1. رفعت إلى خير الملوك شكيتي

    إلى من يلاقي بالإِجابة دعوتي

    I submitted my complaint to the best of kings,

    to him who meets my appeal with an answer:

  2. بأن ابن غلاب أراد غليبتي

    وتقليل ما كثرته من عطيتي

    that Ibn Ghallāb sought to overpower me

    and diminish my gift, which you had made abundant,

  3. بتصييره النقد الذي جدت لي به

    عروض ثويبات من التانشية

    by converting the cash you generously gave me

    into merchandise—little garments of Tānashiyya cloth.

  4. حساب بهن الألف يرجع ثلثه

    إذا نحن بعناها بأكثر قيمة

    A thousand reckoned in them yields only a third,

    if we sell them for the highest price.

  5. وقد كنت أرضى نقص بعض عطائكم

    فلم ترتضوا لي أنتم بالنقيصة

    I had been willing to accept a reduction in some of your bounty,

    yet you yourselves would not agree to a shortfall for me.

  6. فلا ارتضيها منه لا سيما وقد

    وعدت فدتك النفس إنك قوتي

    So I will not accept it from him, especially since

    you have promised—may my soul ransom you—for you are my strength.

  7. فقل للأمير البدر بع عرضهم له

    واسعفه منا بالعطايا الهنية

    So tell Emir al-Badr: “Sell their merchandise for him,

    and assist him with welcome gifts from us.”

  8. فلا زالت الأقدار تجرى وحكمها

    توافقه أحكامكم في المشيئة

    May fate forever run its course, and may its decree

    be matched by your decrees in what is willed.