1. لَقَدْ غالَ نَبْلُكَ يا نابِلُ

    وَقَصَّرَ عَنْ فِعْلِكَ الْقائِلُ

    Indeed, your arrows have dealt death, O archer,

    And the speaker falls short of your deeds.

  2. أَسَهْمُكَ حِينَ يُصِيبُ الْقَضا

    ءُ أَمْ يَدُكَ الْقَدَرُ النّازِلُ

    Is your arrow, when it strikes, divine decree,

    Or is your hand the fate that descends?

  3. يَدٌ لِلنَّدى وَالرَّدى صَوْبُها

    فَعَزْمُكَ مُحْيٍ بِها قاتِلُ

    A hand whose aim is bounty and death;

    Thus your resolve, through it, gives life and kills.

  4. فَلَيْسَ يَطِيشُ لَها مُْسَلٌ

    كَما لا يَخِيبُ لَها آمِلُ

    So no arrow it looses goes astray,

    Just as no one who hopes in it is disappointed.