1. They blame you though you've done no wrong,
For pure hearts can be misled.

2. Ill-natured souls find anguish still,
In the likes of you, or rib mis-wed.

3. No eye allured him with a glance,
No slender waist with curves fair-spread.

4. No soul that lived and left in woe
By parting's bitter, sweet home-stead.

5. Unknown what passions stir my breast
For you, what loves you forward sped.

6. You seized the reins of my poor heart
And rode away, all ties home-tread.

7. Did nights of glory paint your cheeks
As bowsprits pierce the dawn new-bred

8. Or crimson sails when day first beams?
I'll bare him to rebuke, then grace instead.

9. He hoped in youth to find the joy
That only beaming clouds o'erspread

10. A hut's my joy, if you were there,
All comfort's loss I'd cozen, unmisled.

11. Sleepless till your full orb shone forth
Enflamed me, lighting nightly bed.

12. Would some sweet day we might attain
The joy we crave in days that fled.

13. To Dumat Sal I put my heart -
Within the sands enfolded, lost its tread

14. Bewildered, Nejd's songs I sing,
Seeking in waste, the caravan misled

15. Who's my friend to Nejd I wend?
The miles efface, when friends withdraw in dread.

16. If drunkards' breath gives pain,
Ibn Layl dispels the ache instead.

17. Greet in peace his noble house -
Peace salutes it, peace by all folk spread.

18. Gazelles pace not, nor boughs sway -
All's inclined or straight, disquiet dead.

19. At each of your beauties hints I give
Not you, but your perfections, threads instead.

20. You leave, and fixed stars stare down,
Vain illusion, not what visions fed!

21. You left when just three nights remained
Till twentieth, engulfed in darkness dread.

22. Pure glory, time without mischance!
Would the coward know, or hero's arm outspread?

23. I saluted the loyal ones -
Wine awoke them not, left dull all laughter fled.

24. Dawn burst forth - the sand grouse come
Bearing litters - beauty's hour fresh outspread.

25. Say, "Disdain the gossipmongers' breath,
Though it injury Fatima," instead.

26. Who's my shield when foes attack?
Your clan surrounds me, champions dread.

27. Does Rukayya suffer time's caprice,
Guileful Satan sowing mischief, sorrow fed?

28. Assailed from all sides, I know not
How to avoid the arrows threaded

29. A luck, had I but asked Bilal,
Would fill the oceans, drive me ship unled.

30. Sustenance requires me bare my throat,
Or say, "Greed drives me ravenous," instead.

31. No tear of mine deserves to bead
A necklace, glittering precious thread.

32. I'm wronged - ‘gainst meager wisdom stand
The noble soul who me poor favor wed.

33. How many men with high renown
Lie low, forgotten among the centuries dead.

34. My stubborn neck ambition's blade
Will sever, though I cry mercy, unset.

35. You aid me, though enfeebled my resolve,
The cudgel strengthened with nails stubborn-embedded.

36. Your finest qualities need no praise
No oaths bind you fast, or formal promises said.

37. The sapling bends near Rathwa's flank
Nor knows the hints that pass smiling overhead.

38. When minds constrict, your wisdom comes,
Dispersing crowds, paths unclear outspread.

39. You see time's long unfurling scroll,
And what beyond tomorrow waits, misfortune fled.

40. Serious, shunning idle talk,
No legends told, or rhyming threads outsped.

41. Bearing, you rise though hurt, prepared,
Filled with commitment and endeavor cherished.

42. When men retreat, forth you run
As if your tribe's defeat drove you ahead.

43. Does the moon's bow smile when full-orbed?
Downslope, its figure glows, light threaded.

44. Stars in Gemini would happily
Not be, when you bestride your steed purebred.

45. When the vizier ascends the throne,
The crown's a turban on his head instead.

46. A black tent, dimmed, made known
As mother Ai'ishah's place of rest.

47. Its folds make plain the glowing white,
Though plunged in deepest dark, the black drapes shed.

48. Doves fear it, warriors take it for
A Bath's hot chambers, not the embroidered shed.

49. None binds it, sways it, with ringed ropes,
No bands encircle it, or gridlines interlaced.

50. Its poles need no thin paring knife -
You'd think its thick script a brave sword's edge instead.

51. The King depends on its lofty heights,
Its sturdy pillars his great frame outspread.

52. The evil eye can't breach its sides,
When heroes throng, like fluttering wings o'erspread.

53. A noble youth bears it, mature elder -
Still from its poles, no weaning can be said.

54. No low Kittan its honor stains,
No Khattan disrupts its order, perfect threaded.

55. Its restful hunting lodge one day
Became unlawful, no blood could be shed.

56. The mighty Duff called it forth -
He rode the noble camels, reins home led.

57. No weeping squeezes what I ask,
No lightning storm delivers water's threads.

58. But you gave freely, when the snakes crawled forth,
Your staff strikes them, though harm to you they spread.

59. Noble man - your cheeks seem skies
That rain and lightening smile instead.

60. None surpasses your excessive generosity,
Or blames you, when you urge them to be fed.

61. Raising your merit, my thanks but grow
Your gift, approving me, with grace embedded

62. Your justice bridged the days between us,
No darkness cast, to obscure the light you shed.

63. Protect then what my words cannot suffice
To thank - reward them with the lines instead.

64. With each far, lofty verse, and each
Lowly, gentle line bowed down, humble head spread.

65. They swarm when sent, like stars trailing
The sun, arriving with the night new led.

66. Mankind's faults shine, till lines engraved
On the poet's brow, like moles fresh embedded.

67. Could but the wounded gain such lines,
They'd cheer his tomb, and feed his bones long dead.

68. Their lasting brand marks souls and bodies,
As ankle rings round the dove's soft neck are spread.

69. The New Year Morn is decked with them,
Strung gems no eye has seen the last thread shred.

70. Proclaiming you will live four thousand years more,
As you have lived four thousand just now fled.

71. None dare your mighty throne assail,
Though mortal man so dreamt, sedition led.

72. Such might is not for always - fear
Only one who stops all might - God instead!

73. On Judgment Day all pomp will fade,
And coward, hero, meet their common end.