1. قُل لِاِبنِ سينا لا طَبيـ

    ـبَ اليَومَ إِلّا الدِرهَمُ

    Tell Ibn Sina: there is no physician

    today except the dirham.

  2. هُوَ قَبلَ بقراطٍ وَقَب

    لَكَ لِلجِراحَةِ مَرهَمُ

    It was, before Hippocrates and before

    you, a balm for wounds.

  3. وَالناسُ مُذ كانوا عَلَيـ

    ـهِ دائِرونَ وَحُوَّمُ

    And people, ever since they existed, around

    it have circled and hovered.

  4. وَبِسِحرِهِ تَعلو الأَسا

    فِلُ في العُيونِ وَتَعظُمُ

    And by its magic, the lowliest rise

    in people's eyes and grow in stature.

  5. يا هَل تُرى الأَلفانِ وَقـ

    ـفٌ لا يُمَسُّ وَمَحرَمُ

    I wonder: are the two thousand an endowment,

    untouchable and sacrosanct?

  6. بَنكُ السَعيدِ عَلَيهِما

    حَتّى القِيامَةِ قَيِّمُ

    The bank of al-Sa'id is their

    trustee until the Resurrection.

  7. لا شيكَ يَظهَرُ في البُنو

    كِ وَلا حِوالَةَ تُخصَمُ

    No cheque appears in the banks,

    nor is any draft discounted.

  8. وَأَعَفُّ مَن لاقَيتَ يَلـ

    ـقاهُ فَلا يَتَكَرَّمُ

    And even the most scrupulous person you have met encounters

    it, and does not disdain it.