1. Do not blame him much or argue with him,
And let him follow the path of his beloved.

2. Blame and argument only increase
His burning passion and its kindling.

3. If you did not know about his passion,
His tears bear the truest of witness.

4. The warbler sings not but to his beloved,
Telling his tale only to her.

5. He has won the hearts of men with his beauty,
Until his free men became like slaves to him.

6. A gazelle, when the does graze,
Grazes only the hearts of lions.

7. A singing bird, melodious his voice,
Trills with the murmur of leaves in song.

8. The magic is in his glances and eyelids,
The roses in his cheeks and blooms.

9. As for lightning from thick clouds,
Does it not water the land, flashing and rumbling?

10. An abode whose traces are gone,
Save some ruins and scaffolding.

11. How many, after its dwellers lamented its forms,
And shed tears of sorrow upon its sands!

12. Far into the empty expanse of desert,
You still call out, knowing a paradise in his hand.

13. He surpassed all in his perfect proportions,
Not of mixed ancestries or hybrid lineage.

14. Pure of breed you see in his forehead and traits,
No vestiges of baseness or brand.

15. Heading towards the best of lands, Najd,
The exemplar of eras, unique and peerless.

16. A king - if you trace his line, you find
A stock of Qahtan leading to Jurhum.

17. He inherited glory and honor from his ancestors,
What he bequeathed, and for eternity.

18. Sweet of traits, he fulfilled the promise,
And carried out the threats as well.

19. He is forbearing in his clemency, firm
In his might, unmatched in his munificence.

20. O you to whom the necks of kings submit,
And the great ones of the earth bow down!

21. Take your grandfatherʼs kingdom, and your fatherʼs,
And increase what your arms can achieve and grasp.

22. For he attained a kingdom and lasting increase,
Advancing, like Solomon, beyond David.

23. You and the enemies you have warned
Are but as Salih warning the Thamud.

24. You routed them an army whose hearts
Flutter in fear, like the waving of flags.

25. A host who shows you the darkness of night,
And adds to the light of dawn a renewed brilliance.

26. Their foreheads there became places of prostration,
With the sword standing over them as they bowed.

27. And to you, coolness woven by a soft breeze,
Murmuring with the verse of Jarir and Labid.

28. I cannot deny you favor, for I
Am your slave, bound by your debts.

29. You freed me in your house entire,
And endowed me with its fresh blooms.

30. You granted me what past ones attained,
Abu Tammam and Khalid ibn Yazid.

31. I am raised higher than Zuhayr in rank,
By praising you, and like Mutanabbi with his ode to Sayf al-Dawla.