يا أيها المولى الذي جوده

قد عمّ بالفضل وبالنائل

O lord whose bounty

has spread everywhere in kindness and largesse,

ومن مقيلي طاب في ظلة

اسمع مقال الصدق من قائل

and you beneath whose canopy my midday rest was sweet,

hear a speaker's words of truth:

قد صرت بطالا بلا حرفة

مع انني في شغل شاغل

I have become idle, without a trade,

though I am caught in an all-consuming concern.

ولم اجد منتقطا لي وان

لقطت لم اسلم من الحائل

And I have found no one to glean for me; and if

I glean, I am not spared a hindrance.

والفقر قد صال ولا آخذ

بالثار لي من ذلك الصائل

And poverty has attacked, and there is none to exact

vengeance for me upon that assailant.

والدمع مني سال نهرا ولا

من راحم يحنو على السائل

And tears have flowed from me in a river, and there is no

merciful soul to show tenderness to the supplicant.

ومات اهل الفضل حتى غدا

سحبان لا يعرف من باقل

And the people of merit have died, till now

Sahban cannot be told apart from Baqil.

والشعر ان طولت فيه وان

قصرت لم احصل على طائل

And as for poetry, whether I go on at length in it or

make it brief, I gain nothing worthwhile.

وسوقه اليوم غدا كاسداً

كمثل حالي الواقف العاطل

And its market has become stagnant today,

like my own condition, at a standstill and idle.

وكان قبل اليوم لا يشتري

فكيف في ذا الزمن الخامل

And even before today it was not bought;

how, then, in this languishing age?

لا عيش للعاقل فيه ولا

ينعم بالعيش سوى الجاهل

There is no livelihood in it for the wise, and none

enjoys life but the ignorant.

وكل من جئت الى نحوه

في الحال يشكو سطوة العامل

And everyone I approach

immediately complains of the official's oppression.

فأنثنى منصرفا آيسا

من عمل يختص بالفاعل

So I turn back, departing in despair

of work proper to a worker.

لا صلة القى ولا عائدا

يجود لي من بره الواصل

I find no gift, nor a visitor

who gives me of the kindness he extends.

وانقطع الموصول مني الى

ان فرغ المصروف من حاصل

And the support reaching me was cut off, until

the available money for spending ran out.

ومال بي دهري وقد كنت لا

اخشى من الجائر والمائل

And my fortune has turned against me, though I once did not

fear the unjust or the biased.

فعالت المسئلة اليوم وال

امر لقد ضاق على العائل

So today the problem has grown burdensome, and the

situation has indeed grown straitened for the needy.

وقد تيقنت بان ليس لي

سوى الامام العالم العامل

And I am certain that I have no one

but the imam, learned and putting knowledge into practice:

قاضي القضاة الالمعي الذي

يبين الحق من الباطل

the judge of judges, the keen-witted one who

distinguishes truth from falsehood;

غمام جود سببه لم يزل

يجود لي من سيله الوابل

a cloud of bounty whose channel has never ceased

to shower me from its pouring torrent.

كالغيث تلقاه اذا ما سخى

وان سطا كالاسد بالباسل

You find him like rain when he gives freely,

and like a lion when he assails the valiant.

أنخ به الآمال فهو الذي

لديه ما خاب رجا آمل

Make your hopes kneel before him, for he is the one

with whom no hopeful soul's hope has failed.

ورد اياديه التي بالندى

جادت تجد بحرا بلا ساحل

And approach his hands, which with largesse

have given freely: you will find a sea without a shore,

ببذل للراجين ما املوا

فيا له بالجود من باذل

by giving the hopeful what they hoped for—

so, what a lavish giver he is!

ويشتري الحمد بما يقتنى

في كل سوق بالثنا حافل

And he buys praise with what he possesses

in every market filled with acclaim.

ما قس ان قام خطيبا وما

في الوعظ سحبان اخو وائل

What is Quss when he rises as an orator, and what

is Sahban, brother of Wa'il, in exhortation?

يا واحدا في الفضل لم يلوه

ثان ولم يصغ الى عاذل

O one alone in merit, never followed by a

second, and never heeding a reproacher,

برك قد حدثنا عن عطا

وصح ما جاء عن الناقل

your kindness has narrated to us from Ata,

and the transmitter's report has proved sound.

فامدد الى نحوي يدا طالما

يجودها قد اثقلت كاهلي

So extend toward me a hand that has so often,

when lavished so freely, weighed upon my shoulders.

واقتل باحسانك فقري الذي

صال فلا اثم على القاتل

And slay with your kindness my poverty, which

has assailed me: no sin rests on the slayer.

وخذ قصيدا فائقا نظمها

قد اخذت للسحر عن بابل

And accept a splendid poem, whose composition

I have borrowed from Babylon for enchantment.

واسلم وعش عمرا طويلا بلا

مضارع في فرح كامل

And be safe, and live a long life without

an equal, in perfect joy,

ما غنت الورقا على عودها

بكل معنى في الهنا آهل

as long as the gray dove sings on its branch,

with every theme abounding in happiness.