1. My soul is yours to take, to free me of this vexing blight,
And were it something I could buy, I'd be the eager buyer,

2. For it is I whose flaws have left me filled with deep remorse,
Oh woe to me, if you do not grant forgiveness, my lord.

3. O finest of those envied for their prose so fair,
That jewel-studded necklaces scattered when compared,

4. O greatest whose natural talent was confessed,
Whose casting of pearls enchants if ever cast,

5. More gentle than the passing breeze when it stirs,
More smooth than the pure water of al-Kawthar,

6. I speak of the resolute son of the jurist Muhammad,
Sheikh of the righteous, exemplar of the discerning.

7. And he whose knowledge and wit make sciences
Seem greater than the lovely eyed houris,

8. Loves no lesson but expounding its complexities,
All else but the minbar’s platforms he does not love.

9. When veils of ignorance obscured some problem,
He lifted the veil to reveal an enlightened mind,

10. With a skill even war with spears and Judgment Day’s horrors
Are too little to parallel its least part.

11. My critic in loving him, make your rebuke brief,
For I cannot blame myself for relishing his love,

12. I have imitated none but passion for him,
So cease your blame or make it brief from now on.

13. If you can hear what I have heard, know that I
Through his beauty have seen what you cannot see.

14. His wit brings you joy, as if it were
The delight of chatter from a cheerful drunkard.

15. In his company a stranger feels no estrangement,
But rather one who sees his face attains what is sought.

16. He has made his companionship as bright as life itself,
And watered a thirsty ground with ample rain.

17. A land in which the beacons of his light have shone,
Turning it into one of cheer and glad tidings,

18. The west has not ceased to be lit by his sun,
Watering it with more beautiful and brilliant scenes.

19. And it holds nothing but sincere affection for him,
More fragrant than aged musk and ambergris.

20. No lover in rapture has said as I say,
My soul is yours to take, to free me of this vexing blight.