1. يا سيدا أفعاله

    مقرونة بالسعد

    O master whose deeds

    are bound to good fortune,

  2. ومن عليه حلة

    مزرورة بالحمد

    and who wears a robe

    buttoned with praise,

  3. اليك جئت قاصدا

    يا غايتي وقصدي

    To you I have come with purpose,

    O my goal and my aim.

  4. اسعى لنجو بابكم

    بطاقتي وجهدي

    I strive toward your gate

    with my strength and effort.

  5. بالبر قد اوعدتني

    يا سيدي بالرد

    You have promised me kindness,

    O my master, in reply.

  6. فما بيتي سبدة

    وليدة ما عندي

    There is not a tuft of hair in my house;

    I have no maidservant.

  7. وما به من درهم

    ولا الجديد الفرد

    Nor is there a dirham in it,

    nor even a single new coin.

  8. وليس فيه حنطة

    صاعا ولا من مد

    There is no wheat in it,

    not a ṣāʿ, nor even a mudd.

  9. كلا ولا من فارة

    به ولا من جرد

    No indeed, not even a mouse

    in it, nor a rat.

  10. فلو تراني عاريا

    مضنى حليف السهد

    If you could see me naked,

    wasted, a companion of sleeplessness,

  11. مجرداً مرتديا

    حصيرة من برد

    stripped bare, wearing

    a mat against the cold,

  12. لكنت بالغت معاً

    في الشكم لي والشكد

    you would have done your utmost in both

    rewarding me and giving freely.

  13. فجد يرقد عائد

    على صلات الرفد

    So give generously, that a visitor may sleep

    upon gifts of bounty.

  14. وخذ قصيدا طيبها

    يفوق نشر الورد

    And take a poem whose fragrance

    surpasses the scent of roses.

  15. واستجلها شاميّة

    تغني بها عن هند

    And behold her unveiled, a Syrian;

    with her you will have no need of Hind.

  16. وحرر النقد عسى

    تؤب لي بالنقد

    And write out your critique—perhaps

    you will return to me with cash.

  17. فلا برحت في العلا

    ترقى طباق المجد

    So may you never cease, in the heights,

    to ascend the tiers of glory,

  18. قهرا على غيظ العدا

    ورغم انف الضد

    triumphant over the rage of foes,

    and with the adversary's nose in the dust,

  19. ما هب عن يمنى الحمى

    ريح الصبا من نجد

    as long as there blows, from the sanctuary's right side,

    the east wind from Najd.