1. رَأَيتُ بِلالاً يَشتَري بِتِلادِهِ

    مَكارِمَ فَضلٍ لا تُنالُ فَواضِلُه

    I saw Bilal buying with his inherited wealth

    noble acts of generosity whose bounty none can match.

  2. هُوَ المُشتَري ما لا يُنالُ بِما غَلا

    مِنَ المَجدِ وَالمَنضولُ رامٍ يُناضِلُه

    He buys what cannot be won, however dear the price,

    of glory; any archer who contests him is outshot.

  3. وَمَن يَطَّلِب مَسعاةَ ما قَد بَنى لَهُ

    أَبوهُ أَبو موسى تَصَعَّد أَوائِلُه

    And whoever seeks to attain what was built for him

    by his father, Abu Musa, finds even its beginnings steep.

  4. رَأَيتُ أَكُفّاً قَصَّرَ المَجدُ دونَها

    وَكَفّا بِلالٍ فيهِما الخَيرُ كامِلُه

    I saw hands before which glory fell short,

    and Bilal's two hands hold goodness in its fullness.

  5. هُما خَيرُ كَفَّي مُستَغاثٍ وَغَيرِهِ

    إِذا ما بَخيلُ القَومِ عَرَّدَ نائِلُه

    They are the best hands, whether their owner is called to help or not,

    when the bounty of the people's miser turns tail.

  6. يُطيعُ رِجالٌ ناهِياتٍ عَنِ العُلى

    وَيَأبى بِلالٌ ما تُطاعُ عَواذِلُه

    Men obey women who bar them from greatness,

    but Bilal refuses; his reproaching women go unheeded.

  7. فَتىً يَهَبُ الجُرجورَ تَحتَ ضُروعِها

    بَناتُ دَجوجِيٍّ صِغارٍ جَواثِلُه

    A youth who gives away a vast camel herd, beneath whose udders

    are Dajuji's daughters, its small, huddled young.

  8. جَرى مِن مَدىً فَوقَ المَثينَ فَلَم تَجِد

    لَهُ إِذ جَرى مِنهُنَّ فَحلاً يُقابِلُه

    He raced from a mark beyond the hundreds [reading uncertain], and you could not find

    among them, when he raced, a stallion to match him.

  9. وَجاءَ وَما مَسَّ الغُبارَ عِنانَهُ

    مُلِحّاً عَلى الشَأوِ البَعيدِ مَناقِلُه

    He came on, with dust never touching his bridle,

    his strides pressing on toward the distant goal.

  10. فَدونَكَ هَذي يا بِلالُ فَإِنَّها

    إِلَيكَ بِما تَنمي الكَريمَ أَوائِلُه

    So take this, Bilal, for it comes

    to you for the ancestral merit that exalts a noble man.