1. يا فرعَ لطف اللّه إنك بيننا

    ملكُ الفضائل والندى والسؤددِ

    O scion of Lutf Allah, among us you are

    king of virtues, generosity, and nobility.

  2. إني عرضتُ هديةً بهديةٍ

    حبَّ التجمُّل لا التماسَ المجتدي

    I offered a gift in return for a gift,

    for love of gracious conduct, not a beggar's plea.

  3. حييتُ مجدَك معجِباً فأجبتني

    بجميلك المتجددِ المتعدد

    I saluted your glory in admiration, and you answered me

    with your kindness, ever renewed and manifold.

  4. وبعثتَ بالنعمى رضاً فشكرتها

    وشكرتُ سعي أمينكِ المتودد

    And you sent your bounty in approval, and I gave thanks for it,

    and thanked your kindly, trusted agent for his efforts.

  5. وسمعتُ منه خيرَ ما سَمع الورى

    عن خير عاطفةٍ وأطيبِ محتد

    And I heard from him the best that humankind has heard

    of the kindliest feeling and the noblest lineage.

  6. وتلوتُ من مستور برك صفحةً

    لك عند عيسى أجرُها ومحمد

    And I read a page of your hidden benevolence,

    whose reward is yours with Jesus and Muhammad.

  7. والعمرُ ذكرٌ شيدته رواتُه

    يا حسنَ ذكر للعيان مُشَيَّدِ

    And life is a remembrance built by those who recount it;

    how fair a remembrance, raised for all to see!

  8. خيرتني فاخترتُ من جدواك ما

    لا بدَّ منه لخادمٍ ولسيد

    You gave me a choice, and from your bounty I chose what

    servant and master alike cannot do without:

  9. رِفد يدور مع الزمان فمن يدٍ

    تقضي به وطر النفوس إلى يد

    a gift that circulates with time, from one hand

    that meets souls' needs with it, to another.

  10. غالي الجواهر من صنائِعه إذا

    لم ينطلقْ عبثاً ولم يتقيد

    Precious jewels are among its benefactions, when

    it is neither squandered idly nor kept bound.

  11. أنت الذي جرأتَ أشعاري على

    ما لم أطاوله ولم أتعود

    You are the one who emboldened my verses to attempt

    what I had neither aspired to nor been accustomed to.

  12. قد كنتُ أستحيي إذا أنشدتُ ما

    أنا منشدٌ حَذَر اتهامِ المنشد

    I once felt ashamed when I recited what

    I recite, for fear of accusations against the reciter.

  13. فرجعتُ أستحيي إذا شاهدتُ ما

    تُوليه من نُعمى ولم أتقلد

    So now I feel ashamed when I behold what

    you bestow in bounty, while I have not adorned myself with it.

  14. وغدوت أمرح في ظلال مكارمٍ

    كالطير بين خمائلِ الروضِ الندي

    And I came to frolic in the shade of generous deeds,

    like birds amid the thickets of a dewy garden.

  15. وكفى بشعري أنه ثمرُ الرضى

    عما تروح به وعما تفتدي

    And it is enough for my verse to be the fruit of contentment

    with what you bear away and what you redeem.

  16. وكفى بما أهدَيتنيه كرامةً

    لي في المغيبِ وزينةً في المشهَد

    And what you gave me is honor enough

    for me in private, and an adornment in public.

  17. فرجت عن صدر كثيرٌ هَمه

    والضيقُ ضيقُ الصدر لا ضيقُ اليدِ

    You brought relief to a breast with many cares;

    and straitness is straitness of the breast, not of the hand.

  18. عندي من الأموالَ ما فيه الغنى

    لو لم يكن للدائن المتشدد

    I have enough wealth to be free of want,

    were it not owed to the unyielding creditor.

  19. إني لأبرئ ذمتي من غارم

    وأدينها للأريحي الأمجد

    I free myself of obligation to a creditor,

    and make myself indebted to the open-handed, most illustrious man.

  20. شهدتْ لك الآدابُ أنك عونها

    في أمسك الماضي ويومِك والغد

    Literature has borne witness in your favor: you are its support

    in your bygone yesterday, your today, and tomorrow.