يا مُظْهراً نَخْوةً عند اللقاء لنا

وكاسراً طرفَه من غير ما رمدِ

O you who flaunt your pride whenever you meet us,

lowering your gaze though your eyes suffer no inflammation—

أما علمتَ بأني عنك في سِعَةٍ

وفي غنى من عطايا الواحد الصمدِ

do you not know that I can well dispense with you,

rich as I am through the gifts of the One, the Eternal Refuge?

فهبك أوتيتَ ما لم يؤته أحدٌ

من فضل جاهٍ ومن مالٍ ومن ولدِ

Suppose you had been granted what no one else was granted:

solid silver, riches, and children besides.

ألست من لُبْسَة الأحرار منسلخاً

وكاسياً من لُبوس الشؤم والنكدِ

Are you not stripped of the attire of the free,

and clothed in the garments of ill fortune and misery?

لا خير في نعمةٍ لا شكر يتبعها

ولا يدٍ عُرِّيَتْ منِ اصطناع يدِ

There is no good in a blessing unless gratitude follows it,

nor in a hand kept from extending kindness to another.

إن كنت أصبحتَ محسوداً على بَخَلٍ

فذو السماحة أولى منك بالحسدِ

If you have come to be envied for your stinginess,

the generous man is more deserving of envy than you.

من جاد ساد ومن لم يأت عارفةً

ولم يَجُدْ لاكتساب المجد لم يَسُدِ

Whoever gives generously becomes a master; whoever performs no kindness

and does not strive to win glory shall never attain mastery.