1. أعد نظرا في قصة ليس تحجب

    فلا يتوارى عنه شيء مغيب

    Look again into this matter with an unobstructed gaze,

    so that nothing hidden escapes it.

  2. فرأيك لا يؤتى من الزيغ والهوى

    وأمرك أمر الله ما عنه مذهب

    For your judgment is not undermined by error or desire,

    and your command is God's command, from which there is no turning away.

  3. لعمري لقد كثرت أعداد حسدي

    بجود عليه يحسد الولد الاب

    By my life, the ranks of my enviers have grown,

    through a generosity for which a son envies his father.

  4. وقلدتني النعما التي غيرت أخي

    علي فأمسى قلبه يتلهب

    You garlanded me with favors that turned my brother

    against me, so his heart began to blaze.

  5. وأصبحت لا اخشى عدوي كخشيتي

    صديقي ولا من كنت أدنى وأصحب

    Now I fear my enemy less than I fear

    my friend, or those I once drew close and befriended.

  6. على قدر ما يؤتى الفتى يحسد الفتى

    وأكثر من يرضى عليه ويغضب

    A young man is envied in proportion to what he is given,

    and those pleased with him or angered by him grow more numerous.

  7. فواعجبا مني ومنهم وإنه

    لمن مثل هذا يعجب المتعجب

    How I marvel at myself and at them! Indeed,

    such a thing is truly cause for anyone to marvel.

  8. لقد كنت فيهم أمس يثنى بصالح

    علي ويعزي الفضل نحوي وينسب

    Only yesterday, among them, good things were said

    of me, and merit was ascribed and attributed to me.

  9. فلما تغشاني نداك بسيبه

    وأصبحت في نعمائكم أتقلب

    But when your generosity enveloped me in its bounty,

    and I came to move amid your blessings,

  10. تكاثر في القول بالزور منهم

    وبت وأشراك المكائد تنصب

    more of them began uttering falsehoods,

    and I passed the night while snares of intrigue were laid.

  11. وما لي سوى نعماك ذنب إليهم

    وما أنا في نعما أتت منك مذنب

    In their eyes I have no fault but your favors,

    yet I am not guilty for blessings that came from you.

  12. على أنني لو شئت أوضحت عذرهم

    فللشيء أسباب بهن تسبب

    Still, if I wished, I could explain their excuse,

    for everything has causes through which it comes about.

  13. سما بي على الأكفا نداك ففقتهم

    وزاحمت قوما كنت عنهم أنكب

    Your generosity raised me above my peers, and I surpassed them,

    and I jostled with men from whom I once turned aside.

  14. فلا بد لي من وحشة في صدورهم

    تقيم قليلا عندهم ثم تذهب

    So I cannot escape estrangement in their hearts,

    which stays with them briefly, then departs.

  15. إلى الله والملك الممهد أشتكى

    خطوب زمان صرفها يتقلب

    To God and King al-Mumahhad I complain

    of time's calamities, whose course keeps changing.

  16. وما أشتكى إلا توثب عاجز

    على قادر سهل عليه التوثب

    I complain only of a powerless man's aggression

    against a capable man, for whom aggression would be easy.

  17. أغار على عرضي فصرت كهيم

    وأوسعني سبا وما ثَم موجب

    He raided my honor, leaving me helpless,

    and he heaped abuse on me without any cause.

  18. وأرسل في شتمي لسانا ذليقة

    على ثقة من انني لا أجوب

    He unleashed a fluent tongue to insult me,

    confident that I would not answer.

  19. ولو كان غمرا جاهلا لعذرته

    وكيف به والمرء كهل مجرب

    Had he been inexperienced and ignorant, I would have excused him;

    but how could I, when the man is middle-aged and seasoned?

  20. وهب أنني ما استجير جوابه

    وأني عن نهج الغواية أرغب

    And suppose I seek no refuge in answering him,

    and that I turn away from the path of error:

  21. أما لي بالملك الممهد حرمة

    ترد يد الأعداء عني وتذهب

    have I no protection with King al-Mumahhad

    to turn the hand of enemies away from me and drive it off?

  22. وهب أن لي من خطة الملك جانبا

    بعيداً وان الجود مني أقرب

    And suppose my corner of the king's domain is

    far away, while his generosity is nearer to me:

  23. ألم تدر ان الملك يقضي لخصمه

    على نفسه بالحق لا حق يذهب

    do you not know that the king rules for his adversary

    against himself, in justice, letting no right be lost?

  24. ومن كان يمضي الحكم بالحق للورى

    على نفسه أمسى يرجى ويرهب

    And whoever enforces just judgment for humankind,

    even against himself, comes to be looked to with hope and held in awe.

  25. رفعت يد الشكوى على حكم عادل

    يرى حق أهل الفضل أولى وأوجب

    I raised the hand of complaint to a just arbiter,

    who deems the rights of the worthy foremost and most binding,

  26. إلى ملك يعطى المعارف حقها

    إذا أعرض الجهال عنها وأضربوا

    to a king who gives learning its due

    when the ignorant turn away from it and forsake it.

  27. نمته إلى حجر الخلافة والعلا

    خلائف تنميهم إلى الفخر يعرب

    He was raised into the lap of the caliphate and eminence

    by caliphs whom Ya'rub links to glory.

  28. إمام هدى عم البرية عدله

    ففيه استوى أقصاهم والمقرب

    An imam of guidance, whose justice embraced all creation,

    so under it, the farthest among them and the favored stood equal.

  29. فكم عصبت للحق منه سجية

    تؤدب بالأفكار من لا يؤدب

    How many of his traits have championed justice,

    disciplining through thought those who cannot be disciplined!

  30. فالبسني النعما التي هي ذمة

    علي لا بسيها أنها ليس تسلب

    So clothe me in favors that are a pledge

    for those who wear them, that they will not be stripped away.

  31. أياديك قد علمتني طلب العلا

    فما لي سوى العلياء عندك مطلب

    Your favors have taught me to seek eminence,

    so I seek nothing from you but lofty honor.

  32. ولي فيك آمال كثير عديدها

    وما أنا فيها يعلم الله أشعب

    My hopes in you are many in number,

    but in those hopes—God knows—I am no Ash'ab.

  33. بقيت لنا حصنا منيعا من الاذى

    نفر من الأعدا إليه ونهرب

    May you remain for us an impregnable fortress against harm,

    to which we flee from enemies and escape.