led them for a time and not wavered

13. He manages them with Uthman's guidance
And Bahram's cunning and Nujdah's of Tubba's

14. It is enough of leadership's nobility that
He folds all the pillars with a finger

15. He bloodied the temples of the Byzantines until they had
No flood save the shedding of fervent blood

16. He cut ties, and the banner belonged to another
At al-Musharrafiyya, a canopy upon armor

17. And his tied banner will swear tomorrow
That it will do what has not yet been done

18. Two leather waterskins from the thirst of rancor—if only
All their blood were poured to drink, it would not quench

19. A goer, when the famed stand, does not stand
Awake, when the brave sleep, does not sleep

20. An inflamer of passions who sends his spear
Through enemy lines, five arm-lengths long

21. And in the dark he lights up the face
Of the lesser warrior against the finer

22. A sea, for the people of the march, not too deep
A cloud of generosity, not too withholding

23. They were given victory by the state through which they prevailed
In multitudes, and so exacted vengeance in the gathered assembly

24. And if they suffer drought, most abundant of pastures
If alarmed, nearest of havens

25. They returned from the lion cub they were familiar with
To a successor among snarling lions, masked

26. Nothing was absent save an aged,
Rusted and white-haired, grip

27. This is the son of that one, by birth and brotherhood
Against shocks and the shaken spear

28. Similar when matters resemble
Judgment and knowledge on the level path

29. He brought them up from a spring, gave them growth
From soil, and refined them from ore

30. O, Yusuf ibn Abi Sa'id, to her
Whose father you are named for, then listen

31. Lest the command belong to another in truth
While Amr witnesses and Asim ibn al-Asqa'

32. Now may the administration delight you, it
Sought you from a distant, uncontested land

33. You did not give it hope, occupy your thoughts with it
Or ask about its place

34. You saw yourself above it, while it is
Above the highest of men in rank

35. It greeted you when you shunned it, adorned
With the smoothest and loosest-sleeved robes

36. And ponies beneath the summits—you tasked it
With a manner, if dew touched, it would not avail

37. You outpaced it galloping steeds, and even had
It walked at its sides, the gray one would not hasten

38. An effort, when it hears, Rabî'ah
Pricks up its ears, recalling no hearing of hearing

39. You gave what none gave in dissipating distracting passions
And refused what none refused in sacrosanct things

40. You sent your cunning raiding in a raid
In which there was no sword but yours, drawn

41. A cunning enough for the army and battle, sending them back
Between spoils and swift return

42. The mother of the cross trembled because of it, as did those
Concerned for its sanctuaries, and the house of death trembles

43. They gave your messenger what you asked, then how if
You had questioned them face to face, shining

44. They borrowed from Mar'ash's people a defeat
Then paid you double from it what you claimed

45. From which of them have you not taken captives
Against which have you not struggled, which have you not targeted

46. But which of their progeny have you not deemed lawful
Which of their lands have you not exposed