فإني قد بلوتكم جميعاً

فإني قد بلوتكم جميعاً

فما منكم على شكري حريصُ

فما منكم على شكري حريصُ

For I have already tested you all,

For I have tested you all,

And none of you is eager to earn my thanks.

Yet none of you is eager for my thanks.

وأرخصتُ الثناء فعفتموهُ

وأرخصتُ الثناء فعفتموهُ

وربَّتَما غلا الشيء الرخيصُ

وربَّتَما غلا الشيء الرخيصُ

And I offered praise cheaply, but you spurned it,

I made praise cheap, but you spurned it,

Yet at times a cheap thing grows dear.

And the cheapest thing may sometimes be most dear.

فعفتُ نوالَهم ورَغِبتُ عنه

فعفتُ نوالَهم ورَغِبتُ عنه

وشرًّ الزاد ما عاف الخصيصُ

وشرًّ الزاد ما عاف الخصيصُ

So I spurned their bounty and turned away from it,

So I withheld my gifts and turned away,

And the worst provision is what the needy spurn.

For evil is the food the dainty scorn.