قدَّمتَ لي وعداً فأين نجاحُهُ

قَدْ حان يا ابنَ الأكرمينَ سَرَاحُهُ

You made me a promise, so where is its success?

The time has come, O son of the most generous, for its fulfillment

لا يعجبنَّك حسنُ ما قدَّمتَه

فتسيءَ بعدُ إساءةً تجتاحُهُ

Do not be pleased with the beauty of what you have offered

Lest you later commit a trespass that would ruin it

واعلم بأنك إن فترتَ عن الذي

أسلفت من عُرفٍ خبا مصباحُهُ

Know that if you slacken from what

You took on yourself out of good manners, its light will be extinguished

ليس الجواد بمن يجود غُدُوُّهُ

حتى يجودَ غدوُّهُ ورَواحُهُ

The generous person is not one whose generosity appears only in the morning

Until his generosity appears both morning and evening

ويطول بين السائلين بَقاؤه

وكأن خاتم جوده مِفْتاحُهُ

And he remains for long among those asking

As if the seal of his generosity were its key

لا يستحيل ولا يغيِّرُ عهدَه

إمساؤهُ أبداً ولا إصباحُهُ

He does not change or alter his pledge

His character and dawn are eternal

ماذا أجيب به الَّتي عوّدتَها

عادات نائلك الذي تمتاحُهُ

What can I tell her whom you have accustomed

To your habits of attainment that pervade her?

أأقول ويحكِ حالَ بعدَك بخلُهُ

أم حال بعدك جوده وسماحُهُ

Shall I say: Alas! After you, his stinginess!

Or: After you, his generosity and leniency!