1. As long as my hopes are deceived by fate,
And words hinder my deeds,

2. How can my outward self remain dedicated,
When inwardly, worries preoccupy me?

3. I am amazed at my determination, how it was guided,
To its path, by the gentle and the severe.

4. What excuse for not attaining my hopes, when
The time has cleared and travel made possible?

5. Others find the occurrence of adversity,
And terrors drive them back from their aims.

6. And I had trusted the days with a custom,
Whereby if they incline towards me, so does fortune.

7. For, by custom, baseness is the result of distance.
If they incline towards me, so does fortune.

8. So many a poor man has become rich
And so much wealth has abandoned its owner.

9. And so the nights, their habits have passed:
Our state does not last permanently over them.

10. And permanence cannot be attained by one who desires,
Seeking the impossible is madness.

11. It suffices the youth to have good repute, for it
Will not be touched by the passage of time.

12. Leave me to my nature, for you have excessively
Criticized one who finds brevity pleasant.

13. The incidents of time reveal to people of principle,
The generous and the stingy.

14. Rarely does one who fears tomorrow’s woes,
And who seeks refuge with the House of Zubair, fear.

15. A people whose light illuminates the night.
About them, questions give indication.

16. Their honor, faces and brows are white,
So how can the lost not find guidance?

17. With their flags and swords among mankind,
Sustenance and terms are divided.

18. They cannot excuse themselves if they do not do
Multiples of what they have attained.

19. They are oceans - if a stream comes to them
And they, if the forbearing get angry, are mountains.

20. They attained the heights with benevolence and firmness
Amidst the guile of enviers - sufficient for them is what they attained.

21. Good roots have sprouted from them, so fathers,
Uncles and in-laws resembled one another.

22. And they have, over mankind, the pride of Jacob,
So excellence and virtues are attributed to him.

23. Open-handed, when calamities strike - give him glad tidings -
A lightning bolt whose gifts pour profusely.

24. Resolute, praises do him justice in an assembly
Whose splendor makes wealth seem scant.

25. Leave all others and he who is other, and walk in his path
If you wish, you will know how honor is attained.

26. Meet the generous with truthfulness whenever
Actions have turned from words for us.

27. Fervor is ignited but has contained within
A danger equal to the length of spears and gifts.

28. Sufficient for friend and foe in his eyes
Is danger equal to the length of spears and gifts.

29. An ocean - when the skillful stirs its depths -
You see therein sorcery, yet it is lawful.

30. In prose and verse, one captivates, the other dances,
Like water mixed with pure wine.

31. So by his knowledge, forbearance and generosity,
Parables about him are always struck.

32. My master, Zayn al-Din - how many a hand
Bore witness to its loyalty through hopes realized!

33. You, whom absentmindedness amidst the likes of you
And oversight cannot befall!

34. I complain to your justice of the oppression of an ignorant age.
By which its best were wronged by the ignorant.

35. Thereby, its reasonable were denied when
Its blessings were unjustly distributed.

36. My knowledge of it is endless, and whenever
My wits fail me, I am rendered inactive.

37. It suffices you that I have neglected, in my fasting,
My homeland - though my family is scattered and dependants many.

38. A time whose realities are inverted,
As if its Ramadan were Shawwal.

39. As day breaks I rouse myself, either a helper or accused.
I am tired of deeds and workers.

40. And the earth - my treading upon it has burdened it,
As decline and rise has enveloped it.

41. As long as my eyes remain, people say 'this is the antichrist',
I swim it - were it not for the fact I have two eyes.

42. My master take it as an ode of unique beauty
To the House of the Faraidh and the Qaridh of splendor.

43. It is beautified by my singing it - and perhaps
My glistening sword adorns the Mashrafi scabbard.