English
In His Praise Again
You, with your radiant face and jet black hair,
have laid a whole world to waste, night and day.
May the chain of your curls stay forever unbroken;
the mirror of your beauty rests in the hand of the moon.
The very image of life appears before me
whenever I gaze at your ruby red lips.
Both your tresses do nothing but win hearts;
that is why my back is bent double like them.
Not even the dragon's head and tail can do to the sky
what your hair does beneath your cap.
The pupil of your eye is like a reigning king,
and your brow above it is a black canopy over his head.
The army of your hair was so vast
that your cheek came to review its ranks.
Yet a single breeze scattered it all apart,
like my lord's enemy blown from the road by dust.
The chief of the world, the lord bearing the mark of kings,
the backbone of generosity, the rising fortune, the sovereign of his age.
The face coated silver in the tint of your cheek;
the breeze took its scent from the tip of your hair.
The languid, drooping narcissus is
a copy of your eye, but a flawed one.
Her nose, the down, and her mouth set together
form the very shapes of the letters alif, lam, and mim.
Your hair is coiled and curled like the letter jim,
your black beauty spot the dot beneath the jim.
Your smooth cheek is like the heart of the devout;
your tiny mouth is as narrow as a miser's eye.
Do not look upon the gold of my complexion;
good fortune cannot be bought with silver.
You hold an orphan pearl in your mouth,
your sweet ruby lips like kindness shown to an orphan.
Your mouth is a single, indivisible gem;
it can only be split in two by speech.
It would be a shame to pierce such a ruby
for anything but praising the pillar of the faith.
You, whose generous hand, when the tongue recalls it,
makes the sea foam at the mouth with envy.
Before your bounty the Nile is a mere mirage;
beside your gentleness the very soul is thin as wind.
Your hand and your tongue keep filling
the skirts of the last age with gold and pearls.
Serving you is the fruit on the branch of the body;
praising you is the jewel on the blade of the tongue.
In spite of your heart and hand, your enemy
turns his eye and cheek into a sea and a mine of tears.
Your giving outdid the swift flying one;
that is why its head grew heavy against it.
Through your kindness to those beneath you,
you can plainly see all you have found.
Your foe is groaning, sallow, and bent double,
forever in his death throes like a drawn bow.
May no unbeliever ever face your enmity,
especially in the way your wrath has laid it out.
The nature of the world turned away from cruelty
and began the practice of humanity.
Security suddenly knocked at the door of the world,
and the hand of your army threw it open.
When the cloud had no more bounty to give,
it called out toward your heart and hand.
The arm of your fortune did to the enemy
what your fingertip did to greed.
The needy ate from the table of your generosity,
took abundant bounty, and left with a full belly.
In the end the realm became your captive,
no matter how much it played coy.
Once more the bird of your glory took flight
and settled atop the canopy of kings.
All these signs of good fortune that exist
were brought about by that lofty lord's high resolve.
State and faith are adorned by you;
the holy law itself has prayed for you.
You, through whom the days have come to fulfillment,
whose grandeur has given the world its order.
Reason and spirit are the chosen ones of your majesty;
dawn and dusk beat the drums at your gate.
Like a farewell that heralds separation,
the affairs of your enemies fall into ruin.
Your task today is the rule of the world;
this high office is now yours in full splendor.
He who was your fiercest adversary
now takes refuge in you with his whole heart.
This lament is your servant, for the striking
is in your hand and the ink is complete.
Any head that holds a meddling mind
I keep forever bound to the line of your command.
Your grace has shown itself even in hardships,
as the festival dawns from the crescent of the fasting month.
Everyone has reached their goals through you,
except me, the burnt hearted one, and that is all.
May the banner of your fortune be victorious;
may the evil eye stay far from your good fortune.