1. على دارٍ حَللتَ بِها سَلامي

    وَجادَتها مغلَّسةُ الغمامِ

    My greeting be upon a house where you have settled,

    and may the clouds' pre-dawn showers drench it.

  2. وَزارَك بِالتحيّةِ كلُّ يومٍ

    وَجادَك بالعطيَّةِ كلّ عامِ

    May each day visit you with greetings,

    and may each year lavish gifts upon you.

  3. فَكَم لكَ في رِقابٍ مِن أَيادٍ

    بَواقٍ مثلَ أَطواقِ الحمامِ

    For how many favors of yours lie upon necks,

    enduring like the collars of doves!

  4. وَمِن مِنَنٍ مَلَكنَ الفَضلَ حتّى

    خَلَطنَ كِرامَ دَهرك باللئامِ

    And how many benefactions have claimed all excellence, until

    they mingled the noble of your age with the base.

  5. فَكيفَ أُطيق شُكرَكَ وَهو شيءٌ

    يَضيقُ بِثقلِ غايَته كَلامي

    How, then, can I manage to thank you, when it is something

    whose full weight my words cannot encompass?

  6. فَرَأيُكَ جُنَّتي وَنَداكَ كَنزي

    وَمن جَنَفِ الخطوبِ بك اِعتِصامي

    For your counsel is my shield, and your bounty my treasure;

    and in you I seek protection from calamities' injustice.

  7. وَإِن ذعرَ الزّمانُ فَأَنتَ رُكني

    أَلوذُ بِهِ مِن الخططِ العظامِ

    And if time strikes terror, you are my pillar,

    in whom I take refuge from grave ordeals.

  8. فَقُل لِمُسَوّفٍ بِالبذلِ ملقىً

    يُعلَّلُ بِالمَواعِدِ وَهو ظامِ

    Then tell one kept waiting for a gift, cast aside,

    soothed with promises while still thirsty,

  9. وَمَن يُزوى عَنِ الجَدوى وَيُعطي

    مَتى يُعطي القَليلَ منَ الحطامِ

    and one shut out from bounty, who is given—

    when he is given anything—only a little worldly dross:

  10. خُذوا منّي الثناءَ عَلى مقامٍ

    بعَقوَةِ مَن يَطيب به مقامي

    Take from me praise of a dwelling

    in the precincts of one who makes my stay delightful.

  11. حِمىً مُنِحَ الكفايَةَ قاطنوهُ

    فَلا سَغبي يُخاف ولا أوامي

    A sanctuary whose dwellers have been granted all they need,

    so I need fear neither hunger nor burning thirst.

  12. حِمىً لأغرّ تُبصره قريباً

    كَشمسِ الأفقِ أَو بدرِ التمامِ

    An illustrious man's sanctuary: you see him close by,

    like the sun on the horizon or the moon at its full.

  13. كَأنّي إِذ حَطَطت إليهِ رَحلي

    نَزلتُ بِهَضب رَضوى أو شمامِ

    It is as though, when I set down my baggage with him,

    I had alighted on the crags of Radwa or Shamam.

  14. سلوتُ النّاسَ كلّهمُ وأَضحى

    بِهِ وَجدي وَفي يده غرامي

    I have forgotten all other people, and now

    my longing is for him, and my passion lies in his hand.

  15. أَلا يا ذا السّياساتِ اللّواتي

    غَلَبنَ عَلى المَقاصِدِ وَالمرامِ

    Hear, O master of policies that

    have mastered aims and aspirations;

  16. وَمَن قَطع الزمانَ وفي يَديهِ

    مَقادَةُ ذَلك الجيش اللهامِ

    and you who have traversed time, holding in your hands

    command of that vast army;

  17. وَمن سلبت مَحاسِنُه عديلاً

    يُضافُ إِليهِ مِن هَذا الأنامِ

    and you whose virtues have left you without an equal

    to be set beside you among these mortals:

  18. أَجِرني أَن أَزورَ سِواك مولىً

    أَراهُ وَأَنت لي مولى غلامِ

    Protect me from visiting any patron other than you—

    whom I deem a slave, while you are my master.

  19. وَدُم لِلفَضل وَالإنعامِ حتّى

    نَراكَ وَقَد سئمتَ من الدوامِ

    And live on for excellence and generosity, until

    we see you grown weary of living on.