(*) Principal sources: Al-Ansab, fol. 543; Yaqut, Muʿjam al-udabaʾ 10:56-79; Al-Suyuti, Al-Lubab 3:262-263; Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-aʿyan 2:185-190; Al-Dhahabi, Tarikh al-Islam 4:213/2; idem, Al-ʿIbar 4:32; Ibn Muflih, Tatimmat al-mukhtasar 2:49-50; Al-Safadi, Al-Wafi bi-l-wafayat 14:431-439; ʿUyun al-tawarikh, fol. 357-366; Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi, Mirʾat al-zaman 8:56-58; Al-Yafiʿi, Mirʾat al-janan 3:210; Ibn Kathir, Al-Bidaya 12:190; Al-Nujum al-zahira 5:220; Tashkubri-zada, Miftah al-saʿada 1:197-198; Hajjı Khalifa, Kashf al-zunun 68; Ibn al-ʿImad, Shadharat al-dhahab 4:41-43; Al-Musawi, Al-Nuzha 2:73; Rawdat al-janat 248; Aʿyan al-shiʿa 27:76-88. (1) The poem opens: “Asalatu ar-raʾy sanatni ʿan al-khatal / wa hilyatu al-fadli zanatni lada al-ʿatal” (“The soundness of judgement has shielded me from error, and the ornament of virtue has adorned me in times of want”). Extending beyond sixty lines, the ode is counted among the master-pieces of Arabic poetry, admired for its delicate amorous touches and its rich store of wisdom and proverbs. Representative verses include: – “Uʿallilu an-nafsa bil-amali arqubuha / ma adyqa al-ʿaysha lawla fus-hatu al-amal” (“I feed my soul with hopes and wait for them; life would be cramped were it not for the breadth that hope affords”). – “Ya warida suʾra ʿayshin kulluhu kadar / anfaqta safwaka fi ayyamik al-ula” (“O you who sip the remains of a life wholly turbid, you squandered your purest days at the very start”). – “Fima iqtihamuka lujja al-bahr tarkabuhu / wa anta yakfika minhu massatu al-washl” (“Why plunge into the sea’s deep to ride its waves when one mouthful from a rivulet would suffice you?”). – “Maliku al-qanaʿati la yakhsha ʿalayhi wa la / yahtaju fihi ila al-ansari wa al-khawal” (“The possessor of contentment fears no danger and needs neither supporters nor servants”). – “Tarju al-baqaʾa bi-darin la thabata laha / fahal samiʿta bizillin ghayra muntakil” (“You seek permanence in a dwelling that cannot last; have you ever known a shadow that does not move?”). – “Wa ya khabiran ʿala al-asrari muttaliʿan / asmut fa-fi al-samt manjatun min al-zalal” (“O you who pry into secrets, be silent; in silence lies deliverance from error”). – “Qad rashshuhuka li-amrin law fatanta lahu / farbaʾ binafsika an tarʿa maʿa al-hamal” (“They have chosen you for a task—were you to grasp it—so elevate yourself above grazing with the herd”). Al-Salah al-Safadi composed a lengthy commentary on the ode, now printed in two substantial volumes. (2) The manuscript reads kana, an obvious scribal error.