يا ذا الذي ضنَّ بمعروفه

عني وقد قاسيت فيه الأرقْ

O you who was stingy with his kindness

My eyes have suffered from insomnia because of it

أقلنيَ العثرة إني امرؤٌ

ما زلت في الصحو كثير الزلق

Go easy on me for I am but a man

Who still slips often while awake

رضيت مما كنت أمَّلته

بأجر وراقي وغُرمِ الورق

I was content with what I had wished for

A fine wage and the paper’s debt

فاجعلهما حظي وعجِّلهما

وارض من المطل بما قد سبق

Make them my fortune and expedite them

And be pleased with the overdue bill

إن جديد المطل مستقبح

وأقبح المطلين مطل خلق

For outstanding debt is ugly

And the ugliest debt is an old one

ولست أهجوك بشيء سوى

إنشاد شعري فيك وسط الحَلَق

I do not blame you for anything except

Reciting my poetry about you amongst the throngs

وأن إذا استخبر مستخبرٌ

ما ثوَّبَ المادح قلت القلق

And if an inquirer were to ask

What rewards the praiser got, say: anxiety