English
In Praise of the Vizier
Fortunate vizier, whose crown becomes a proud head:
when the dust of your feet reaches this green dome of the sky.
Every weary soul finds its cure in your kindness;
every heart, through your generosity, reaches what it longs for.
God has granted this realm a chief like you as its daily bread;
through your name, the pillar of Islam rises to the highest place.
My king, your servant Ubayd keeps his eyes on your grace,
hoping that by the blessing of your glance his affairs will rise high.
If it serves the interest of this well-wisher with the king,
present his case when your banners reach their fullest glory.
I remember a few lines from the verses of others;
perhaps one or two of them are fitting, if they suit this moment.
'The man content in this age with a single loaf of bread
grows greedy the moment he reaches this exalted court.'
Yes, from a well one wants nothing but water;
but whoever reaches the sea demands a cargo of pearls.
May you triumph forever, so that if your enemy so much
as glances back, sudden death overtakes him.
May the span of your life last as long as it takes the roaming sun
to reach the sign of Gemini a hundred times over, again and again.