يا باذلَ المال في عُدمٍ وفي سعةٍ

ومُطعم الزاد في صبحٍ وفي غَسق

O giver of wealth in want and in plenty,

O provider of provisions at morning and at dusk,

وحاشر الناس أغنتهمْ فواضلهُ

إِلى مزيدٍ من النَّعماءِ مُندفِقِ

and gatherer of the people—his abundant gifts have enriched them,

with still more bounty streaming toward them;

في كل بيتٍ خوانٌ من مكارمهِ

يميرهُمُ وهو يدعوهم إِلى الطَّبق

In every home stands a table, one of his noble works;

he provisions them even as he calls them to the platter.

فاض النَّوال فلولا خوفُ مفعمةٍ

من بأس عدلك نادى الناس بالغرق

Bounty overflowed; were the brimming flood not held back

by fear of your justice’s might, the people would cry, “We are drowning!”

فكلُّ أرضٍ بها صوبٌ وساكبةٌ

حتى الوغى من نجيع الخيل والعرق

For every land has its downpour and its pouring cloud,

even the battlefield, from horses’ gore and sweat.

صُنْ منكبي عن زِحام ان غضِبتُ له

تمكَّن الطعن من عقلي ومن خُلقي

Guard my shoulder from the crush; for if it provokes my anger,

stabbing will take command of my reason and my nature.

واِنْ رضيتُ به فالذلُّ منقَصةٌ

وكم تكلَّفتُه حملاً فلم اُطِقِ

Yet if I submit to it, abasement diminishes me;

how often I have forced myself to bear it, yet could not.

أنا المريض بأحداثي وسورتها

وليس غير اِبائي حافظٌ رَمَقي

I am made ill by my misfortunes and their violence,

and nothing but my proud refusal preserves my last breath.

فهبهُ لي كعطاياكَ التي كثُرتْ

فالجودُ بالعزِّ فوق الجودِ بالوَرِقِ

So grant me this, like the many gifts you have bestowed:

generosity with honor surpasses generosity with silver.

انَّ اصفرار مِجَنِّ الشمس عن حزن

على عُلاهُ لمرْماها إِلى الأُفُقِ

Surely the sun’s shield yellows from grief

over his lofty station—a grief that casts it toward the horizon.

واِنْ توهَّم قومٌ أنَّه حُمُقٌ

فطالما اشتبهَ التَّوْقيرُ بالحُمُقِ

And though some people imagine it to be folly,

how often dignified restraint has been mistaken for folly.