سألْتُكَ عبدَ اللهِ إيضاحَ مُشْكِلٍ

سألْتُكَ عبدَ اللهِ إيضاحَ مُشْكِلٍ

وأنتَ لكَشْفِ المُعْضِلاتِ بمَرْصَدِ

وأنتَ لكَشْفِ المُعْضِلاتِ بمَرْصَدِ

I asked you, Abd Allah, to clarify a perplexing matter,

I asked you, O servant of Allah, to explain a perplexity

and you stand watch, ready to unravel difficulties.

And you are an observatory for solving perplexities

زَقَنْدَرُ قالوا عنه معْدِنُ فِضّةٍ

زَقَنْدَرُ قالوا عنه معْدِنُ فِضّةٍ

فَما بالُهُ أبْداكَ نُدْرَةَ عسْجَدِ

فَما بالُهُ أبْداكَ نُدْرَةَ عسْجَدِ

Zaqandar, they said, is a mine of silver;

They said candied ginger is a mine of silver

so how is it that it brought you forth as a nugget of gold?

Yet how come it never produced a fragment of silver