1. Ask me, O friends, ask me
To tell you of protected knowledge,

2. For I have gained much knowledge by God’s grace—
If you wish, listen to my knowledge.

3. I grieve for you, though I'm my mother's son,
And my mother is no ignorant woman.

4. Take from me strange tales and ask me,
That I may tell you the certain truth.

5. O people in Bulaq, if you are asked of it,
Believe me when I speak honestly—

6. When the sun rises upon it one day,
People see it with their eyes,

7. And the water above the earth walks upon it
By day, aye, and by night in my opinion.

8. When you find lodging in its expanse—
Do not monopolize, O bird, apart from me!

9. And whenever the full moon appears to you
Which I cannot see—it seems hidden from me—

10. In its courtyard a brother spills his neighbour’s blood
By God, o people, cast me out!

11. And whatever drinking or eating I legitimize there,
Leave me be!

12. And if a wench displays herself there,
Ask her keepers to satisfy me.

13. And if they demand a price—what's that to me?
Let them keep me as a pawn!

14. And whatever they ask of you—ask the same of them!
Maybe in haggling they will take me

15. With it—how the threads of my mind ravel
Stretched from the platter to the bowls!

16. When they pour the broth upon it, it remains
I gesture with my finger—pour some on me!

17. O friends of the feast there, you have revived
When clung to, though abandoned.

18. Your necklaces have settled around my heart,
Unravelling the knot of my affairs.

19. O plantain, there you have healed with your taste!
I love you, though they do not feed me.

20. O, your bananas—why do they
Unjustly prevent me from you?

21. My vendors, all of you, come here!
And cheat them as they've cheated me!

22. At it is a shop with scales
Perplexing men with its weights—they've confounded me!

23. As for the jars, they mimic
My mother's murmuring as she denies me.

24. Whenever I show desire,
They repel me with their coldness!

25. Now, I swear by what I have
And, brother, by the path to my right,

26. Without paying, every comer drinks his fill
By God’s grace, from above and below!

27. It borders a courtyard wherein lies my joy,
Calling to relaxation and pleasure.

28. The life of Bani Khadir has been sweetened by it
When their crescentmoon appears from hiding.

29. You have corrupted my mind, O Bulaq,
Though my family made me better!

30. I have attained a mosque that captivates minds—
Lofty, refined, and strong.

31. —God protect its features—they have become
A relief for anxious hearts.

32. When its minaret ignites in the morning,
It salutes us with the day of Eid—ding-a-ling!

33. He revived you when he revived you, truly
To keep remembrance alive in you at all times.

34. How many houses has he revived for God’s remembrance,
God has protected them from the evils of mortality.

35. May God perpetuate the days of celebration
For its founder, over the passage of years.