and ever since you (1) were lost to me I have never found a loyal companion or a trustworthy brother without your image crossing my mind.

After him Damascus was taken over (2) by his son al-Nāṣir Dāwūd ibn al-Muʿaẓẓam, and the emirs swore allegiance to him.

Abū al-Maʿālī Asʿad ibn Yaḥyā (3) ibn Mūsā ibn Manṣūr ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Wahb, the Shāfiʿī jurist from Sinjār,
was an upright, erudite shaykh, a refined man of letters whose verse and prose were both graceful. He possessed charming anecdotes and lived beyond ninety years. At one time the ruler of Ḥamāh appointed him as vizier. His polished poetry was anthologized by Ibn al-Saʿī, who cites a fine selection, among which are these lines (4):

[rajaz]
Your love—never has forgetfulness crossed his mind;
and you (5) know better than anyone the state of one consumed by passion.

Should a talebearer reach you, claiming
that he has grown indifferent to your love, know that this is merely the talk of your detractors. (6)

Is there not, for the love-struck sufferer (7), clear proof
in his very condition, sparing you the need to question him?

You renewed the garment of his sickness, tore away
the veil of his passion, and cut the rope of his union.

Oh, marvel at a captive whose constant practice
is to ransom the free man with his own life and wealth! (8)

He also said:

[rajaz]
The reproachers blamed my love for you, and blamed at length—
but the appointed time for forgetting is as distant as the Day of Resurrection.

Ignorant of your station in the hearts, they have gone on at length; (9)
had they felt a yearning like mine, they would have fallen silent.