1. For whom do the camels sway their graceful necks?
And the caravan floats in the mirage, yet sinks down

2. They cut through the expanse of ruby sands while melancholy
His steeds spurred by passion and eagerness gallop on

3. They left behind a captive who cannot be ransomed
From what he reaps, though the seeker cannot overtake

4. Yearning overwhelms him so he glances sideways
And the flowing of tears makes him bow his head lower

5. Beyond the drowsy one, a sad she-camel rises
Neither a slaker of thirst, nor a sparkling one

6. And a veiled one, so when his light emerged
The horizon for the caravan glowed, radiant

7. They knelt down on the flanks of the she-camels and leaned
The hands of the slender one against hearts that throb

8. After our parting, will our covenant return?
Or after our estrangement, will our branch burgeon?

9. Yearning remained though you did not stay
And yearning clings with feigned affection, more binding

10. Never was I fortunate in life, so how could I be
When today we are exiled and lands lie between us

11. For love of you I said the fever returned to haunt him
The craving, the flare, and the lightning strike back

12. The specter crept into the belly of the wineskin after
The censurers claimed it would not return

13. Do you show tenderness after sleep and harshness
On days when I profess to you love and make you taste?

14. How did you find guidance when I did not? Between us
Is a wall against me of censure and trench

15. With smooth cheeks lying in every crease
Pillowing his head on soil and elbow

16. Or grasping crises and wars
Drowsiness makes their palms give way and tear

17. Or they died striving for the distant goal, so all of them
Are determined though hope is dashed and hangs

18. And to the Commander of the Faithful they came freely
The inclination of their minds poured forth in waves

19. Like ostriches of darkness rushed on by night
And hurried by the growling of rumbling thunder

20. Seeking abundant excellence and dew
Where glory settled, refreshed and watered

21. The abundant, generous one who quenches with it
The thirst of wishes and the pouring, trailing rain

22. You who seek this glory, your ambition
Is to defeat the climbers and make them slip

23. Alas, your assumption a rebel attacked
Without reaching you - the splendid one was repelled

24. Do not make the seas shrink back - perhaps
He who quenches the thirsty might also drown

25. Leave off vying for the caliphate - it is
A meadow without their praise that does not flower

26. It was enriched by them, though they disdain it
The enemy's peaks turn back from it and retreat

27. Like the dens of lions bringing down before it
The white ships and the gushing streams

28. For they are its lofty peak that cannot be climbed
And its egg that cannot be cracked or pierced

29. You cured it when it was infirm and still you see
It mangled by the enemy's claws, torn apart

30. You were the dawn whose light it cast toward
And the darkness fled with its blackened banners

31. So its path cannot be ridden and its plants cannot be reaped
And its loss cannot be repaired or compensated

32. You weighed with the scales without being watched over
And justice is abandoned, released on its path

33. To the enemy, whenever it twists
There is a day of calamity and conflagration

34. You are the refuge for every peril feared
And through you every closed door is relieved

35. And your father al-Abbas, when he supplicated with it
After despair, which tribes were given to drink?

36. He took the clouds by a prayer heard
So the east of lightning responded, pouring down

37. Each of you is the son of a mother of bounty
Or a kindler with the blood of enemies, staining

38. By God, the day exalted you with it to the heights
A flag glancing at eyes and fluttering

39. When a glorious, complete new moon carried you
Like the sun, dazzled by the light and blinking

40. And you came forth in the Prophet's cold - and for guidance
A light on your cheeks' edges shone

41. And above the rain cloud, a formidable lion
That gown, and the wrapping of that cloak

42. And your house is like a paradise whose pebbles are not
Of Barmecide origin, or patterned brocade

43. In a stance where eyes are lowered in awe
And speech trips over the articulation

44. As if above the dais a lion had risen
Crouching over a forest's undergrowth

45. And the people either come back reverently
From what they saw or ascending expectantly

46. They inclined toward you affectionately so assembled
And saw awe in you so scattered

47. And you stabbed with the finest points of words with a sword
No blue spear can handle on its own

48. And you planted in the hearts a love
That grows over the years and flourishes

49. I am the closest to you in it and without it
To the hands of your enemy, a barrier of might, impregnable

50. Show kindness, Commander of the Faithful, for we
In the orbit of the exalted, will not separate

51. Between us on the day of pride no distinction
Both of us in glory are steeped

52. Except the caliphate distinguished you, for I
Am barred from it, while you are crowned