قَد شَغَلَ الناسَ كَثرَةُ الأَمَلِ

وَأَنتَ بِالمَكرُماتِ في شُغُلِ

People have been preoccupied by abundant hopes,

The multitudes are distracted by the abundance of their hopes,

While you have been preoccupied with generosity.

While you are solely occupied with the pursuit of noble deeds.

تَمَثَّلوا حاتِماً وَلَو عَقَلوا

لَكُنتَ في الجودِ غايَةَ المَثَلِ

They impersonated Hatem, but had they been reasonable,

They evoke Hatim as the ideal, yet had they true understanding,

You would have been the epitome of generosity.

You alone would be the ultimate standard of generosity.

أَهلاً وَسَهلاً بِما بَعَثتَ بِهِ

إيهاً أَبا قاسِمٍ وَبِالرُسُلِ

Welcome, welcome what you have sent,

Welcome and honor be to that which you have sent,

O father of Qasim and the messengers.

Hail to you, O Abu Qasim, and to your messengers!

هَدِيَّةٌ ما رَأَيتُ مُهديها

إِلّا رَأَيتُ العِبادَ في رَجُلِ

A gift I have never seen the like of its giver

It is a gift from a giver whom, when I behold,

Except I saw the servants in the man.

I see all of humanity embodied in a single man.

أَقَلُّ ما في أَقَلِّها سَمَكٌ

يَلعَبُ في بِركَةٍ مِنَ العَسَلِ

The least of its least is a fish

The least of its contents, in the smallest measure, is a fish

That plays in a pool of honey.

Sporting playfully within a pool of honey.

كَيفَ أُكافي عَلى أَجَلِّ يَدٍ

مَن لا يَرى أَنَّها يَدٌ قِبَلي

How can I repay the most generous hand

How can I repay the most magnificent of favors

That sees not that it has given to me?

To one who sees it not as a favor granted unto me?