1. دَعوتَ شِعرَكَ تقريظاً وكانَ على

    ميْتٍ فبالحقِّ سمَّيناهُ تأبينا

    You called your verse a panegyric, though it was about

    Something dead; so we rightly called it an elegy.

  2. فقالَ قد كانَ ميْتاً قبلَ ذاكَ وقدْ

    أحييَتُهُ اليومَ تهذيباً وتزيينا

    Then he said, “It was dead before that, and

    Today I have revived it through refinement and adornment.”

  3. يا باذلاً كنزَ عِلمٍ لهُ رَصَدٌ

    والكَنزُ ممَّا اُقتَضَى صَوناً وتحصينا

    O giver of a treasure of knowledge with a guardian over it,

    And treasure is something that calls for safeguarding and fortification.

  4. النَّاسُ تمنحُ أموالاً نضِلُّ بها

    وأنتَ تمنحُ أبصاراً فتَهدينا

    People give wealth through which we go astray,

    While you bestow sight, and thus guide us.

  5. هذِهْ نتيجةُ فِكرٍ شَفَّهُ كَمَدٌ

    فاختارَ أوصافَكَ الحُسنَى رياحينا

    This is the product of a mind worn down by grief,

    So it chose your finest qualities as fragrant flowers.

  6. هديَّةُ الشُّعراءِ الشِّعرُ ما بَرِحَت

    تُهديهِ حيناً وتُهدَى مثلَهُ حينا

    Poetry is the poets’ gift; you have never ceased

    To give it at times, and be given its like at others.