أيا خير مَن يرتادُه أملُ الورى

فمبصرُه في روضةٍ منه يُحبر

O best of all whom the hope of humankind seeks out,

whoever beholds him is in a garden, rejoicing in him.

لديكَ رَمَت نفسي كبارَ همومِها

وهمَّتُك العلياءُ منهنَّ أكبر

Before you my soul has laid its weightiest cares,

and your lofty resolve is greater than them all.

وطارَ رجائي في حِماك مُحلِّقاً

عن الناسِ حيثُ الكلُّ منهم مُقصِّر

My hope took wing, soaring within your sanctuary,

away from all people, since every one of them falls short.

وعدتَ بريٍّ منك حائمةَ الرجا

فهل هكذا تَبقى وجودُك جعفر

You promised my circling hope a quenching draught from you;

can it remain thus, when your bounty is a mighty river?

سِواك يخيبُ الظنُّ فيه فيُعذر

ويمسكُ بخلاً وهو بالبخلِ أجدر

With anyone but you, hope may be disappointed, and he may be excused;

he may withhold out of miserliness—being fitter for miserliness.

وغيركُ يستجدى وما الجودُ عندَه

سوى كلماتٍ بالأكاذيبِ تسحرُ

Another man is solicited for generosity, though generosity with him

is nothing but words that bewitch by means of lies.

ولكنَّك المولى الذي انتشرت له

صنايعُ ما بين البريَّةِ تشكر

But you are the lord whose benefactions have spread

among all creation, and are gratefully acknowledged.