إِذا اِبتَدَرَ الناسُ المَكارِمَ بَذَّهُم

عَراضَةُ أَخلاقِ اِبنِ لَيلى وَطولُها

When people fail at being generous,

The length and slackness of Ibn Layla's manners rebuke them,

وَإِنَّ اِبنَ لَيلى فاهَ لي بِمَقالَةٍ

وَلَو سِرتُ فيها كُنتُ مِمَّن يُنيلُها

And Ibn Layla spoke to me with words,

That had I kept silent, I'd be among those who deserve them.

عَجِبتُ لِتَركي خِطَّةَ الرُشدِ بَعدَما

بَدا لِيَ مِن عَبدِ العَزيزِ قَبولُها

I'm amazed that after the path of righteousness became clear,

I abandoned it when Abd al-Aziz accepted it.

وَأَمِّيَ صَعباتِ الأُمورِ أَروضُها

وَقَد أَمكَنَتني يَومَ ذاكَ ذَلولُها

I tame the most difficult matters,

And that day they became submissive to me.

حَلَفتُ بِرَبِّ الراقِصاتِ إِلى مُنىً

يَغولُ البِلادَ نَصُّها وَذَميلُها

I swore by the Lord of those dancing to Muna,

Whose laws fill the land in its entirety,

لَئِن عادَ لي عَبدُ العَزيزِ بِمِثلِها

وَأَمكَنَني مِنها إِذاً لا أُقيلُها

That if Abd al-Aziz returns to me with the like of it,

And I'm able to accept it, I won't reject it.

فَهَل أَنتَ إِن راجَعتُكَ القَولَ مَرَّةً

بِأَحسَنَ مِنها عائِدٌ فَمُنيلُها

So if I come back to you with better speech,

Will you return the same and accept it?