يا حاتم الجود وبحر الندى

ومعدن الاحسان والخير

O Hatem al-Jawad, ocean of generosity

And mine of kindness and good

أوليتني ما كنت أملته

وفزت بالحمد وبالشكر

You have given me what I wished for

And earned praise and thanks

وقد كفيت البرد لكنني

حاشاك محتاج إلى البر

You have saved me from the cold, but I

Need your kindness, not just shelter

فما ببيتي أبدا فارة

تلوح في يوم ولا شهر

For there is never a rat in my home

Appearing for a day or a month

ولا به حبة قمح ولا

ملم ينقد الطير مدى الدهر

Nor is there a grain of wheat or

An atom that birds have sung of for ages

وسوق شعري قد غدا كاسدا

والقمح قد اصبح في سعر

And the market for my poetry has waned

As the price of wheat has risen

وكل من جئت إلى بابه

ودمعتي من مقلتي تجري

And all who come to my door

With my tears flowing from my eyelashes

يقول ان رمت زوال العنا

وتأمن الخوف من الفقر

Say that if the glory of aid would pass

And I’d be safe from poverty

فلذ بتاج الدين تاج العلا

رب الثناء الطيب النشر

Then cling to Taj al-Din, crown of grandeur

Lord of glorious, sweet propagation

مولى ربيع الفضل يحيى به

روض المعالي خالد الذكر

Master Rabee al-Fadl, by him Yahya

Revives the garden of glories, eternalized

من جاء صفر الكف يوما له

يؤب بالبيض وبالصفر

Whoever came to him empty-handed one day

Returns with white and yellow

اسخى من الغيث اذا ما همى

وكفه اندى من البحر

More generous than rainfall when it pours

His palm more dewy than the sea

يمينه تروي الندى عن عطا

ووجهه يرويه عن بشر

His right hand quenches thirst through his gift

His face through good tidings

نواله مكبا اذا ما جرى

مرسله احلى من القطر

His attainment a torrent when it flows

Sweeter than drops of rain

ما فيه من عيب سوى انه

يجود في العسر وفي اليسر

His only fault being

That he gives in hardship and in ease

مولاي يا اوفى الورى نائلا

ومن سما بالمجد والفخر

My master, O most faithful of men, attaining

What was sublime and pride

خذها عروسا قد حلا وصفها

تجتال في عقد من الدر

Take her as a bride adorned with his attributes

Pearls strung on a necklace

جاءت إلى نحوك من خدرها

تضرب عن زيد وعن عمرو

She came to you from her cover

Turning away from Zayd and ‘Amr

فجهز البر لها عاجلا

واغنم ثنايَ واغتنم اجري

Ready the gift for her promptly

And profit through my praise and earn my reward

لا زلت في عز وفي رفعة

وفي علو ماضيَ الامر

You remain forever in might and loftiness

And ascendancy the order of which continues

ولا برحت الدهر في عيشة

راضية منشرح الصدر

And you have never ceased to live

Content, serene of heart

ما مال غصن الروض في دوحة

ورنحته نسمة الفجر

The boughs of the garden have not bent

In its bowers at the dawn breeze