1. My Lord, your days have not changed
Nor have your eternal laws passed away

2. No land remains without you as its star
Nor does the full moon or the crescent rise except by your will

3. Why do I see people being elevated to high office
While my excellent poetry goes unrewarded?

4. What makes every fool boast of his position
While the station of the scholar is but toil and trouble?

5. Every songbird has a rosy bower
And every raven chick a ripe fig

6. I wonder at people who were offered the wine of joy
Yet did not draw near when you called them

7. They are men who descended upon meadows of dew
But did not drink from the Euphrates of generosity

8. If only you would remove their anguish
With a torrent of bounty, as fresh water relieves thirst

9. My children's words have harmed me with the neighbors
"The promise was so ripe, we thought the figs could be eaten"

10. In the bloom of youth your plans did not succeed
How then can they succeed when old age rules?

11. By your glory, my Lord, neither my children
Nor I have transgressed, we take the Merciful as our witness

12. Nor have the words of slanderers restrained me
From my desires, but only the lack of gold

13. Everything my skilled hands possess
Letters and discourse, poetry and speech

14. When seen by one noble, they bring joy
When seen by one base, they incur wrath

15. Ask, if you wish, about the people whose houses
And livestock I wonder how they obtained

16. Did their spinning wheels spin different threads than ours
When we have more dependents if numbers are counted?

17. This hint is enough for me, circumstances and tact
And propriety restrain me from more

18. You, you are the one whom brevity satisfies
The intelligent, sagacious guide

19. The bestower of thousands, if you withheld gold
The clouds too sometimes withhold and pour down rain

20. Dispel my sorrow with your bounty, and take advantage of my praise
Gratitude comes only when the cause exists

21. The Turks admit that superiority lies with you
So favor us, and the Arabs will bear witness!