1. The protection of my father Abi Nasr against fate
The days have opened for me in his favor, though they are fickle

2. We composed for him the pearls of speech, and poetry
Is but ornamentation for prose

3. I boast if misfortunes are obscured
His favors manifest though he is traveling

4. Can misfortune exceed its boundaries?
In his hands lies subjugation and command of fate

5. The upper part of his sword is a trained blade
The lower part the wrath of two flames, destructive

6. Never before have I seen a sword don armor
With jewels scattering from it during battle

7. No rider traveling in the darkness of night
His mount an ocean of fear, turbulent

8. No lone warrior whose might folds battalions
From whom armored soldiers flee in defeat

9. He shows you favors and tribulations when they occur
As flashes in the armor that he dons

10. And when you bestowed a gift upon me
I thanked you, for I appreciate kindness

11. The best recompense for praise is a writer
Whom the eloquent armor of poetry adorns

12. Through kinship we incline toward you, for we
Are a tribe, relatives, when other tribes grow distant

13. Our father, father of elegant diction, a deadly foe
To whom wonders occur as thoughts

14. Lineages divide us in every gathering
Yet manners unite us, for they are bonds

15. I see my need has not diminished for early ones
So how can later ones avoid it?

16. And days are not to blame that
Their predetermined succession flows by your command

17. Nor do I accuse destiny if a need
Clings to you, while the pens in it are appointed