1. وهبُ يا واهبَ الهباتِ اللواتي

    قَصُرَتْ دونها الهباتُ الرِّغابُ

    Wahb, O giver of gifts that

    even lavish gifts fail to equal.

  2. هَبْ لراجيكَ ما عليه فإِنَّ اسـ

    ـمَك وهبٌ ووَسْمك والوهّابُ

    Remit what your hopeful petitioner owes, for your name

    is Wahb, and your epithet is the Bountiful Giver.

  3. أنت بحرٌ ومن له تَجتبي الأمـ

    ـوالَ بحرٌ لجانبيه عُبابُ

    You are a sea, and he for whom you collect

    wealth is a sea, with waves surging along both shores.

  4. فارغبا عن مِداد شِعْبي فليست

    فيه إلا صُبَابةٌ بل سرابُ

    So both of you forgo my tributary's supply, for

    it holds only a last trickle—rather, a mirage.

  5. وارثيا لامرئٍ ألَحَّ عليه

    للزمان الصَّؤول ظُفْرٌ ونابُ

    And both of you pity a man relentlessly beset

    by the claw and fang of ravaging Time.

  6. سلَبته الخطوب ما في يديه

    وله من تَجمُّلٍ أثوابُ

    Calamities have stripped him of everything in his hands,

    yet he wears robes of dignified composure.

  7. وإذا الصبر والتجمل داما

    للفتى الحر هانت الأسلابُ

    If patience and dignified composure endure

    in a noble young man, his losses count for little.

  8. إن بحراً يُمِدُّ بحراً بشعْبٍ

    فيه أدنى صُبابةٍ لَعُجابُ

    A sea replenishing a sea through a tributary

    holding the slightest trickle is truly a marvel.

  9. فلكَ الحُجَّةُ الصحيحة إن قلـ

    ـتَ كذا تُحلِبُ البحورَ الشِّعابُ

    Yours is a sound argument if you say:

    “Thus the tributaries feed the seas with milk.”

  10. ومن المِرَّةِ الضعيفةِ فالمِر

    رَة تُلوَى فتُحكم الأسبابُ

    And from a weak strand, then another strand,

    twisted together, ropes are made strong.

  11. غير أنْ ليس في خراجي وحدي

    ما بإِغلاقِه يسوغ الشرابُ

    Yet my tax alone contains nothing

    whose impounding would make a drink go down easily.

  12. لك في مُكثري الرعيّةِ دوني

    حَلَبٌ كيف شئت بل أحلابُ

    Among the wealthy subjects, rather than me,

    you have a milking at will—indeed, many milkings.

  13. ومتى رام رائمٌ كخصوصي

    قلتُ ما كلُّ دعوة تُستجابُ

    Whenever someone seeks such favor as mine,

    I say, “Not every plea is answered.”

  14. بل لقومٍ وسائلٌ يستحقّو

    نَ إذا ما دَعوا بها أن يجابوا

    Rather, some have means of approach that entitle them,

    when they appeal through them, to be answered.

  15. ومفاتيحُ للخصوص وكانت

    بالمفاتيح تُفتح الأبوابُ

    And keys to special favor; doors have been

    opened with keys.

  16. منهمُ معشرٌ ومنهمْ أناسٌ

    فَضَّلَتهُمْ بفضلها الألبابُ

    Among them is a company of men, and among them are people

    whose excellent minds have set them apart.

  17. وأديبٌ له ثناءٌ بما يُسْـ

    ـدَى إليه وللثناء ثوابُ

    And a man of letters offers praise for what is

    bestowed upon him; praise, too, has its reward.

  18. ولبعض الرجال فضلٌ على بعـ

    ـضٍ بما نفَّلَتْهُمُ الآدابُ

    Some men have superiority over others

    through what cultivated learning has bestowed upon them.

  19. ـولقد جاء في الرواية والآ

    ثار أنَّا على العقول نُثابُ

    And it is indeed recorded in tradition and transmitted

    reports that we are rewarded according to our intellects.

  20. وأحاشيك أن أفهِّمَك الحجـ

    ـجةَ أنَّى يُفَهَّمُ الكُتَّابُ

    And I would not presume to explain the argument to you—

    how could secretaries need instruction?

  21. سيما الكاتبُ المُبِرُّ على النا

    س بما لا يعُدُّهُ الحُسَّابُ

    Especially the secretary who surpasses

    men in what even reckoners cannot count.

  22. لا تُحلني على سواك فما أصـ

    ـبح للطالبين غيرَك بابُ

    Do not refer me to another, for there is now

    no door for petitioners but yours.

  23. أنت في العَدْل بالمكارم أَوْلى

    من وُلاةٍ دُعاتُهم لا تجابُ

    In fairness, you are worthier of noble deeds

    than governors whose petitioners go unanswered.

  24. يقصدُ القاصدون منهم لئاماً

    ما لهم من وجوههم حُجَّابُ

    Petitioners seek out the base men among them,

    whose faces have no guards of shame.

  25. مستهينين للهجاء فما من

    همْ له خائفٌ ولا هَيَّابُ

    Scorning satire, so not one

    among them fears it or stands in dread.

  26. كلهم حين يُسألُ العَرَضَ الأد

    نى جَمودُ البنانِ لا يُستذابُ

    Every one, when asked for the paltriest worldly goods,

    has frozen fingers that cannot be melted.

  27. يتلقَّى مسائلَ الناس منهُ

    عَرَضٌ سالمٌ وعِرْضٌ مُصابُ

    People's requests encounter in him

    wealth untouched and honor wounded.

  28. مُستخفِّين بالمديح وهل كا

    نت تُثيب العبادةَ الأنصابُ

    Disdaining praise—and have

    stone idols ever rewarded worship?

  29. لهفَ نفسي إن اجتبيتَ خَراجي

    وحَوَتْهُ عُفاتُك الخُيِّابُ

    Alas for my soul if you collect my tax

    and your luckless supplicants take it!

  30. أنا جارٌ قريبُ دارٍ وتَجْبيـ

    ـني ويَجْبيك نازحٌ مُنتابُ

    I am a neighbor, living near, yet you levy

    on me, while a distant visitor levies on you.

  31. أَلِشُكرٍ فعنديَ الشكر والحمـ

    ـدُ الذي لم يزل له خُطَّابُ

    Is it for gratitude? I have thanks and praise

    that has never lacked suitors.

  32. لا تُضِعْني فإن شكريَ كنزٌ

    يتهادَى تُراثَهُ الأعقابُ

    Do not neglect me, for my gratitude is a treasure

    whose legacy successive generations exchange as gifts.

  33. واستجِدَّ اليدَ التي سلفتْ من

    ك على أنّها فتاةٌ كَعابُ

    And renew the favor that once came from

    you, regarding it as a maiden with budding breasts.

  34. لك عندي صَنيعةٌ ما سقاها

    غيرُ وَسْميِّك القديمِ سحابُ

    You have a kindness with me; it has been watered

    by no cloud but your first autumn rain of old.

  35. فاسقِها من وَليِّك الجَودِ واربُبْ

    ها تَهَدَّلْ لها ثمارٌ عذابُ

    So water it with your copious later rain, and nurture

    it: sweet fruits will hang down from it.

  36. وهي الشكرُ والمحامد تَنْثو

    ها أقاويليَ الرِّصانُ الصُّيابُ

    They are thanks and praises, spread

    by my well-wrought, unerring utterances.

  37. مِدَحٌ من بناتِ فكريَ أبكا

    رٌ حِسانٌ كواعبٌ أترابُ

    Praise-poems, daughters of my thought: virgins,

    beautiful, budding-breasted, all of equal age.