1. If there were no estrangements between hearts,
The slightest thing would make cheeks turn away.

2. And in the injustice and justice of time, I have
A heart made steadfast by more than songs.

3. I found patience lacking when I found it,
And worries about the shortness of life increase.

4. My friend, time has not worn out, but rather
We were worn out, with fate renewed.

5. These days are but milestones
By which lives pass away and perish.

6. Fragments of dreams that pass by,
To people awake and asleep.

7. And when I saw betrayal in every trait
And people had no fidelity to pacts,

8. I excused the hillsides, how their edges turned away,
And I forgave the bent spear, how it swerves.

9. The white hairs have spread across my head, but still
My dignity has not diminished - would that youth return!

10. It may be wished for by foolish souls,
But wishing for the impossible brings no benefit.

11. The way of righteousness is clear,
Yet it disappears, even if time schemes.

12. Its servants have subjugated the elite of kings -
The free were humiliated and servants empowered.

13. If the King Salih was righteous among us
Then how many times did Thamud not bear!

14. After my father, the lofty one, may his soul be sanctified,
Who hopes for a promise or fears a threat?

15. And were it not for Abu Najm the Victorious after him
Generosity would have shrunk and existence faded.

16. We found him when we lost his brother
So blessed is the present and the late lamented!

17. An Alawite state thanked him
As he defended its people and warded off attacks.

18. He saved it decisively and determinedly
With means of his own and many soldiers.

19. He took charge while glory betrayed its sister.
His undertaking was complete while people sat still.

20. Until power settled in its resting place
And the borders of the Mashrafiyeen stood firm.

21. On Monday morning its fury subsided
He gathered its strength when tribulation was severe.

22. The souls of people flew from its thrashing,
And the mountains almost collapsed.

23. But Badr bin Ruzayq grabbed it when
It whinnied - he was its pillar.

24. He extinguished the fire of evil in its kindling,
With no fuel for it but men.

25. He managed people’s affairs with firmness and justice
So the frequented places prospered and enemies were humiliated.

26. He spread over the white desert the veil of a cloud
With lightning whites and thunderous roars.

27. Had he willed destruction on Friday for the enemy
He would have made their foreheads and cheeks strike the ground.

28. But he spared them, to demonstrate that he
Has power over what he desires and wants.

29. Did the fore-riders of his horses not rush ahead?
No enviers stood in their way.

30. Did he not pardon them after they had become
Two parties, some standing and some fallen?

31. And all the battle stations of the Victorious One
Have the sword for judge and necks as witnesses.

32. Daring, when facing calamities, he
Is patient with the heat of hellfire.

33. The field of his chest welcomes terrors
When delegations of worries visit it.

34. No wonder if worries die in his chest
For the chests of the capable are tombs.

35. My friend, in the plain where prostrations
And bowings gathered for worship.

36. Do you have, over there, that I sought the company
Of virtues imprisoned from visitors?

37. And I visited Abu Najm, the praiseworthy, with my poems
So my purpose succeeded through him and the ode.

38. The wind of acceptance blew on it through his merit
So after blowing it has no stillness.

39. His criticism distinguished it from people’s rambling
And his knowledge taught it how to excel.

40. And every day, his prayers
Continue to my house, renewing the dew.

41. Most wondrous is what I witnessed - how his palm
Was gracious to me, when iron bites iron!

42. And hardship, in which spearheads thrust
And swords struck, did not distract him from habitual generosity.

43. He saw me with an eye - if it saw dried soil
It would bloom verdant, and bare wood would leaf.

44. My gratitude has a secret way to possess him
By which nobles know how to rule.

45. And he awakened the eyelids of my fortune, while I
Have continued to rouse it since it was sleeping.

46. So he ruined, with kindness, the face of my peers
And I have no intimate friends.

47. He spoke to himself about me, so he was gracious
With what I had not hoped for or presented.

48. Generosity is nothing but insight and wakefulness
While stinginess is nothing but confusion and stillness.

49. In some matters he lavished favor on me
For kings bestow in proportion to souls.

50. Better than his favors, in my eyes, is the nobility
Of my friend which faultfinders envy.

51. So may the Merciful allow me to thank his patronage!
For above what he has given me, there is no increase.