1. He built villages in the meadows of glory,
Whose dwellers' hearts sang his praises, their tongues lauding him.

2. The nobles vied to exalt him, so he became,
On their day of vying, the most exalted of them.

3. The days of virtue returned like morn because of his generosity,
Else a lifetime of meanness would have worn life down.

4. Had the noble clans possessed a mine of bounty,
It would have lain with none but them.

5. More pliant than soft water, gentler than the palm frond,
And in war fiercer than swords and spears,

6. Giving his wealth for glory was nothing to him;
He knew that praise, not greed, was the mark of the noble.

7. His ancestors built for the Minister Zainab
Palaces, yet he thought them too paltry for him.