1. يا سيدي جودك المشهور ما فعلا

    أبيع بالرخص يا هذا أم ابتذلا

    My lord, what has become of your renowned generosity?

    Was it sold for a pittance, you there, or debased?

  2. واسوأتا من أناسٍ ظلت أطمعهم

    أن الذي التمسوه منك قد حصلا

    Oh, my shame before people I kept filling with hope

    That what they had sought from you had indeed been secured!

  3. حتى إذا عاد من أرسلته بيدٍ

    صفرٍ وما كان عندي أنه وصلا

    Until the man I had sent returned, his hand

    Empty—though I had not thought he had even arrived.

  4. قالوا لقينتهم غين عليه لنا

    صوتاً ضربنا له في شعره مثلاً

    They told their singing-girl: “Sing us, at his expense,

    A song from his own verse that we have made a parable for him.”

  5. مازلت أسمع كم من واثق خجلٍ

    حتى بليت فكنت الواثق الخجلا

    I had always heard: “How many a confident man is shamed!”

    Until I was tested, and became that confident man, ashamed.