1. أيادي بني الجرّاح عندي كثيرةٌ

    وأكثرُ منها أنها لا تُكَدَّرُ

    The favors of Banu al-Jarrah to me are many,

    and greater still is that they are never marred.

  2. همُ القوم يَنسوْن الأياديَ منهُمُ

    عليك ولكنَّ المواعيد تُذكَر

    They are people who forget the favors they bestow

    on you, but their promises are remembered.

  3. وإن كنتُ قد أُهملْتُ بعد رعايةٍ

    وأُغفلتُ حتى قيل أشعثُ أغبر

    Though I have been neglected after being cared for,

    and overlooked until I was called disheveled and dust-covered,

  4. وقُلِّدتُ شُغْلاً ضَرُّهُ لي معَجّلٌ

    سريع وأمّا نفعه فمؤخر

    and charged with work whose harm to me is immediate,

    swift, while its benefit is delayed,

  5. أروح وأغدو فيه أنصَبَ عاملٍ

    وأصفَره كفّاً فكمْ أتَصَبَّر

    I labor at it evening and morning, the weariest of workers,

    and the emptiest-handed—how much I struggle to endure!

  6. إذا بعتُ صَوْني حُرَّ وجهي وراحتي

    بجوعٍ فَمَن مِنِّي أتَبُّ وأخسر

    If I sell the safeguarding of my noble face and my rest

    for hunger, who is more ruined and a greater loser than I?

  7. ألا حبذا الأعمال في كل حالةٍ

    إذا كان منها وجهُ نفعٍ مُيَسَّر

    Ah, how welcome is work in every circumstance,

    if some avenue of benefit from it lies open!

  8. فأما إذا كَدَّتْ وأكْدتْ على الفتى

    فما هي بالمعروف بل هي منكر

    But when it exhausts a young man and yields him nothing,

    it is no kindness, but a wrong.

  9. وإنّ أبا عبد الإله لسيد

    وفي الحال لو يُعْنَى بحالي مُغيِّر

    And Abu Abd al-Ilah is surely a noble lord,

    and would change my plight at once, if he cared about it.

  10. وإنّ له من فضله لمُحرِّكاً

    على أنها الأخلاق قد تتنكر

    And surely he has in his generosity a spur to action,

    though dispositions may sometimes turn unfriendly.

  11. وإنْ كان كالإبريز يصدأ غيرُهُ

    ويأتي عليه ما أتى وهو أحمر

    And though he is like pure gold—other metals rust,

    yet whatever befalls it, it remains red.

  12. سأزجر عنه اللّوم من كل لائمٍ

    حِفاظاً له ما دام لي عنه مَزجَر

    I shall drive every reproacher's blame away from him,

    out of loyalty to him, as long as I have grounds to ward it off.

  13. وأعذُرهُ ما دام للعذر موضعٌ

    وأنظِرهُ ما دامتِ النفس تنْظر

    And I shall excuse him as long as there is room for an excuse,

    and grant him respite as long as my soul waits.

  14. وأحسِبهُ يوماً ستَزهاه نفسه

    فيفعل في أمري التي هي أفخر

    And I think one day his soul will fill him with pride,

    and he will take the most glorious course in my affair.

  15. ونفسُ أبي عبد الإله ضنينةٌ

    به أن تراه حيث يُكْدى ويعذر

    And Abu Abd al-Ilah's soul is too protective

    of him to see him where he fails to give and is excused.

  16. وما هي عن لوم له بمُفيقةٍ

    إلى أن تراه حيث يُسدي ويُشكَر

    Nor will it let up in reproaching him

    until it sees him bestowing favors and being thanked.

  17. أعنِي أبا عبد الإله ولا تقلْ

    أعنتُ فأعياني القضاء المقدر

    Help me, Abu Abd al-Ilah, and do not say,

    'I helped, but predestined fate defeated me.'

  18. ففي الأمر إن عاينتَهُ متيسّرٌ

    وفي الأمر إن آتيتَهُ متعذَّر

    For in the matter, if you examine it, there is something feasible,

    and in the matter, if you undertake it, something unattainable.

  19. أيعطش أمثالي وواديك فائضٌ

    ويُجدِب أمثالي وواديك أخضر

    Do men like me go thirsty while your valley overflows,

    and do men like me suffer drought while your valley is green?

  20. أبَى ذاك أن الطَّول منك سجيةٌ

    وأنكُ بيت المجد بالحمد تُعمَر

    That cannot be, for bounty is innate in you,

    and you are glory's house, inhabited by praise,

  21. وأنك لم تؤثر على الحق لذةً

    بحكم هوىً فالحق عندك مؤثر

    and you have not preferred pleasure to what is right

    at desire's bidding, for right is what you prefer.

  22. وما زلتَ تختار الأمور بحكمةٍ

    فأفضلها الأمرُ الذي تتخير

    And you have always chosen your courses with wisdom,

    so the best of them is the course you choose.