1. أعيرّ نفسي حرصَها واجتهادَها

    وأعذرها حُباً إِذا الفقرُ آدَها

    I reproach my soul for its eagerness and striving,

    and, out of love, excuse it when poverty weighs it down.

  2. وما تدَّعي من عزة بعد ما أَرى

    لأيدي الأماني ذُلّها وانقيادَها

    And it claims no dignity, now that I see

    its abasement and submission to the hands of wishes.

  3. بلى ربما لاقت نزاهةَ مطلبٍ

    إِذا وجدت عند الملوك مُرادَها

    Yet sometimes it finds purity in its quest,

    when it finds what it desires among kings.

  4. أَتيح لها في آل نبهانَ مذهبٌ

    كفاها لغير الصَّالحين اعتمادَها

    A path was opened to it within the house of Nabhan,

    which spared it reliance on the unrighteous.

  5. إذا الشيعة الأزدية اخترت قَصدها

    فَيمّمْ بني نبهان يلْحقْك جودَها

    If you choose to seek the Azdite community,

    then turn to the sons of Nabhan—its bounty will reach you—

  6. وسيدّها الباقي لها الشرف الذي

    كساها سرابيلَ الفخار وَسادَها

    and to its lord, through whom its honor endures, who

    clothed it in robes of glory and ruled over it.

  7. لَعمري كم عُدَّت له من صنيعةٍ

    بجُلَّى كفاها أَو بنعمى أَفادَها

    By my life, how many favors have been counted to his credit,

    for a grave calamity he spared it, or a blessing he bestowed upon it.

  8. تملك من قلب المعاني وعينها

    سُويداءهُ في يعربٍ وسوادَها

    He has gained, from the heart and eye of meanings,

    the heart's black core and the eye's pupil among Ya'rub.

  9. تَرى في يَديه عارضَ الجود كلّما

    أَشارت إليه كفٌّ ظمآنَ جادَها

    You see in his hands the rain cloud of bounty; whenever

    a thirsty man's palm gestures toward him, he rains upon it.

  10. إذا انهلَّت الآمالُ بالبرّ عَلّها

    وان ابدأُ النّعمى لراج أَعادَها

    When hopes pour forth, he gives them a second draught of kindness;

    and if he first grants a favor to a hopeful seeker, he grants it again.

  11. فحيّاه باريه وأَحياه مُدةً

    إلى الأَمد الأقصى يطيل أمتدادَها

    So may his Maker bless him and keep him alive for a span

    to the farthest limit, prolonging its duration.