In Praise of the Commander of the Faithful and Longing to Visit Him

You whose generosity became a proverb in the world; the sea and the rain clouds will forever envy the bounty of your hand and heart. A single word of your giving reached the oyster's ear, and from shame it hides itself away in the water. When you draw out your generous hand to give; when on the battlefield you set your prosperous foot in the stirrup, Your awe sends the enemy's cry up to the heavens; your high resolve lays the very treasure-mine in ruins. Four things in your wrath, and four things in your kindness, are brought before you, and they receive your word, if you should call them. The musk-pod and the sea of ambergris, the sugarcane, the pearl of the oyster; the bow of the sky and the arrow of lightning, the moon's shield and the sword of the sun. Eight things are forever joined to your enemy, eight things, so that in the world he keeps falling into every kind of torment: A chest full of blood, a grieving nature, a parched mouth and weeping eyes; dark fortune, a wasted body, a wounded spirit, and a heart seared like roasting meat. You, king of kings, whose justice, for the comfort of all the world's people, lifts the veil from its face like a radiant prince, The wild deer makes its nest in the lion's embrace, and the little sparrow builds its home in the eagle's claws. By the grace of your shrine, grieving souls rejoice; by the pilgrimage around your tomb, broken hearts are made whole. Whoever found the pleasure of peace in your presence will never rise from sleep, like a road that lies dreaming. My restlessness on the road of longing for you is not without reason: the sun's light keeps even a dust mote trembling. Now I feel a pull, a yearning on the road of longing for you, so that I may set out, hurrying like the tears of lovers. As long as the moon bears its dark mark upon its face in the sky, as long as the oyster's cup is filled to the brim with pearls from the clouds, May your friend forever keep his honor, like a pearl; may your enemy forever fall, burning like a spark.