1. He did not attain what he sought from learning,
So take it slowly, for what is written cannot be erased.

2. Do not think high ambition brings success
Unless it is destined by fate's decree.

3. How many a helpless man left defeated,
His bag empty,

4. While the resolute slept curled up satisfied and full.
He who ponders the twists of fate

5. Imagines jest in serious deeds.
How time changes in its making!

6. Like a people I've always seen as wondrous-
They seem clothed in the image of truth at dawn

7. And act sincerely what they told as lies.
A clear injustice-they call pebbles pearls

8. And testify that pearls are broken bits.
Truth will unveil the luster it hides

9. One day, and the face of falsehood shall be veiled.
Say to whoever unsheathes the sword of enmity against me,

10. "Did you know the reason between us for this?"
Offense and crimes I committed against him

11. Against an unsuspecting man who was not on guard.
So turn back, if you wish, from the wrong you began

12. Or add more wood to the fire you started.
God cannot protect a man

13. Who is hostile to Him from the consequences.
I am not one who, when fate surprises him

14. With affliction, complains of it or friends.
As for the crookedness of people's nature,

15. It has made time's crookedness stand erect.
Islam's simple creed nurtured me,

16. And my nature is receptive to discipline.
He granted me freely a measure of His bounty,

17. So each day I gained a ration I'm content with.
If you wonder at the bounty I was granted,

18. That bounty to me is but some of what He gave.
I served Him, so He cared for me in His mercy-

19. I was His servant; He was a father.
He made knowledge my work and charged me

20. With unraveling symbols and clarifying difficulties.
My research was according to His ambition for me

21. Until I mastered the refinements of knowledge and nobility.
I gained more pride over all my peers

22. For my knowledge was hard won.
I gained a lineage from it I could boast of

23. And towered over those who boast of ancestry.
A kingdom whose monarchs bow down their necks to it

24. When its King dons the crown and binds his turban.
What do Caesar and Khosrow possess, or take pride in?

25. Do the eloquent tongues of non-Arabs outdo Arabs?
Abraham's ancestors no longer boast

26. Of empires stretching from shore to shore.
As long as God's eye protects him,

27. Do not contradict what I said about his noble ancestors.
They are the great men, as long as the world remains joyous,

28. Spinning on its axis while they are its poles.
They ruled the world when it was a child in its youth

29. And dwelt in the highest celestial spheres.
So who counts as ancient among kings

30. Compared to the simple yet venerable ancestor?
He gathered glories from their edges

31. And contained virtues that left speeches mute.
A gentle glory, an eternal glory-with it

32. Every exalted head became a tail.
Boasting of it made his noble fathers proud.

33. The rain wears the garb of the proud cloud.
O son of great men, he fought kings together

34. And their sticks broke in the arena before him.
The King was certain the nation was united

35. When you ruled, and the rift had mended.
Thanks to the one who aided Islam through you,

36. Protecting its homes and irrigating its pastures.
You pleased your Lord with justice in His lands-

37. Fear no wrath after you pleased Him.
How many in the world are beseeching you,

38. Yet cannot repay what they owe!
Who can truly repay you, O Abu Hassan,

39. As you ward off harm each day?
If you review the lives of past kings,

40. You know you have surpassed them in merit.
I am too shy to recount the tales of kings, or one

41. Who asks and reads the books of legendary generosity.
So we ask Allah to reward you generously-