1. يا سيداً هباته

    أجلها عن حصر

    O master, whose gifts

    I deem too great to count,

  2. ومن بمدحه على ال

    شعرى تسامى شعري

    and you, in whose praise, above

    Sirius my verse has soared:

  3. أتاك دمعي سائلاً

    فلا تخض في نهر

    My tears have come to you, flowing and pleading;

    so do not wade into a river of rebuke.

  4. وهاك نظمي قد اتى

    يروم حسن النثر

    And here is my verse: it has come

    seeking a fine scattering of gifts.

  5. يرفع حالي معرباً

    عن خاطري بالكسر

    It raises my standing, giving voice

    to the brokenness within my heart.

  6. فراحتي صفرا غدت

    من بيضها والصفر

    For my palm has become empty

    of its white coins and yellow ones.

  7. وليس عندي ما به

    استر يوما فقري

    And I have nothing with which

    to conceal my poverty for a day.

  8. وقد اتى العيد وما

    من وقفة في الفطر

    And Eid has arrived, and there is no

    waiting at the breaking of the fast.

  9. فجد ببر عاجل

    فإن خير البر

    So grant a kindness without delay,

    for the best of kindness...

  10. وامدد يمينا طالما

    لي قابلت باليسر

    And extend a right hand that has so often

    met me with ease.

  11. يروى نداك عن عطا

    معنعنا عن بشر

    Your bounty is narrated from Ata,

    through a chain of 'froms,' from Bishr.

  12. وخذ قصيدا نظمها

    يفوق نثر الدر

    And take a poem whose stringing

    surpasses a scattering of pearls.

  13. وقد سمت رشاقة

    على الرشاق السمر

    And it has risen in grace

    above the slender, dusky spears:

  14. غريبة نسيبة

    بديعة كالسحر

    rare and noble-born,

    wondrous as magic,

  15. عذراء بنت ليلة

    نتيجة ابن الفكر

    a virgin, daughter of a night,

    offspring of the son of thought.

  16. فاسلم وجد يا وافر ال

    جود طويل العمر

    So live in safety and give, O you of abundant

    generosity and long life.

  17. وعش بلا مضارع

    فانت ماضي الامر

    And live without an equal,

    for your command prevails.

  18. لا زلت في العليا شها

    باً يا شقيق البدر

    May you ever remain on high, a shooting

    star, O brother of the full moon,

  19. ما افتر ثغر المدح عن

    نظم ثنايا الشكر

    as long as the mouth of praise parts to reveal

    gratitude's string of front teeth.