1. Grant, O Gracious Grantor of gifts none can match,
Gifts that desires, however keen, cannot attain,

2. Grant the petitioner what he seeks, for Your name is Giving, and You are the Giver.
You are an ocean, and he whom You single out, an ocean to either side has streams.

3. So turn away from the ink of my pen, for it holds naught but froth, a mirage.
And lament the man whom stern Time has despoiled,

4. And snatched what he held, and left him bare.
Misfortunes have stripped him of all he owned,

5. Yet finery remains his cloak and dress.
As long as steadfastness and grace persist,

6. The noble and free spurn all contempt.
For one ocean freely feeds another with streams

7. Holding the merest ripples—a marvelous wonder!
So Yours is the proof if You state:

8. "Thus do oceans nourish each other's streams."
But frail is the excuse of one whose tax

9. I close, and thereby justify my drinking.
From my abundant subjects, not me,

10. Comes a yield for You to milk as You wish.
If an envier like myself aspires

11. I say: Not every wish is granted.
But some have the means to deserve

12. Being answered when they pray.
Keys there are to special favors,

13. And with keys doors are unlocked.
Some are a class apart, some just people,

14. Favored by their wisdom and intellect.
The cultured man is praised for his refinement,

15. And refinement brings praise and reward.
Some surpass others in merit,

16. Culture and learning lift them high.
Traditions and chronicles relate

17. That we are rewarded according to our minds.
But I hesitate to make You grasp the argument,

18. For who can elucidate texts to the erudite!
Especially a scribe so well versed

19. In what escapes all calculation.
Don’t oblige me toward any but You, for no door

20. Opens now for those seeking gifts but Yours.
You are more just in bestowing bounty

21. Than governors whose prayers go unanswered.
Those who seek them out intend only baseness.

22. Veils hide nothing of their villainy.
Scoffing at praise, not one of them fears or feels shame.

23. All are like unresponsive idols when asked for favors,
Receiving people’s requests with indifference,

24. Their pride untouched, their virtue corrupted.
Scornful of praise, as though idols

25. Could reward worship lavished upon them!
My soul yearns that You choose my tribute,

26. And Your magnanimity accept my gift.
I live next door, and we visit back and forth,

27. While a restless critic wanders without home.
As for thanks, I have thanks and praise

28. That never ceased to be proclaimed and voiced.
Do not neglect me, for my gratitude is a treasure,

29. Its inheritance transmitted from one generation to the next.
And regard the outstretched hand that once received from You

30. As a maiden amply provided for and content.
For You I have a special bond never watered

31. By any but Your timeless giving, like clouds.
So let Your rain of bounty nourish it,

32. That it may bear fruits of blessings.
This bond is my thanks and praise which my poetry,

33. Clear-flowing, artfully crafted, expresses.
It is eulogy—daughters of my thought,

34. Eloquent, beautiful, virtuous maidens.