1. مِن نازِعٍ طاعَةً حَتّى تَكونَ لَهُ

    بَعدَ العَمى مِن فُؤادٍ ناكِثٍ بَصَرا

    From one who casts off obedience, until it becomes for him

    sight after blindness, from an oath-breaking heart.

  2. لَأَمدَحَنَّكَ مَدحاً لا يُوازِنُهُ

    مَدحٌ إِذا أَنشَدَ الراوي بِهِ هَدَرا

    I shall surely praise you with praise unequalled

    by any praise, when the reciter thunders it forth.

  3. وَالقَومُ لَو بادَروكَ المَجدَ لَاِعتَرَفوا

    عَلَيهِمُ في يَدَيكَ الشَمسَ وَالقَمَرا

    And if men raced you for glory, they would acknowledge

    the sun and moon in your hands above them.

  4. ما اِقتَسَمَ الناسُ مِن ميراثِ مُقتَسَمٍ

    عِندَ التُراثِ إِذا في قَبرِهِ اِنحَدَرا

    Never have men shared out a man's inheritance,

    at its division, when he descended into his grave,

  5. مِثلَ تُراثِ أَبي العَبّاسِ أَورَثَهُ

    مِنَ الطِعانِ وَبَينَ الأَعيُنِ الغُرَرا

    like Abu al-Abbas's heritage, bequeathed to him—

    of spear-fighting and white blazes between the eyes;

  6. وَالعَبطُ لِلنيبِ حَتّى لا تَهُبَّ لَها

    ريحٌ وَيَقتُلُ بِالمَأدومَةِ القِرَرا

    and slaughtering healthy old she-camels until no scent of them

    wafts; and he slays the cold with seasoned food.

  7. يا اِبنَ السَوابِقِ إِن مَدّوا إِلى حَسَبٍ

    وَالأَعظَمينَ إِذا ما خاطَروا خَطَرا

    O son of the foremost when they reach for ancestral honor,

    and of the highest in rank whenever they vie,

  8. وَالغابِقينَ مِنَ المَحضَينِ جارَتَهُم

    وَالزائِديها إِلى اِستِحيائِها خَفَرا

    and of those who give their female neighbor both pure milks at evening,

    and add bashful reserve to her modesty.

  9. وَلَيسَ مَتبِعَ مَعروفٍ تَنولُ بِهِ

    يَداهُ مَنّاً إِذا أَعطى وَلا كَدَرا

    And he does not follow up a kindness bestowed by

    his hands with reminders of his favor when he gives, nor with bitterness.