1. He who betrays sleeps unaware of jealousy
And the free man is not wronged without vengeance

2. It is up to me to choose my beloved
And though he betrays me, the choice is mine

3. I have conquered my heart over Babylon
While the heart of its brother remains defiant

4. And in the one whose affection I allowed
The dark night is illuminated by day

5. When her waist expressed gratitude
Bracelets on my wrists complained

6. It is a full moon, though not yet mid-month
Except for its absence and veiled mysteries

7. My eyelashes gaze longingly to follow me
Bashfully peeking from beneath her veil

8. And I was forbearing, though in the likes of her
Patience grows timid and dignity bewildered

9. I prefer aloofness to honored dignity
And do not bear affection though affection is shameful

10. You have decided, loved and been pleased, my lad
With a phantom visiting and a quarter frequented

11. And she complained of my chastity
And warned, though warning would not suffice

12. Satisfaction is the death of a lad
When accustomed, and life is affluence

13. People are no more than a friend and home
Even if my merits were done justice on Earth

14. I never gained respect until I saw
The right tied up while the left extended

15. You hope for poetry to make me wealthy
When greed is counseled by an advisor

16. You do not know that ambitious efforts
Are often undermined by brief blessings

17. Your medicine does not know my malady
Patience, generosity, resilience

18. If it does not show sorrow or joy
How can it show wealth or poverty?

19. I have known men, and their loyalty
Did not please me however much tested

20. When I secluded myself, they proved loyalty
By abandoning me, fleeing to the heights

21. May Allah not distance those who wronged me
My brethren gathered my wings and flew

22. And I tested my fortune praising kings
Repeatedly, though its harvest was bitter

23. How many an abode I was honored within
They joyously fled it, seeking even higher

24. Their ears were deafened by lofty mountains
Their fingers numbed by the endless seas

25. And others which brought me no benefit
Would that they had not brought harm!

26. When I called upon the champion of the clan
I was met by water and troubles aflame

27. He rose, shoulders hunched, cinching his loincloth
As clouds parted from his frowning brows

28. A generous man who freely gave me victory
And the spread of cavalry without my triumph

29. He refused to suffer defeat and flee
Though my only weapon was flight

30. Without a ransom he sought from me
To obligate a pact or treaty

31. Rather, equality entitled him
To claim right upon me, for kin are kin

32. I wonder that the slanderer dared to steal
And break the covenant of my gentle tongue

33. He intended exposure of my weakness
Though my profit in selling my honor was loss

34. He found safety in satirizing me
While my hopes were ruined like dicing

35. The blood of nobility boiled in him
A lad who never sleeps and vengeance seethes

36. When loose tongues are tied down
By containment and defeat

37. His rage is seen describing his own
And who describes fire but sparks?

38. The trials of the two dynasties suffice
To consult and beseech the likes of you

39. They were toppled, while the course
Of their affairs relies upon you

40. You rose to glory without stumbling
In slippery footholds difficult to escape

41. Those before you tried and avoided
While those after you reconsidered and consulted

42. And found resolution in your example
He who bared himself would be shredded by blades

43. That shows their incapacity
Though commissioned, they are helpless dependents

44. Quick yet considered in speech
His words err or stumble

45. When arrogance spreads its wings
Petty sorrows fold away his cheer

46. The mantle of leadership is too tight
Though his robes flow freely beneath

47. Strange that one not born to it
Claims lineage on borrowed merits

48. May you be rewarded for rule on Judgment Day
And pride on the day the prideful are judged

49. Endless oceans of praise and admission
Cascades of the sweetest water

50. Your generosity improves souls
And enriches the lands

51. As for me, the others are either
Storytellers or residents wherever they roamed

52. Maidens graced with beauty
For whom adorers discard their honor

53. Imagining whatever charms they displayed
As scandals when peddled by pimps

54. When mothers of sons gossiped and sons grew
They wished for their pardon

55. Of whatever others they raided and stole
Your glory admits it was moderation

56. If a servant intercedes for a sinner
Wounds of hope are healed

57. And if gratitude fully rewards a man
Its pinnacle with you is triumph