1. Say to Najm al-Din, O best of those
Whose fame my poetry proclaimed,

2. And heir to the noblest after him
Of rank unstained by any shame:

3. O you whose praise and deeds enhance
The joy of every eye and ear,

4. More precious than their richest gifts
Is water clean amid the drear

5. Rock waste. Their outward garb is white
But inwardly base metal and pitch.

6. Their fins disdain me, yet my praise
Gives them support and saves the rich.

7. Send me a cloak, though cheap, not rent
With holes that leave me bare at night

8. While cats protect me from the mice;
Be generous, ask no gift in sight,

9. For I will pay you back in thanks
Each carat with a hundredweight.