1. You came, and the flowers in the garden of night bloomed,
And dawn was a river bursting over the darkness.

2. She came, along with the brilliant dawn,
Until eyes were dazzled by their radiance.

3. She revealed a face whose full moon shone for us,
Though its darkness was her hair.

4. Lovely one, were it not for the clear distinction,
No one with sight would doubt she was the moon.

5. When she unveils her brightness, dawn lights up,
Or she lets down her tresses, and night grows dark.

6. An Indian beauty whose glances
Do what no maimed Indian girl can do.

7. A houri who with the magic of her amorous glance
Enslaves minds, adorned with languishing eyes.

8. She exhales perfumed breath from her mouth
As though her mouth were a press for perfume.

9. A gazelle whose graceful neck has never stirred
Without awakening love’s passion in us.

10. She did not fear vengeance for desiring her lovers’ blood—
For lovers, bloodshed is lawful in love’s domain.

11. Nights of love were treasures because of her,
Until they outshone all other treasures.

12. O beauty, go gently, for you have wronged me.
I cannot be patient with all this estrangement.

13. Is there no promise you made by which I might live near you,
No homeland to approach, no abode?

14. You shun me, no union, no means to reach you,
And build a house, no eye can see, no trace.

15. If you reproach me, do not blame me for fate.
Not all this cruelty is fated to be.

16. Judge what you will of rejection and distance—
For lovers, sins are forgiven in any case.

17. How many cynics persisted in blaming me, but I said:
“My lot is her love, the cynic’s lot is stone.”

18. One said: “All this love of yours is nonsense,”
And I replied: “All this blame of yours is babble.”

19. O you who blame me, turn a deaf ear to blame, for I have
A love where hearing and sight conspired together.

20. If her love burdens me with any fault,
I have a greater merit with the Most High.

21. The illustrious, high-minded, lofty in rank,
Father of al-Husayn, vigilant in recollection,

22. The Mūsáwī, whose virtues have been steeped
In his chastity, who strikes water from his palm,

23. Cultured, attaining the highest ranks,
Which others sought but could not obtain,

24. Embracing all glory in his youth,
Containing praises no mortal else contains.

25. If his forefathers were eminent, still between them
Is a difference like the fruits and the trees.

26. He bestows bounty without displaying his plenty,
And hosts guests, whether few or many.

27. Listen to his praises and look at him—you’ll find
Reports conforming with actual deeds.

28. No brother of eloquence ever encompassed
His virtues without rhetoric falling short.

29. What might the eulogist attain in praising a man
Whose abundant praise is brief in the sublime?

30. He endowed me with a gift I cannot thank enough,
Even if nomads and city-dwellers helped me.

31. Take for yourself a bride whose poems
Will make the dawn envy my night.

32. She will praise you as I praise the hand
That scattered roses from gardens of fragrance,

33. And you will live forever blessed
With good fortune and life.