إن عاده بعد السلو غرامه — Al Sari Al Raffa

If his passion revisits him after forgetfulness,

then his tears, once held in reserve, pour forth.

No wonder if the reproacher is bent on blaming him;

his longing has endured, and so has the reproach against him.

Nothing stirred the memory of longing but a familiar haunt,

whose gazelles bore my heart away in love.

And I am a ransom for the one who struck my vital parts

with the arrows of his glance through gaps in the curtains.

His beauty revealed to us the radiant full moon,

and his figure the graces of a fresh, supple bough.

Sorrowful, he lowers his eyelids in greeting;

and, if it could, his greeting would quench the burning thirst.

Indeed, though time rages, I seek refuge

in patience as long as its fury holds sway over me.

Taking with me a resolve that shines in the darkness,

while its decrees run their course in separation's calamity.

I reap through it the fruit of verse, and choose

from it what others are powerless to attain.

So the reins of maiden odes lie in my hand,

and the reins of glory lie in the prince's palm.

He is the full moon of eminence; when he appears, he bears

the heavenly full moon's radiance and fullness.

And when he smiles and beams, he is a rain cloud:

its lightning flashes, and its clouds pour rain.

My soul is a ransom for Ali, builder of lofty glory;

for his days have indeed risen with his own ascent.

A king whom praise befits, so it becomes

like a garden, its prose and verse shining.

He restored generosity, whose days lay far in the past,

with its open grounds and hillocks green again.

And his hands built for Taghlib a glory: there rose

above the stars its domes and tents.

Which virtues can one hope to grasp

in one enamored of glory, whose passion has long endured?

Is it his bounty on the day of giving, or his cheerful face,

and his onslaught on the day of terror, or his daring?

He branded time with a battle against the enemy,

in which his resolve and his keen sword were equal.

You made clear the path of noble deeds; that path

has manifest radiance and lofty landmarks.

And for Islam, advancing boldly, you joined your might

with the light of your resolve, so its darkness grew bright,

on a battlefield whose earth your swords dyed

with the enemies' blood, so its dust does not rise.

Had the Domestikos not sought refuge there in flight,

amid the battle's ordeal, death would not have passed him by.

All creation wishes that your life be everlasting,

just as spring's continuance is loved.

If your hands' generosity were a torrential rain,

its drizzle and gentle showers would cover the lands.

So the canopy of praise is pitched over you,

and glory's obligations are discharged by you.

And when a hopeful man pins his hope on you,

his wishes come true and his dreams are fulfilled.

The prince has indeed restored to me the path of wealth,

and his bounty restored dew to my bough.

And through his bounty I was clothed in a robe of protection

from one whose bounty his petitioner condemns.

So I clothed him in the brocade of radiant praise,

whose meanings are beautiful and whose words are few.