In Praise of Rukn al-Din Amid al-Mulk, the Vizier

Lord of the world, pillar of the faith, Amid al-Mulk, you are the one whose glory the very heavens turn to for refuge. Fate obeys whatever you point toward, and destiny is content with whatever pleases you. Anyone who lets the light of your judgment enter his mind has no need to look into the world-revealing cup. Whoever gets a handful of the dust of your threshold would be a fool to even glance at the philosopher's stone. You are the one before whom the sky, for all the height of its rank, keeps its back bent under the weight of your greatness. Whoever takes shelter in your protection, why should he worry about the shameless turning of the days? Refuge of the world, more than ten years have passed since this servant took up the name of your well-wisher. He has no patron but you, no master but you, no friend or companion in the world but you. He expects no welcome or greeting from anyone except from your kindness, which words cannot contain. He is not like other people who, wherever they go, find an open door and lift up their heads. He will never leave your threshold for any other place, though he could find a seat before both the low and the noble. In the age of a vizier like you and a king like this, is it right that the heavens keep him in such distress? Sometimes it chains my feet with debt, sometimes it afflicts me with obligation and poverty. No lord ever takes me under his care, and no king casts a glance toward this beggar. So now Obayd, like the enemy of a great lord, has no gold, no robe, no tent, no beast to ride. He has neither the means to keep company at court, nor the tools and provisions to retire from it. I grieve at my own luck, for through its ill omen my little affairs always run backward. The bow of the heavens shoots arrows of misfortune at me, and the noose of time keeps me bound in calamity. How can I hope for ease from time, when even you, my lord, are free of any concern for my state? Is it fitting that a man be so wretched and destitute when he has a master and guide like you? Rescue me through the goodwill of your friends and servants, for such work belongs to the resolve of pure-hearted friends. When you find the chance, if it seems wise before the king, say: 'So-and-so has set his hopes upon your court.' Live a thousand years in fortune, for the faithful angel himself lifts his hands in prayer for the increase of your glory.