1. Muhammad son of Sa'id, lend me an ear
For you are not deaf to virtuous deeds

2. You have not yet quenched with love a thirst
Like the water of rhyming couplets that understanding gives you to drink

3. In every verse the meaning is almost grasped by the dead
For its beauty, envied by paper and pen

4. What resemblance is there between me and you when I recite it
Except Zuhayr who listened to it in his old age

5. With every thought-path fully under control
As if perfectly guided or prevented from error

6. The family of Sahl, whenever called upon, act
With a generosity that ordinary people cannot match

7. They are a people you see jealous of their glory
As if eminence for them were inviolable territory

8. Time has indeed turned away from me in its sadness
And its breast of sorrow boils and blazes

9. It has continued to submit to me since first you produced for me a few leaves
So what will it do if they were to bear fruit, blessings?

10. Awaken action to end the sleep of words
When evil suspicion relates that the forbearing are thus

11. And do not say, when you are in need, that the noble spirit
Loathes solicitation - nobility is no encumbrance to the steps