ومُستَقصِري أنِّي أقمتُ مُخيّماً

على فاقةٍ مُلقي العَصا واضعَ الرَّحلِ

And the man who faults me because I have remained encamped,

in poverty, my staff cast down and my saddle set aside—

يَقولُ المَعالي والمَعالي وأهلُها

وما عندَه أنَّ المَعالي بِلا أَهلِ

he cries, “Lofty honors! Lofty honors—and their people!”

unaware that lofty honors are bereft of their people.

أتَعرفُ لي في الجِنِّ مَن يُرتَجى لَه

نَوالٌ فَما في الأنسِ فَضلٌ عَن البُخلِ

Do you know, among the jinn, anyone from whom one might hope

for a gift? Among humankind there is no bounty beyond avarice.

وَفيما ذَكرتُ الفَضلَ لَفظاً رأيتُه

تَصوَّرَ شَخصاً في الشَّريفِ أبي الفَضلِ

And when I mentioned “bounty” merely as a word, I saw it

take bodily form in al-Sharif Abu al-Fadl.

وَردَّ عليَّ القَولَ فيهِم بفِعلِه

وفي القَولِ عَجزٌ عَن مُقاومَةِ الفِعلِ

By his deed he refuted what I had said about them,

for speech is powerless to withstand action.

كَذا شَجراتُ المَجدِ يرجِعُ فَرعُها

إِذا أَينَعت فيها الثِّمارُ إِلى الأَصلِ

Such are the trees of glory: their branch returns,

when their fruit ripens, to the root.

أُنَبِّيكَ أنِّي فارِغ الكَفِّ مُترعُ ال

جَوارِحِ فاعجَب مِن فَراغي ومِن شُغلي

I tell you: my hand is empty, but brimming are my—

limbs; marvel at my emptiness and my busyness.