1. Goodness be unto you if you visit the dwellings and ruins,
So make lively the plains that have long been desolate,

2. Stop and ask about its people, where did they go,
And if you find no answerer nor caller there,

3. First turn towards the settlements, then
Take hold of the reins and ask the covenant a second time,

4. For if its dwellers have become sparse and few,
Its memory with me passes the nights going round,

5. Upon it beautiful, delicate gazelles play, as though
Strung as pearls on the necklace of time,

6. Sighing gently, shaking their slender legs,
And gathering from the folds of the coats pastures,

7. Revealing from the darkness of their faces moons,
And spreading from the blackness of their branches nights,

8. They forcibly capture hearts, so you will not see
A lover’s heart that is devoid of their love,

9. The nights have passed in their love, but have not
Fulfilled the debts of passion, until we grew weary of asking,

10. I obeyed my youth in loving them for as long as my youth lasted,
Then when it was over, I took patience in its place,

11. Yes, that time has passed and gone
So let him cry who would cry over its like!

12. And fires of passion are kindled in me, which have not ceased
To fan a flame between my ribs and skin,

13. But I show endurance in love,
And display tranquility, while I am not tranquil,

14. The utmost of intent and estrangement are that they
Become intimate and loving once again,

15. I was patient with the decree of time, and he who is patient
Attains what he hopes for with the aid of patience,

16. And I said perhaps time will rein in its course,
So I rein in blaming fate,

17. If complaining were of benefit I would complain, but
I saw the turns of fate did no good for a complainer,

18. I wish I had relied on men whose aid
Would have been sufficient for me, neither against me nor for me,

19. If I had avoided them in times of ease,
Avoiding enemies, I'd have no fear of enemies,

20. But they showed loyalty and harbored
Hypocrisy, and led tribulations to my door,

21. So I turned away from them, I do not want their rebuke,
That God may accomplish what He decreed,

22. And I have a birthmark on the cheek of time, a beauty spot
That illuminates despite the radiant dawn,

23. Supported by the glories of Hashim and Muhammad
Prides that leave no pride remaining,

24. I attained the highest goals of glory, over which
The necks of people broke trying to reach behind me,

25. And I surpassed my age and years, I was not
More than eighteen years old,

26. My soul never trusted in anyone's stinginess,
Be they friend or hostile assailant,

27. And neither did my patience fail me, nor did any misfortune
Weaken my resolve when calamities hurled down their missiles,

28. The resolute man is not one enamored with complaining
Of the nights, though the nights are as they are,

29. But the epitome of men is one who turns away
From fate, fearing no near or distant thing,

30. And I conceal passion with patience over grief
While the weak of mind reveal what was hidden,

31. And I fold anguish within me like a scroll, so
No people have known the passion within me,

32. I establish principles with a pure heart and honest words
That undo doubts about the honorable Yemeni way,

33. And I compose from the heat of speech rhymed verses
That are fitting traces of the highest ideals,

34. And I have kept my poetry free of lampooning and praise—
Were it not for love I'd not pluck the branches,

35. And though I don’t count poetry a point of pride
I compose that which surpasses predecessors,

36. But I defend and take precautions—
Warding off harm, aiming arrows from my quiver,

37. And if anyone casts pride at me, I count among the highest virtues
Great things, not trifles unworthy of mention,

38. Since I am from the essence of glorious Hashim
A house in the loftiest part of glory suffices as introduction,