1. The noble man is far from stinginess,
Were it not for carriages, darkness and the desert,

2. And a plentiful rain has overcome its downpours,
Disheveled hair grows long with spears and extends,

3. O driver of camels, which doe
Is sought by the skilled guide with a halter?

4. It was difficult for the passion of love, and it did not know
The madness of the breeze for it or the chirping,

5. And at the pass from Tabalah is an appointed tryst,
At it hopes were fruitless though it is one that gives birth,

6. And one who makes light of anguish thinks it
A day of sweet water, tears and cheeks.

7. Ask the doe of the valley, for nothing escapes it,
A long story by which love grows and increases,

8. And recite with me in the morning light, and say to it,
How long are the black nights prolonged by you?

9. And if you alight in the two valleys, and in them
Are loves held fast to ruin and covenants,

10. And deceive my heart in the thicket so that it
May yearn for their vestiges and return,

11. Pouring with grief after Suwaqah
Is a new occupation, O Umaym, for your life

12. And the rider of the valley was cast down with resolve,
And the banners of the stars scattered in defeat,

13. They fled the darkness so its necklaces and strings
Flew towards the dawn,

14. Stop by the despicable tribe, for next to it
Is meanness that keeps people away and repels,

15. Those whose asker finds it hard to supply them
Are people whose light is wasted and lightning hidden,

16. For me in their short houses are deserts
Intelligent in villainy though they are distracted,

17. And they hunt for pastures
While yesterday the morn drank from them,

18. They turned to seeking heights but hands grew idle
From helping them and sank into stagnation,

19. And the Sulami reproached them with a miserly
Ugly song, its fame chirping,

20. O son of a despicable woman, you are not their equal
So turn away, for you are eminent in wealth,

21. The fire is unleashed for you with dew,
They are equal, a lying promise and a threat,

22. Did you neglect your pasture in the island, leaving it untended,
And were amazed when the chieftain raided it?

23. Had your people been from Kinanah hands would unfold
With which charity lasts long and flows,

24. A people for whom before the encounter signs appear
And witnesses on their loftiness,

25. So the shining blades are tongues and the drinking vessels
Are provisions and cauldrons,

26. They set out for glorious honor and gained
Its harvest while the people of the times slumbered,

27. And their judgment and swords built for them
A house whose pillars are pillars from early morning,

28. They gave freely while the clouds of rain were stingy
And dragged while the winds of autumn slumbered,

29. Part of their faith is that charity is a duty upon them
And that the rejected supplicant is cast off,

30. A living tribe harmonious in glory so its roots
Are its branches and the father is the born,

31. If they fall short of the apex of the imitated son
Then that is the branch which is flexible,

32. An eminence which its seekers miss in their exaggeration
For the distant to them is distant indeed,

33. Were it not for them charity would not be known nor would
The ignorant cloud know how to show liberality,

34. And praise slipped away from time and its people
So the blameworthy and the praised became confused,

35. A nobility, O scions of ancestors, without your past
To replace your present time,

36. And a loftiness, Abu Hasan, so your kin folk
Were tossed high by the Most High and you are their streaming banner,

37. If there is no blood tie between me and you
Then I am counted as one of you,

38. For me in you are marvels of speech
For which time would praise though it is envious,

39. Were it not for passion for you my power would have prolonged
Instructing it even if the stars intoned poems,

40. And the reins of guidance would have slipped
Had other than you been its sought goal,

41. You turned away from the disgrace of begging, and perhaps
The content gained while the afflicted was frustrated,

42. And you dwelt in the shadow of integrity so the wealth
Of the miser may be guarded while it is barred,

43. And when you find life’s comfort followed by bitterness
Then its misfortunes are fortunate indeed,

44. Life is a dream and the nights fickle moments,
Stinginess is poverty and praise is eternity,