1. By Allah, then by Allah,
O rider of the howdah,

2. Bearing his concerns,
In the unstable howdah,

3. Shaking off some of the night,
With all of its darkness upon it,

4. Racing against the dawn, coming
To the sands before it,

5. Its fabrics erected
Upon the confused darkness,

6. Turn to the valley even if
Just to say goodbye,

7. And grant me a stop,
Next to that hillock,

8. To send through it a greeting,
To the houses of its sands,

9. And if you hear a voice,
Asking about me, say to it:

10. I left it, and by God, the Truth says:
I found its passionate lover weakened,

11. Neither despair made it give up, nor
Did prolonged illness make it bored,

12. It was possessed by you all, so what is that,
By which you have imprisoned its mind?

13. A gazelle says: the glory of passion made it lowly,
It used to be a confident lover,

14. I exposed it to shame,
It was I who hit its eyes with my first glance,

15. I deceived it, and the deception of the likes of me kills it,
Where is my revenge and my blood,

16. And its patron, who will take it,
To revenge my murder every day,

17. In its appointed time,
Without it, the slender spear, the mottled palms,

18. And the vigilant jealous one, whom negligence does not covet,
So no group is driven,

19. Nor a robe worn,
I hung them pinioned,

20. Suffering the embrace of the howdah,
The sister of the rod, bellowing,

21. And neighing and whistling,
Furious, not out of sickness,

22. Nor yellow out of age,
Healthy as if she is

23. From a recovered illness,
Beauty has done justice to it over

24. The excellent, noble ones,
Would that I knew, and guesses,

25. The truth and attainment,
About the one who threw my rope down at Mina,

26. When its knot was untied,
Were they wavering or fleeing

27. From what the multitudes say?
It performed Hajj and was blocked, so it is

28. Forbidden to me, in the sacred place,
What do I have to do, I made time the judge,

29. I was forbidden its justice,
In every promise between us,

30. There is an intricate betrayal,
If I accept its words,

31. Then I am angry at its actions,
And if I possessed its hearing,

32. I would have prolonged its rebuke,
How much affection, even if

33. Genuine, how little of it,
Lo, a courteous knight,

34. Who will block this breach,
Yes, he has a branch of glory,

35. Rivaling its origin,
Of clay impressed with

36. Innate nobleness,
He has a home whose dweller,

37. Did not move since settling it,
For him the stars are fresh hay,

38. And their mother, his shade,
Abdul Rahim built it and the kings before him,

39. Then it continued, his son succeeding him, then his son,
Sons of the mother of glory, no

40. Son of loftiness has marred them,
And it is an orchard, since created,

41. Shaded, bearing fruit,
O you who sing of them, is there upon the morning,

42. More guiding than these brief words?
Abu Al-Ma’ali is one of them,

43. So be content with these sentences,
And see, does the sun have among,

44. The planets, a son like it?
Since he was orphaned,

45. The love of glory did not touch him,
And he was not corrupted in it,

46. Nor having any faults,
He surpassed the boys in wisdom,

47. And the old men in understanding,
He flowed to the goal on

48. A slippery, smooth surface,
Until he attained it, and the winds have

49. No merit over him,
The abundant good fortune is not long

50. Before it scatters all together,
And his hand is not

51. Clasped over his money,
So every dirham in his wealth

52. Was for him to spend,
Blessed, his delusion

53. With good triggered,
He breathes into the necklace of generosity,

54. A threaded pearl,
Watering the land with his water,

55. With pouring rains,
You are the meteor, if

56. Its dark night is illuminated,
And the durable ashes, protecting it,

57. If the people of eminence sleep,
I held out my palm to you, and the

58. Reasons are fading,
You were a rope, the sincere love is knotted,

59. Not absent of advice, nor
Is it difficult to forgive a slip,

60. You do not protect your money,
With an excuse or with ignorance,

61. Generosity, O sons of Abdul Rahim,
And good things abounding,

62. And an impregnable side,
And easy distributions,

63. I denied my time before you,
I denied it and its people,

64. Until I became numerous through you,
With a multiplication from little,

65. And the time's peace is in my hands through you,
And God has given,

66. So what does a sympathizer say,
Maybe, perchance,

67. And the back of poetry sits securely
In you, its strap and its burdens,

68. I have perpetuated it in
Every durable kidney,

69. Drawing for you the clouds of praise,
Its rain and its downpour,

70. Which pulls at your club,
Robe after robe,

71. If a day comes dressed in beauty,
And we do not wear it,

72. It fills stops and steps,
His hands and feet,

73. Or if your honors were thirsty,
It would be the cure for hot zeal,