1. I cast my hopes but did not hit the mark
And went around calling out loudly but got no response

2. And my expectations were dashed regarding one I thought
Kinder than my own soul and more merciful to me

3. The people of virtues, the courageous horses
And the continuing nights of entertainment and pleasure

4. And whoever attained with them every glory
And whoever's heart was strengthened through their valor

5. And whoever their hands were generous to the hopeful
In every perilous situation they suffice instead of misfortune

6. What is wrong with me, I came seeking you for refuge
Yet went away captive of worries and distress

7. I exhausted praising you in poetry knowing
That I gained nothing but fatigue

8. Far from you to deny a youth out of stinginess
Your excellent poetry is carefully selected

9. Where is the bounty which your habit has always been
Through it you conquered the necks of non-Arabs and Arabs

10. And where is what we were accustomed to of your kindness
To every outcast far from homeland, estranged

11. And how my hopes in your palms were dashed
And others' hopes in you have never waned

12. And what can I say to one who comes asking me
About you when the likes of me incline not toward lies

13. Indeed, concerning you the examples travel
Of glory, generosity, nobility, and distinction

14. By God, my praises of you were not lacking
But the craft of literature overtook me

15. Oh my heart, how hands of worries kept tossing it
On a bed of flames

16. And my soul longs, if lamenting availed or crying "alas"
If it benefited me, I'd say "woe is me"

17. Is it chivalrous to be thirsty when an ocean
Of generosity flowed from a deep, agitated sea

18. If I return disappointed from your door then I have
Adorned you with necklaces of pearls and gold

19. And I have praised you in a way if I praised
The morning sun with it, stars would be extinguished

20. And I have cast my poverty upon your thresholds
But because of the darkness of my fortune I did not succeed

21. Good fortune it is if its rising appears
So the youth attains goals and graces

22. And if it is otherwise and the free man is tested
There is no blame upon one who stood with excuses seeking

23. Oh time, how I have faced every affliction
With determined resolve that defeats the forces of distress

24. And how I make a soul patient that has long tasted
The taste of trials in seeking glory like being beaten

25. And how I wish while hopes turn away
My hopes and prevent me from attaining my wants

26. And how I repeat my sighs and conceal them
Fearing the jealous rival would gloat over me

27. Alas for worries that in worries have become
Active in it like the fire's effect on kindling