قُل لِبَني الأَشعَثِ لَن تُصلِحوا

بِاللَومِ عِندي أَمرَ عَبّاسِ

Tell the sons of Al-Ash'ath, your blaming

Say to the sons of Ash'ath: you will never set right,

Will not improve Abbas's affair with me,

By chiding me, the wretched matter of Abbas,

حَتّى تَرُدُّهُ إِلى رَبِّهِ

يَطبَعُهُ خَلقاً مِنَ الراسِ

Until you return him to his Lord

Not until you return him to his Lord,

To shape him a nature of benevolence.

To mold his nature anew from the very start.

أَلومُ عَبّاساً عَلى بُخلِهِ

كَأَنَّ عَبّاساً مِنَ الناسِ

Blaming Abbas for his stinginess

I cast blame on Abbas for his stinginess,

Is as though Abbas were of all people,

As though Abbas were truly of human kind;

وَإِنَّما العَبّاسُ في قَومِهِ

كَالثومِ بَينَ الوَردِ وَالآسِ

Yet Abbas among his people

But Abbas is, among his noble kin,

Is but garlic amidst roses and myrtle.

Like garlic amidst the roses and the myrtle.