1. The ignoble Nabataeans must not think
That they, more than the glorious Arabs, deserve the pen,

2. Though they be brethren to the men of earth;
Their father and their ancestor is the source of the dunes.

3. How many a brother, had his brother guided him,
Would not have gone astray with other nations.

4. He guided him, though from afar he came, to his destination
After he had wandered confused in deep darkness.

5. This is Abu al-Sakr, unique in his writing,
He is the son of Shayban between al-Talh and al-Salam.

6. I did not settle near the slippery Nabataean,
But near the spring and the idol.

7. It is he who carried the pens flaming
Away from the path, though mouths had deviated from morsels.

8. He rose and retired among men most eminent
In fame, most noble in glory and generosity.

9. As if he were the sun at its lofty zenith
Over the wilderness - no fire on a flagpole.

10. May God give him more honor and grant him
Steadfastness to strengthen the tread of his feet.