أَبا حاتِمٍ قَد كانَ عَمُّكَ رامَني
زِياداً فَأَلفاني اِمرَأً غَيرَ نائِمِ
O Abū Ḥātim, your uncle once came after me—
Ziyād—and found me a man wide awake.
أَبا حاتِمٍ ما حاتِمٌ في زَمانِهِ
بِأَفضَلَ جوداً مِنكَ عِندَ العَظائِمِ
O Abū Ḥātim, even Ḥātim, in his day,
was no more generous than you when great trials came.
فَهَل أَنتَ إِن أَعتَبتُكَ اليَومَ تارِكي
وَبُؤتُ بِذَنبي يا اِبنَ باني الدَعائِمِ
So, if I make amends to you today, will you let me be?
And I have owned my fault, O son of the builder of pillars.
أَبوكَ الَّذي ما كانَ في الناسِ مِثلُهُ
إِذا نَزَلَت بِالمِصرِ إِحدى الصَيالِمِ
Your father—there was none among mankind his equal
whenever some crushing calamity befell the land.
بَهاليلُ مَعروفونَ بِالحِلمِ وَالتُقى
وَآسادُها في المَأزِقِ المُتَلاحِمِ
Noble lords, famed for forbearance and piety,
and the land’s lions in the close-locked press of battle.
Sol 5.6