لَيْتَ شِعرِي ما مُقْتَضَى حِرْماني

دُونَ غَيْرِي والإلْفُ لِلرَّحْمنِ

I wish I knew why I'm deprived

While others are graced by the Merciful

أتَرَاني لا أَسْتَحِقُّ لِكَوْني

جامِعاً شَمْلَ قارِئي القرآنِ

Is it because I gather people

To recite the Holy Quran?

أَمْ لِكَوْني في إثْر كلِّ صَلاةٍ

بيَ يُدْعَى لِدَوْلَة السُّلْطانِ

Or is it because after every prayer

I pray for the state and the sultan?

وَبِأَيِّ الأَسْبابِ يُعْطَى مَكانٌ

صَدَقاتِ السُّلطانِ دُونَ مَكانِ

For what reason are some given places

In the sultan's charity, not others?

حُمِلَتْ مِنْ عَطائِهِ أَلْفُ دِينا

رِ إِلَينا مِنْ بَعْدِها أَلْفانِ

A thousand dinars were sent to us

Then two thousand more came after

ما أتاني منها ولا الدِّرْهَمُ الفَرْ

دُ وَهذا حقيقةُ العُدْوانِ

Yet I received not one dirham

Such is the essence of wrongdoing

زَعَمَ ابنُ البَهاءِ أَنَّ عَطايا

الْمَلِكِ الصَّالحِ العَظِيمِ الشَّانِ

Ibn al-Baha claimed the generous gifts

Of the great king of exalted repute

ما كَفَتْ سائِرَ المدارِسِ

أَوْ ضُمَّ إليها مِنْ مالِها دِرْهَمانِ

Did not suffice all the schools

Even if a dirham or two were added

وَلَعَمْرِي لَقَدْ تَوَفَّرَ نِصْفُ

الْمالِ مِنها وَراحَ في النِّسْيانِ

By my life, half the money was available

But forgotton, left to dissipate

إنْ أَكُنْ ما أقولُهُ مِنه دَعْوَى

فاطلُبُوني عليه بالبُرْهانِ

If I say this falsely of him

Then seek proof against me

أوَ ما كانَ عِدَّةَ الفُقها

ألْفُ فَقِيهٍ مِنْ بَعِدِها مِئَتَانِ

Were not the number of scholars

Afterwards two hundred, before one thousand?

فاحْسبُوها بَمُقْتَضَى الصَّرْفِ دِينا

راً وَرُبْعاً لِلْجِلَّةِ الأَعْيانِ

Count it by what was spent in dinars

And quarters for the prominent ones

تَجِدُوها ألْفاً وخَمْسَ مِئاتٍ

غَيْرَ ما خَصَّها مِنَ يَدِ الوَزَّانِ

You will find it one thousand five hundred

Besides what the treasurer took

أنَا لا أنْسُبُ البَهاءَ عَلَى ذا

لِكَ إلاَّ لِقِلَّةِ الإِيمانِ

I do not attribute this to Baha

Save for his weak faith

هُوَ وَلَّى أهْلَ الخيانَةِ فما

وَتَوَلَّى ال الخَوَّانِ

He betrayed the people yet swore by God

He did not betray the treacherous

كُلَّما جاءَتِ الدَّنانيرُ

يَنْقَضُّ عليها البَهاءُ كالشَّيْطانِ

Whenever dinars arrived

Baha pounced on them like a demon

مَدَّ فيها يَدَ الخيانَةِ

فامْتَدَّ إليه بالذَّمِّ كلُّ لِسانِ

He stretched out his hand in betrayal

So all tongues denounced him

وَلَعَمْرِي لَوِ اتَّقَى اللهَ في

السِّرِّ اتَّقَتْهُ الأَنامُ في الإعْلانِ

By my life, had he feared God in secret

People would have feared him openly

وَعَلَى كلِّ حالَةٍ أَحْمَدُ

اللهَ الذَّي مِنْ سْؤَالِهِ أُعْفانِي

In any case, I thank God

Who spared me from asking

فَلَقَدْ حَلَّ في المَدارِسِ في

الأَخْذِ كَثْرَةُ الأَذَى وَالهَوانِ

For great harm and humiliation befell

The schools in taking from them

وأُزِيلَتْ بالسَّبِّ أعْراضُ

مَنْ فيها فما قامَ الرِّبْحُ بالخُسرانِ

And by insult the honor was removed

Of those in them, so loss came not profit

كيفَ أنْسَى قَوْلَ الشِّهَابِ جِهاراً

قَبَّحَ اللهُ كلَّ ذِي طَيْلَسانِ

How can I forget the Shihab’s public words

God curse all with loose tongues

خَدَعُونا واللهِ مَمَّا يَمُدُّو

نَ أَكُفَّا كَكِفَّةِ المِيزانِ

They deceived us, by God, concerning

What they give, palms not scales

آهِ واضَيْعَةَ المَساكِينِ

إنْ وُلِّيَ أَمْرَ الطَّعامِ في رَمَضانِ

Oh the plight of the poor

If one was entrusted with food in Ramadan