1. They water me with bitterness, yearnings renewed
Remnants boiling in their vitals overflow

2. Remedies surge into remedies through them I drew
As the water-bearer purged bowl after bowl

3. His long reach cut by the foxes' trots
And the howls of jackals, hyena calls

4. More slack gained from the halter as though
Wary of hornets' sting or bees' brawls

5. Her hands on the rungs of a ladder it seems
When her forearms clasp a leg that sprawls

6. Moaning from weariness, lament she screams
A bereaved's moan for new sorrow falls

7. To you, Commander of the Faithful, her plight
To the best of those for whom saddles were secured

8. To their finest, present and past, so right
With wisdom, faith and ample grace assured

9. You inherited your father's rule, flowing in his mould
As spring waters sprout from their source untold

10. As David ceded succession to Solomon of old
A gift of God, the Bountiful, extolled

11. Reigning with the reason that tipped the scale
With Selma's hills of loyalty and justice hailed

12. He is the full moon that gives guidance when trails fail
When the crooked lose their way, paths curtailed

13. Does it wonder you, his light a delight
Magnanimous, forbearing in ease and in plight

14. Overflowing the irrigation pools with droplets bright
As a tidal wave wears down rocks with its might

15. Many were blessed by your grace time and again
Many a burden you lightened from carrying men

16. Many a perilous affair you secured from fate's den
With steadfast, potent reason and counsel then