1. May he rejoice and be gladdened, he in whom nobility was gladdened
With an abode that is the life of this world, the rest being surplus

2. In it valour pitched its tents, as did wisdom, prohibition
And in it knowledge, forbearance and generosity took root

3. To him its organization was entrusted, by his broad chest
Matching it and seeming beautiful to him in its form

4. So it came out conforming to his conscience, as though
Hopes had pictured it, for it is their likeness

5. A structure of glory, of which the earth testifies
It will be folded, though nothing can equal it in height

6. Obliging eyes to vie in glancing at it
As if all mankind were amorously inclined towards it

7. A beacon for the eyes of travellers, its lord
A haven for the hopes of the wandering when they are lost

8. A cloud that rose high above the clouds
And it behoves you to rise higher still

9. The benefactor has donned his finery
In a bowl where kinsfolk are brought together

10. As the brilliant star has risen flashing
Its wings, had it not risen unexpectedly

11. You built over the zeal of foes a structure
Establishing mastery over their hearts

12. Had you been content with their zeal as an honour,
They would have come to you with the utmost exertion and not flagged

13. But I see that, had you thought to raise it higher
God refused to let it rise above you, so it did not rise higher

14. Hopes make pilgrimage to it from every direction
And parsimony and blame are sacrificed on its borders

15. It matters not that it does not face the Tigris
With abundance and rainfall meeting on its banks

16. Its good fortune was revealed to the extremities of Iraq
So that the kingdom, security and justice returned to it

17. Thus did Fate cast its rays upon it
So that within its precincts misfortune can have no sway

18. And they said that in building it he had exceeded
His talent, yet he thought of nothing but the joy of completion

19. Then said I: If that does not distract him from freshness
What matter if the lofty do not abstain?

20. When the blade is not blemished by carpentry and temper
It adorns a scabbard in which the blade is preserved

21. Despite the malevolent and foes your supremacy has filled up
And dwelling for generosity, how ugly is meanness!