يا مَن يَرى أنَّ كلَّ ما ملكت

يَداهُ دارٌ زوَّارُها العَدِمُ

O you who believe that all your hands possess

is a house whose guests are the destitute—

نَسلُكَ لا يُستَزادُ في كَرَمٍ

أسرَفتَ فارجع وراءَك الكرَمُ

your line can be asked for no more generosity;

you have gone too far: turn back—generosity is behind you.

أما كَفى قاصِديكَ أنَّهمُ

ما سَألوا نائِلاً ولا حُرِمُوا

Was it not enough for those who sought you that

they asked no gift without being granted it?

راحُوا أبا قاسِمٍ كأنَّهمُ

في السِّلمِ غارُوا عَليكَ واقتَسَموا

They departed, Abu Qasim, as though

in peace they had raided you and divided the spoils.

ألا أتوا ما أتوه في رَهجِ ال

حَربِ غَداةَ الوَغى إذا عَزَمُوا

If only they had done what they did amid the dust of—

war, on battle’s morning, when they mustered their resolve.

إنِّي لألقَى نَداكَ مُحتَشِماً

ورقَّةُ الحالِ ليسَ تَحتَشِمُ

Indeed, I approach your bounty abashed,

while my straitened circumstances feel no shame.