1. Love poured her a dark wine from longing’s palm,

    And the camel-train’s singer stirred her yearning when he sang.

  2. All day she ranged between Rāmah and the sanctuary,

    Crossing its wildernesses, rugged hills, and level wastes.

  3. The east wind cleaves them, scented with the bay of Ḥājir,

    Till, from longing’s excess, she nearly bursts aflame.

  4. And when the landmarks of a dwelling at Dhū al-Faḍā appeared,

    Old yearning returned to her just as they came into view.

  5. Never trust sorrows: they tug at her heart

    Whenever the Yemeni lightning descends toward Tihāmah or climbs toward Najd.

  6. O Saʿd, stop at the river-bend to the right of the winding sands;

    Perhaps there I may find someone to aid me in love.

  7. Leave her to quench her burning thirst with tears—

    Yet how can tears slake a lover’s thirst?

  8. With consoling fancies she tends a tormented heart,

    While a torrent of tears makes her sleepless eye bleed.

  9. She rushes like a flood through every trackless desert,

    So that, for firmness of resolve, you would take her for solid rock.

  10. I bear a love for Mayy, though her home lies far away—

    A love that keeps all lovers from feigning fortitude.

  11. Nor did Lamyāʾ fulfill a promise to her lover;

    But has the lady of the two sashes ever kept an appointment?

  12. Whenever the slender-waisted beauty approaches the herd at Laʿlaʿ,

    She shows us death, black in the gazelle’s eye.

  13. How sweet union with her is, and how wretched her desertion!

    Whoever lives in separation lives in misery.

  14. And a radiant beauty—were it not for his hair and brow,

    I would never know what error was and what guidance.

  15. Lovers’ hearts submit to his decree,

    Though in judgment he has dealt unjustly and transgressed.

  16. O age of that revelry, will you ever return?

    O gazelle of that campsite, my soul is your ransom!

  17. You left within my heart the searing pangs of your love,

    Through which I defied that fault-finding, rebuking censor.

  18. May God condemn whoever reproaches a lover for love,

    Who morning and evening brings nothing but blame.

  19. He censures, while love cuts to the quick the very man who censures him;

    How many an ignorant man sought reform and only wrought ruin!

  20. I took my share of bliss and pleasure,

    Clashed with lions and dallied with secluded maidens.

  21. At times I find myself accused in the East,

    And at times a rescuer comes to me in the West.

  22. Never have I spent the night complaining while calamities snatched at me

    Of an age that ranks men of merit among its enemies.

  23. Were it not for Shihāb al-Dīn, no worthy man would attain honor,

    Nor gain, save through him, might and eminence.

  24. A youth of glory, whose wealth brings sufficiency through generous deeds

    And preserves for him a fair renown forever.

  25. When his breast and his right hand overflow,

    Take from both those seas strings of pearls: eloquence and gifts.

  26. He has never ceased to rise in rank and graciousness,

    Gathering every excellence into himself until he stands alone.

  27. I beheld his radiant countenance and his glory,

    And saw the most splendid and glorious sight I had ever seen.

  28. Who, then, can congratulate those arriving at his door

    On one more generous in giving, more rightly guiding than any guide?

  29. His lips had scarcely parted in a smile, revealing pearly front teeth

    In welcome, before his hand showered gold.

  30. When the choicest of God’s creation is a man’s forefather,

    No wonder he is pure in lineage and ancestral stock.

  31. O sea of excellence, we have never seen you foam;

    O rain cloud of generosity, we have never seen you thunder.

  32. Is loftiness sought anywhere but among your glories?

    Is bounty asked anywhere but from your fingertips?

  33. You have come in this age as a mercy to humankind,

    And through you the pillar of religion stands firmly raised.

  34. You revived learning from the soil of Iraq;

    Without you, my master, the whole endeavor would have come to nothing.

  35. I see everyone who recites praise and panegyric

    Relating and transmitting the beauty of your virtues.

  36. Yours is a glory whose description bewilders those who would describe it,

    And the meanings of its essence are too sublime to be circumscribed.

  37. When even the least eloquence from you reveals itself,

    Pens fall prostrate before you upon the page.

  38. In you, generosity and excellence have found repose,

    And generosity adorns its eyes only with the antimony of your script.

  39. You have attended to every master of perfection,

    For it is the custom of noble lords to look after others.

  40. How many a blessing you bestowed and freely lavished,

    Making the freeborn of creation your grateful servants!

  41. Without you I would have won neither honor nor desire,

    Nor attained any aim except through your high favors.

  42. I prevail when you are my patron among humankind;

    Whomever you patron shall remain a lord.

  43. You have ever been a refuge beneath whose shade men shelter,

    And your hands have ever been a wellspring for the people.

  44. May you remain safe as long as day and night return—

    Your bounty granting independence, your legal judgment guiding all.

Sol 5.6