1. A decree from the Merciful, it cannot be reversed,
And death's inebriation, from its draught there is no escape.

2. And a cup justice passed around between us,
So the Master drinks it as the slave drinks.

3. It gave drink to Umm 'Amr and those it gave drink
Forcefully while the breastplate could not stop it.

4. It did not miss the best of the three with her
Nor was it stingy to their best with us afterward.

5. And he outgrew the slender necklace, so it cast it off,
And none of his youthfulness could hinder that casting off.

6. And before, his life did not want his father,
And death had collared him before that collaring by the sword.

7. And the finest thing they said made him flee, turning his face,
Startled, as a leaf of paper is startled.

8. And the two buzzards strengthened themselves through a third,
So he became a hostage, neither going nor coming.

9. And his own happiness harmed him
Through it while it was foolishness, not error or intent.

10. It was only the bare blade of the most glorious drawn sword
Made visible for a time from its sheath.

11. And 'Amr ibn Hind, Arqam's spittle roasted him
By the palm of Ibn Layla, and his promise to him was ready cash.

12. And he dragged upon Hind ingratitude through his righteousness,
Oh, would that her cooking pot had never

13. been cast for him!
So everything he feared was safe from him,

14. And how the patched-up worn garment was terrified of him!
And it turned against az-Zabbā' after Judhaymah

15. And she was made to swallow the like of what she had drunk.
And had he controlled his opinion the day of Buqqah,

16. The missed opportunity of her hated day would not have escaped him.
And the grief-stricken eagle did not attain vengeance for its slain one,

17. And do tidings reach one in the grave?
And az-Zabbā'-the castle of towering height-

18. Did not fortify her, imaginings of disasters recurse.
Nor does a tunnel burrow into the dark earth,

19. Veiling it as the conscience is folded away, not appearing.
And it dragged its trains upon short Maghnā

20. And neither his staff saved him from it as it intensified.
And when it emptied him through the intensity of galloping, crying out,

21. There was nothing left but that he was between its jaws, running.
And where are the house of Muḥarriq from Jutham's progeny?

22. They turned their backs so neither Abu Salamah nor Ja'd remain.
Remembering them while the land because of them is desolate,

23. He could not control his tears though he was forbearing.
And Ḥassān did not forget the kinship of Jutham's sons,

24. The ties of kindness extending through the ages.
And Ibn al-Ayham did not forget lamenting with regret

25. While between the land and Islam was distance.
And none wept for them but loyalty and a noble band

26. Upon their footsteps, praise grows.
And how lonesome the world has become through one it had grown familiar with

27. And where comfort comes from, longing is sensed.
And how many between the earth's strata a pillowed one,

28. For him the sequined pillow and the smooth round breast.
And seen from the residences of the envoys it is as though

29. A crescent in the darkening gloom made joyful by good fortune.
Refined, in the margins of forbearance, knowledge, and abstinence

30. But in every affair, strong.
My brother 'Azmāt, if swords were cast in your mold

31. Every Indian steel would fall short.
He was composed of the secret of noble deeds, his person,

32. So no glance was cast at him, no criticism.
And he shone brilliantly with virtues, excelling,

33. So virtues knew his qualities were earnest.
Jewels none had worn but the son of Mālik

34. And it is absurd-God refuses that as does glory.
Time will tell of you that you are matchless

35. And that you belong to the most high and are its limit.
An eye that did not attain from you a glance will weep for you

36. And a land you never knew will become desolate.
And Islam, righteousness, and piety will miss you,

37. As will this prose and the narrator's rhymed prose.
Are you not from the heaviest burdens the she-asses bear

38. To every place of fresh rain the number increases?
And the place of the shoulders' assembly, dwelling place of the arms,

39. With their Master the steeds race whoever races?
By my life, Nu'aym and 'Uqbah conveyed

40. The loftiness to you, palms cavorting with it.
When one glorious one is followed by a glorious one

41. His diverse excellencies multiply and his match is unique.
You received them when they approached from Muḥammad,

42. Your father, a father the father and grandfather did not dishonor.
When lineages plunge into an abyss, your station

43. Is from their highest summits, our Najd.
And glory is only a star, whenever it travels,

44. Its ascent is easy and its course correct.
O, moon of the most high and guide of life

45. And mountain of the world, who can lament like you?
It is difficult for us that you dwell in isolation

46. And the abandonment was never truly your homes.
And that wherever the people attribure glory to dwellings,

47. You call out and for you there is neither glad tidings nor provision.
It is far though the dwellings are near,

48. Resident, though the bare thought has wandered with you.
You were only rain whose benefit has spread

49. And closed the land's clefts with its outpouring rain.
Thus no region was particularized by your loss

50. And the direction of life for every land feels the absence.
And that Ḥimṣ, if it knew a group of people,

51. Their chests from your intense heat would melt.
And in the king's presence tears were shed for you

52. And they did no injustice as pearls scatter.
So who will console the children of aspiration

53. When misfortunes wrap them and the blackened night?
And who for the orphans and widows who wake

54. Afflicted by harm and their eyelids chafed from weeping?
And who for the wretched prisoners will release them

55. When a prison seized them and shackles bound them?
And who for the path of righteousness will revive its ways

56. When it has become rubble just as the cold made rigid?
Kind deeds which have been lost, the outposts of its rights,

57. For it after him, ever, there is no bulwark.
And a defeating rebuttal for the gloating enemies,

58. For them besides this noble, sharp tongues cut.
And a house he built over the hearts of enemies,

59. If they attempt to display his glory, they are rebuffed.
Imposing palaces, though mute, speak of his virtue,

60. Eternal, and virture, its signs are eternity.
As if these are ranks guarding the Kaaba's visitors

61. Or armies guarding them.
And if tasted by one noble minded it is sweet,

62. He drinks it hot while its source is cold.
And the One who gave drink to servants for His sake,

63. Is disposed through its lawful decree to the sweet drink.
So let Damascus thank a Yemeni blessing

64. By which to hunt it goes from the Ma'āfir quarters.
And mourn its youths with an unprevented mourning,

65. When the callers call or the antelope appears.
And all of Syria knows his due through him

66. Though they deny, for the sun has no denial.
His position warded the turning of fate from them,

67. So between them and devastation through him is a bulwark.
Say to one who seeks the efforts of his glory,

68. "You have fallen short and neither equal nor addition will be attained."
And O envious ones of him, the path for him is fulfilled,

69. So do you have means to attain his match?
Wake from the chronic disease and submit!

70. For its fire is only for you while for him is the flint.
May God water a grave which contains all who smile

71. From the sorrowful, the flash of its lightning joyous.
It did not cease to be a meadow, its breezes

72. Like blended musk or aloeswood embers.
Nor did it cease to be joy, comfort, and mercy

73. For him, of it a throne, and of it for him a cradle.
And upon that mastery Ahmad grew up

74. Though in the hearts of his enemies for him is hatred.
So he protected what his forefathers built up for him

75. And enriched what they enriched and blocked what they blocked.
And the world and supremacy submitted to him

76. While fortune redoubled him and success supported him.
And he met with the righteousness his like conferred,

77. If they are equitable, cheeks in the dust are placed.
Feats which have surpassed the count of every enumerator,

78. And how can they be counted when some are as numerous as sand?
Among them firm mountains and gushing seas,

79. With a breadth having no limit.
I will lament you, not because I have spent

80. A lifetime (in grief), for your due is never fulfilled, but it is effort.
And my expression is not like the shedding of Ibn Mufarrij,

81. Which he poured forth without praise or blame.
But just as a compassionate woman weeps for a boulder,