ها قد كَتَبْتُ فما رَدَدْتَ جَوابي

ورجعْتَ مَخْتوماً إلى كتابي

I wrote to you, yet no reply came from you,

And you returned, sealed, to my letter.

وأتى رسولي مُستكيناً يشتكي

ذلَّ الحِجَابِ ونَخْوَةَ البوابِ

My messenger came to you wretched and complaining,

Of the harshness of the veil and the doorkeeper's roughness.

وكأنَّنَي بك قد كَتَبْتَ معذِّراً

فظلمتني بملامَةٍ وعِتابِ

It was as if you had written back apologizing,

Yet you wronged me with blame and reproach.

فارجِعْ إلى الإنصاف واعلمْ أنَّه

أولى بذي الأَلْبَاب والأحسابِ

Return to fairness and know that it

Befits the reasonable and the wise.

يا رحمةَ اللَّهِ التي قد أصْبحتْ

دون الأنام على سوْط عذابِ

O God's mercy, which in the morning

Had been over people under the whip of punishment.

بأبي وأمي أنت من مستجمعٍ

تِيهَ القِيان ورِقَّةِ الكتابِ

By my father and mother, you are of a refuge

For the lost travelers and the thinness of the paper.