1. The meadows spread fragrance whenever
Dew droplets and cool mists cross over them.

2. To the crows, the ostriches seem white,
And to the white, the crows seem black when they part.

3. Oh youth, show me your radiance again so I can find
One like you, though I am rejected and turned away!

4. Old age has descended upon my temples so neither my youth
Remains for me, nor the easy life.

5. May Allah not remove my youth since it went well for me,
And I found a good substitute for it.

6. Seeking happiness has not eluded me since my eyes saw
This approaching, blessed one.

7. I do not praise the days until they have connected me
To the supporter of the state, the praiseworthy one.

8. So I attained, when I attained, the most honorable of the prosperous,
A lofty pavilion and the most superior rank and nobility.

9. A king, when other kings stand before him,
Make their greetings to him like prostration.

10. His virtues looked upon me and tore up
My nonexistence, though no one envied me.

11. And I found the traits of the Emir like precious gems
So I strung them into amulets and necklaces.

12. He marched with the steps of the two lucky stars
And spread smiles across the land, freely giving.

13. I have no need to wait for rain clouds
As long as I can fish in his pond brimming with gifts.

14. The most generous of hands, the heaviest in generosity,
The firmest in calamities - a strong, upright palm tree.

15. I touched my forehead to the place of his crown
And saw a light walking ahead of travelers.

16. His hands are so generous that if his fingers
Touched solid rock, they would make the solid soft.

17. He spent treasures, and his outpourings scattered
What was in his treasuries, not hoarding.

18. Until people thought his palm regretted
His money and clung tightly to it.

19. A generosity and munificence - he left no generosity
Among his tribe that can be counted as generosity.

20. Do not listen to [stories] of Hatem and his deeds -
Take this obvious, present-day deed.

21. The best talk, when you sit conversing,
Is what requires no evidence or testimony.

22. And beside Aleppo I see a crowned one
Who has allied with success and support.

23. He retires while the crown of stars keeps him company,
Their crown braided with his in the sky.

24. They are a people who descended from the Yafa tribe and left
Encampments and oases for the world.

25. They were created with noble spirits and so they became
The most faithful of people in fulfilling pacts.

26. If you ask them you ask rainclouds,
And if you seek them out you seek lions.

27. They are accustomed to wearing armor as if
They find there is no life without it.

28. So when they take up spears, you see them
Like spears - arms and palms.

29. Their oaths are like seas except
They made the span of their palms its length.

30. They go to welcome their guests as if they
Were delegations visiting other delegations.

31. They have outdone the people of the land and exhausted
The dusty nomads and hardened desert-dwellers.

32. Until the beating of their wings destroyed
The daughters of Arhab in the darkness of night.

33. O ultimate peak of nobility, if it
Sought more, it would not obtain more.

34. No creature is more just than you except one who
Describes you, not comparing you to lesser kings.

35. I became envied for your sake, so may you live for me
Until I can live in comfort, envied.

36. The holiday of the citizens is that your face
Continues for them every day like a holiday.

37. Be happy with it - the happiness of life
And whoever is in it is when you are happy.

38. And listen to it for a rare, singular word I formed
For the most dashing of kings, unique among them.

39. It is praise which, when its spreading is adorned,
Nearly makes the reciters no longer desire a new poem.

40. Time passes but its legend remains
Until the mighty works wear out and are renewed.