أُعِدُّ لِبَذلِكَ الإِحسانَ فَضلاً

أُعِدُّ لِبَذلِكَ الإِحسانَ فَضلاً

وَكَم مِن مَعشَرٍ بَخِلوا وَسادوا

وَكَم مِن مَعشَرٍ بَخِلوا وَسادوا

I count your bestowal of kindness a virtue;

I prepare that benevolence as surplus

And many a community was miserly, yet rose to eminence.

And how many a group were stingy and lived in luxury

فَجُد إِن شِئتَ مَربَحَةَ اللَيالي

فَجُد إِن شِئتَ مَربَحَةَ اللَيالي

فَما لِلجودِ في سوقٍ كَسادُ

فَما لِلجودِ في سوقٍ كَسادُ

So be generous, if you wish for the nights’ profit;

So be generous if you wish for profitable nights

For generosity suffers no slump in any market.

For generosity has no place in a slumped market

أَبَيتُ المالَ بَيتٌ مِن مَقالٍ

أَبَيتُ المالَ بَيتٌ مِن مَقالٍ

مَتّى يُنقَص يُلَمُّ بِهِ الفَسادُ

مَتّى يُنقَص يُلَمُّ بِهِ الفَسادُ

Is the treasury a verse made of words,

I refused money, a house of words

Marred whenever it is diminished?

When will it decrease, the damage will be patched with it