دَمُ المَكارِمِ بِالفُسطاطِ مَسفوحُ

وَالجودُ قَد ضاعَ فيها وَهوَ مَطروحُ

The blood of nobleness is spilled in Cairo

The blood of noble virtues is spilled in Al-Fustat,

Generosity has vanished and lies discarded

And generosity is lost within, discarded and cast down.

يا أَهلَ مِصرَ لَقَد غِبتُم بِأَجمَعِكُم

لَمّا حَوى قَصَبَ السَبقِ المَسابيحُ

O people of Egypt, you are all gone

O people of Egypt, you were absent, one and all,

When the palaces embraced the glowing lanterns

When the prize of glory was claimed by the swift.

أَموالُكُم جَمَّةٌ وَالبُخلُ عارِضُها

وَالنيلُ مَع جودِهِ فيهِ التَماسيحُ

Your wealth abounds but stinginess accompanies it

Your wealth is vast, yet miserliness obstructs its flow,

While the Nile, despite its generosity, harbors crocodiles

Just as the Nile, for all its bounty, harbors crocodiles below.

لَولا نَدى اِبنِ جُوَيٍّ أَحمَدٍ نَطَقَت

مِنّي المَفاصِلُ فيكُم وَالجَواريحُ

If it were not for the dew of Ibn Juwayni Ahmad,

Were it not for the generosity of Ahmad ibn Juwayy,

My joints and limbs would speak of you

My very joints and limbs would cry out against you.