أغثنا فأنت المرء يُهتف باسمه

إذا الأمر أضحى آخذاً بالمُخَنَّقِ

Come to our aid—you are the man whose name is cried aloud

when trouble has closed its grip upon the throat.

ولا تمطلِ الغَصّان بالماء إنه

متى يمطل الغصان بالماء يزهَقِ

Do not keep the choking man waiting for water, for

whenever the choking man is kept from water, he perishes.

تَكَذَّبَ أقوام علينا وأعلقوا

مخالبهم في لحمنا كل مُعلق

Some people fabricated lies against us and fastened

their claws into our flesh, each clinging fast.

وصدَّقَهم من قد عرفتُ مكانه

فمزِّق منا الشلوُ كلَّ ممزق

And one whose standing you well know believed them,

so our very flesh was utterly torn apart.

نحن بحالٍ تُذكر المرء فرضَهُ

لدى كل واري الزند مثلك مُعرِق

We are in a plight that reminds a man of his duty—

a man like you, whose fire kindles, noble to the root.

فلا يسبقنك السابقون بكشفها

فما زلت بالخيرات غير مسبَّق

Do not let those who hasten to help outstrip you in relieving it,

for in good deeds you have never been outstripped.

وما لِيَ من قرضٍ لديك أعُدُّه

ولكن متى يحمله طولك يلحق

I have no claim upon you that I can reckon,

but whenever your bounty shoulders one, it is added to the account.

نعائي إليك النفس إن لم تُلافِها

فقد جعلت بين الحيازم ترتقي

I announce my soul’s death to you—and if you do not save it,

it has already begun to rise within my chest.